Best upscale area with acreage and good schools? (Grand Rapids, Wyoming: attorneys, homes)

[flamadiddle]

Considering a move in the future and since we love the Midwest, the lake/beach and lots of snow, GR seems like it may be a good fit. What areas would you suggest that offer minimum 1-acre lots, top-rated schools and home prices between $400K and $700K?

Thanks!

[mjlo]

Rockford area (multiple suburban or more rural townships, Ada Township, Cascade Township, Grand Rapids Township, Caledonia.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

Considering a move in the future and since we love the Midwest, the lake/beach and lots of snow, GR seems like it may be a good fit. What areas would you suggest that offer minimum 1-acre lots, top-rated schools and home prices between $400K and $700K?

Thanks!

You can find one acre lots in any of the surrounding suburbs around the Grand Rapids area, with homes in that price range. As mjlo mentioned, any of the townships that make up the Forest Hills Schools area, Rockford Schools area, Caledonia, and I'd even add Byron Center, Allendale and Hudsonville for good schools.

[beachmouse]

If you're looking at a property in the Rockford area that's on well water, do be aware of the ongoing water quality concerns up there due to dumped industrial chemicals getting into the water table.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

If you're looking at a property in the Rockford area that's on well water, do be aware of the ongoing water quality concerns up there due to dumped industrial chemicals getting into the water table.

Apparently i've repped you too many times recently. That's a good call, I hadn't thought about that.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

If you're looking at a property in the Rockford area that's on well water, do be aware of the ongoing water quality concerns up there due to dumped industrial chemicals getting into the water table.

Originally Posted by mjlo

Apparently i've repped you too many times recently. That's a good call, I hadn't thought about that.

I was watching the debate between John James and Stabenow last night and they touched on water issues. Is it only a concern around Rockford due to Wolverine company dumping or are there other areas in the Grand Rapids metro with water quality issues? Also, call me nuts, but I like being close to a Costco and I also want to be relatively close to Lake Michigan so looks like somewhere around Wyoming would fit the bill?

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

I was watching the debate between John James and Stabenow last night and they touched on water issues. Is it only a concern around Rockford due to Wolverine company dumping or are there other areas in the Grand Rapids metro with water quality issues? Also, call me nuts, but I like being close to a Costco and I also want to be relatively close to Lake Michigan so looks like somewhere around Wyoming would fit the bill?

I'm not sure they fully understand the impact of the PFAS concerns, or what if any impact PFAS actually has. It's hard to be certain with the ratings and clicks local media is getting from their sensationalized reporting on the issue. Rockford is still a growing community and I haven't heard any reports en masse about people not drinking the water. I think the issue was largely isolated to rural areas with wells.

In terms of a happy medium to the lake and costco, sounds like your best bet would be the following:

Hudsonville
Jenison
Jamestown Township.
Grandville
Wyoming (south of 44th st)
Byron Township.

Maybe Zeeland/Zeeland Twp. That's more Holland area, but still only about 15-20 minute drive to Costco if the freeway is slow.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

I was watching the debate between John James and Stabenow last night and they touched on water issues. Is it only a concern around Rockford due to Wolverine company dumping or are there other areas in the Grand Rapids metro with water quality issues? Also, call me nuts, but I like being close to a Costco and I also want to be relatively close to Lake Michigan so looks like somewhere around Wyoming would fit the bill?

Yes, it is primarily well water in the Rockford and even Cedar Springs area. All of the places where Wolverine used to have manufacturing facilities and dumped their chemicals in makeshift landfills around the area (this was back in the 60's and 70's when very few people cared about the environment).

In the city of Grand Rapids you'll still find some areas with lead pipes, just like many urban cities around the country, which can be tested and the pipes replaced. The city is starting to do that with much of its outdated areas.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rap...g_to_repl.html

In your price range, you might be one of the most expensive homes in Wyoming. You might try further South into Byron Center, or West into Hudsonville area. You'll find neighborhooods with $500K+ homes in them on pretty big lots.

[GrandRapidsNative]

Magellan is spot on with his assessment of property values in Wyoming. According to the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service ) www.GRAR.com, there has only been 3 properties sold in the past year over the $400k mark in the city of Wyoming. All three were in Grandville schools also. However, the water supply from the City of Wyoming recently announced non detect levels of PFAS through the Michigan Department of environment Quality (MDEQ).

http://https://www.wyomingmi.gov/Abo...Drinking-Water


This is great news for Wyoming water customers and since I am one, I was waiting for the results for weeks. My thought would be to locate the properties that are in other cities due to the lack of a higher price point in Wyoming that are close to a Costco that are served by City of Wyoming Municipal water supply if you want to live on the South and West side of Grand Rapids, MI. This would not be very hard to achieve since Wyoming does serve many communities on the South and West side of Grand Rapids.

Sadly, The PFOS/PFOA problem will not be going away anytime soon. It also is not just local to Rockford. Rockford has raised our awareness on this chemical and has alerted us to other potential areas as well. I attended a local continuing education program hosted by some attorneys who are involved in this current litigation with Wolverine World Wide. It is true that the awareness came from Wolverine World Wide but now we have discovered that many air force bases including one in New Mexico who reported high PFAS levels in their drinking water as well. I heard this on the news this morning. Turns out that man made chemical compound just does not break down very easily naturally and is still being used in many products today including waterproofing materials like Goretex, stain proofing material like stainmaster carpet and even wax paper we wrap food in.

The good news is that we do have water filtration systems that are working to remove this pesky chemical. So that is good!