Grand Rapids: bad areas? (Detroit, Flint: city hall, condos, hotel)

[gamecaco4]

You are awesome Fakkelsey. I think the CrimeMapping site is up to date, but I worry about it's content or reporting. Looking elsewhere throughout the state, it seems as though only the larger cities (Battle Creek, Lansing, Kzoo, D, etc) are the only places that have crime. For instance, I looked at our town, knowing what arrests have been made and some of the criminal stats and nothing came up for the last 6 months.

I do believe that this house is the best as far as crime stats, though, that we have come across. I am completely excited about moving to a bigger city with more opportunities for fun and exploration, just can't afford to move to a place I will hate in 5 years.

Thanks for the other links, too. Interesting info.

[Gorath]

I believe that in order for crimes to appear on the CrimeMapping site the local police department has to subscribe/submit it to the website. Different police departments may have different standards on which crimes they submit as well.

Originally Posted by CrimeMapping FAQ

Some agencies also request that we do not display sensitive crimes such as sexual assault or crimes involving children in order to protect the privacy of the victims, so that information may not be available for your area. Other miscellaneous crimes that do not fall into any discernible category can also be filtered out at the agency’s request.

So it's really an apples to oranges comparison between different jurisdictions.

[fakkelsey]

Gorath is correct. CrimeMapping.com - National Map This is the same site but the map of all of the police departments that report to this site. You just zoom in and pick a department/city that they show. Once you pick a city click on "about" at the top of your screen and then on the right hand side of the screen you will see a map to click on. This will take you to the link above. These steps have to be taken every time you switch cities. There are very few small towns that you will find reporting to such sites.

Grand Rapids, MI Crime Map - Showing Crimes in Grand Rapids - Crime Statistics, Alerts and Reports - Crime Stops Here Here is another crime map site. To switch cities here go to the top left corner and click on state, then select the city from that state. Note that it seems not every city on this list seems to report yet. If you see no crime except sex reg. then that place is not valid for up to date crime info.

If you do not mind sharing publicly, what area was you from? I am kinda a map freak and I have been to most cities in the Great Lakes region to Atlanta. I think about all towns in the state, with the exception of the western UP and lakes region in general.

Grand Rapids is no "big city" but it is a nice city for sure. Make sure you check out the gardens, zoo and public museum. Craigs Cruisers on the south end is fantastic for families. We have a decent children's museum as well. Tour a military WW2 ship and a sub 45 minutes away in Muskegon and the 4 hour state Museum and capital in Lansing. Battle Creek has a nice zoo and north of Kalamazoo (Richland) there is a world class classic car museum. Any how, just a couple good ideas out there from hundreds.

I do think you will love it here. Don't let the crime stats scare you too much. Not all, but a decent chunk of it can be related to activity that I am sure you will not be involved in. The city is quite safe for it's size and has little gun violence comparing to many other Michigan cities. There are also many neighborhoods to check out, some with amazing Victorian style mansions and others with modern mansions. East Grand Rapids and Rockford are other places of beauty. Good luck with your move and please check back with any other questions at all and I will see if I can help, or someone else on the site.

God bless

[topher5150]

I would stay from the area north of Burton up to about Wealthy or Fulton between Division and Kalamazoo, that area seems to be in the news almost weekly

[gamecaco4]

Ahhhh...Topher, we learned that with all of our house hunting. Over 80 houses and most being between Burton and Wealthy. We found, quite quickly, that most of that area is not where we want to be.

[jmlowman]

Coming from Flint, and being our first time to visit GR, we took the scenic drive on M-21.
Not knowing any better, we drove down Division Street on the way to our hotel in Grandview.
I would say that's a pretty shady area.

[fakkelsey]

N. Franklin ave and Saginaw st in Flint come to my mind. A lot of it is prospective. S. Division does have it's highlight. I kinda like Burton Heights. I hope you enjoyed your stay in Grand Rapids.

[Pupperoni]

Does anyone have any apartment complexes that they recommend for young professionals? I have spent hours searching and it seems like most have negative reviews, granted that could just be crabby renters. Is it better to rent outside of Grand Rapids? I'm having a hard time finding places that allow dogs.

Thank you!

[fakkelsey]

Tell me what you are looking for price range wise and I will see what looks like the best options. I know you have a dog. Just one? Large or small? Any other desires?

[jmlowman]

Originally Posted by fakkelsey

N. Franklin ave and Saginaw st in Flint come to my mind. A lot of it is prospective. S. Division does have it's highlight. I kinda like Burton Heights. I hope you enjoyed your stay in Grand Rapids.

Yeah, I hoped that we'd left the ghetto areas behind when we left Flint.

We really enjoyed Grand Rapids. The downtown area is an example that Flint should follow, although people are trying. Had lunch at Founders Brewing Company, followed by a visit to the Public Museum. The Titanic exhibit was on display, as was an exhibit on Great Lakes shipwrecks. Interesting that the Old Grand Rapids display began with a trip through what Union Station must have looked like in its heyday. I enjoyed doing some skyline and river photography outside, after visiting the museum.

We enjoyed Grandville. We stayed at the Residence Inn, opposite the big shopping center. Originally we had planned to stay for two nights but extended it to four. Our itinerary had included three days at Mackinaw City so that we could take the two boat tours of the lighthouses offshore, but it was too early in June for the boats to be running.