Young & Single Relocating to Grand Rapids - Advice Needed! (apartment, condo)

[kris10gail]

Hi All -

I've recently been presented the offer to move to the Grand Rapids area for a job relocation. I am faced with this decision of whether or not I should accept this offer, yet knowing little to nothing about the area. On a personal level, I need some help.

A bit of background - I am 25, female and single. I am not a huge city person or partier, but like most people my age/status, I like to go out and meet people and maintain an active social life. I do not know anybody in MI. My questions are based around how conducive is the area to young people like myself, and what other areas are in the vicinity that are younger with more activities to do?

ANY advice would be much appreciated, as I've found myself in a social vs professional predicament here.

Thank you!

[suydam]

GR is less than ideal for a 20-something single woman. That could be said of most mid-sized cities though.

Join professional groups, sports groups (e.g. Triathlon clubs or cycling clubs), and things of that nature. You'll find people. There is a healthy single population here, but it's outnumbered by married families and college kids.

[kris10gail]

Thank you for your input! If I did make the choice to move there, are there any particular areas that might be most conducive in your opinion?

[Donny Digital]

lol, you could try a certain network television show that rhymes with the patchelor. otherwise i have to agree with the spot on analysis of suydam. Good Luck!

[magellan]

Try the Grand Rapids Young Professionals group. There are a lot of young single professionals.

Search Names: grand rapids young professionals | Facebook

[topshop]

Originally Posted by kris10gail

Hi All -

I've recently been presented the offer to move to the Grand Rapids area for a job relocation. I am faced with this decision of whether or not I should accept this offer, yet knowing little to nothing about the area. On a personal level, I need some help.

A bit of background - I am 25, female and single. I am not a huge city person or partier, but like most people my age/status, I like to go out and meet people and maintain an active social life. I do not know anybody in MI. My questions are based around how conducive is the area to young people like myself, and what other areas are in the vicinity that are younger with more activities to do?

ANY advice would be much appreciated, as I've found myself in a social vs professional predicament here.

Thank you!

GR is not a huge city, nor is it a party town.

However, it is reasonably friendly and getting to know people should be pretty easy to do.

I suggest that you check out downtown for a place to live for access to the most activities. There is fairly regular schedule of a variety of events and a good assortment of restaurants, etc.

[goodman3]

It might help if you mention the city you will be moving from so some of us can give a comparison.

Much of it really depends on your expectations or what you are used to.

[kris10gail]

Thanks all for the input! I would be relocating from Philadelphia. In the new position I would be working from home (no office base in GR).

Hopefully that adds some perspective for comparison purposes....

[allbusiness]

Compared to Philly, GR is a lot cleaner. I agree with the suggestion to seek out the GRYP people. They have regular meet-ups, Tweet-ups and such -- usually at a local brew pub. There is also plenty of good clean fun here: symphony, opera, ballet, civic theatre, professional theatre, world class art museum, public museum, GR Gord presidential museum, awesome beaches 45 minutes away, a JW Marriott Hotel (rare!) and lots and lots of downtown condo and apartment living opportunities if you want to be right downtown. And it's not so huge, that you will be surrounded by people, yet still lonely.

[suydam]

Compared to Philly, downtown GR is safer too.

Since you'll be working from home, you'll need to rely even more on GRYP and orgs like that to meet folks.

I'd suggest a downtown condo. Some place like the Boardwalk or Hillmount seems to appeal to 20-somethings (but what do I know, I'm 34 and married).