[Igcnmama]

holland's south side can be both beautiful and somewhat dangerous/ ghetto. stay away from living anywhere near 16th 17th and college or columbia. its crazy down there. and really downtown holland is pretty cool, but nothing really to get worked up over. you can look threw EVERY store in one day. they are small over priced shops that sell novelties. they hype it up way to much. there really isnt that much to do around here besides parks and what not. i have 4 small children and i have a better time taking them to one of the many parks around town. i live off of southshore drive and even that is being consumed by gangs, i would suggest living down by ottwa beach road or someplace near by. i would never put my children in west ottawa school systems either. they are horrible, so many gangs and rivals, its pretty much the hispanics against themselves, the asains against everybody and the white kids trying to fit in to either one. i obviously dont like the school systems around here and choose to pick my school of choice in the nearby town of zeeland. and most parents will agree with me that the schools have gone down hill the past few years, even the christain schools that have paid tuition are getting bad. as far as the little attractions like the tuesinks pony farm and the critter barn *yawn* it would get boring after a couple mins, ive done both, the pony farm is litterly a pole in the ground with 3 or 4 ponys they tie up to it and they walk in a circle, and its not open every day and you have to call them (actually getting ahold of them is another thing) and they pretty much only do it for b-day parties. the critter barns owner is a little on the weird side and she looks like she is stressed out. when i taught preschool i spoke with her many times schedualing a feild trip out to her place. she was pretty manic on the phone trying to figure out when she could get us in between her doc visits and other things as she said. we finally got there and there was hardly any info that the children got from her so it was pretty much us teachers trying to scramble for stuff to talk about. they did enjoy petting her sheep, which is pretty much mostly what she has.
there are alot of bike paths, but you'll have to find them, and once again, they are pretty boring. if you have traveled alot in your life you'll notice that holland really is trying to be a place to come, but its just not quite there yet. i love this town, i really do, but im over it and im looking for someplace to re-locate. there are alot of bad neighborhoods, more then good ones, there is alot of new crimes and its just getting higher (father is cop) the school systems stink and the jobs around here are horrible, if your lucky enough to find one, keep it, you might not be able to get another one for some time. and if your in construction, especially building houses, dont even concider here, the housing industry is at a all time low. i hope this post didnt bring you down to much, but its not just my cup of tea around here anymore

[Zmehappy]

Bear, not to throw a curve in your search but you may want to also look at the Saugatuck/Douglas area. It's located about 10 minutes from Holland on the lake shore. Nice area for riding bikes, etc.

[Sonnenwende]

I don't know if Bear is still planning a move or has already moved. Posted over a year ago.

[Zmehappy]

Originally Posted by Sonnenwende

I don't know if Bear is still planning a move or has already moved. Posted over a year ago.

LOL, good point, didn't catch that one!

[Header25]

I am also moving to Holland at the end of september. I am recently married and moving out there for my husbands job. What is it like for young couples? Is there any sort of "night" life. I have been to visit and it is so cute...but am moving from Boston so ecpecting a shock. We are renting a house on college ave (a block in) so will be close to "downtown". Any tips on how to meet people in the area?

Also what are the winters like? I am used to NE snow...do you really get a ton more?

Any other tips/info greatly appreciated!
Thanks

[Igcnmama]

hmmm college can be both good and bad. it depends on your cross street, if you are close to 8th or 9th then it is ok, but if you are over by 16th and 17th, watch out! those are the streets that are dedicated to the latin kings. a local gang that enjoys beating mostly themselfs up and damaging property. lots of graffitti and lots of people standing outside all day and all night, im pretty sure you know why. i would never live down there. if you are closer to downtown holland by 8th and 9th its a fun place to live, but loud. its right by the college and ALOT of the residents there go to HOPE university. so be prepared for drunk girls hanging out of their window yelling silly things for attention, and for young underage people to just be walking around. they usually dont cause to much trouble though really. the local bars around there are awesome as well. the chruaggh is a irish pub on 8th street that gets packed on wednesdays (college night $1.50 drafts) and weekends. a couple blocks away is the bar parrots, little hole in the way and its so hot there, its reccomened that you wear little clothing because you will sweat, and just a tip, if you go there on wednesday or weekend order yourself at least two rounds because you can easily spend 40 mins at the bar trying to get the bartenders attention. there is skiles pizza joint where you can get some really good pizza and its a nice hang out, and the more relaxed atmosphere is the new holland brewery. there you can get their beer that they make themselves and nosh on some sandwiches and watch a game and just hang out, it can get boring at times. other then that everything closes at normal times and its pretty boring. living around hope you will more then likely see alot of keggers, frat parties and lots of people just hanging around, its a typical college part of town. so if you like that, then it will be great. also a little ways down the road is a resturant/bar called villiage in, they have kereoke on thurs i believe and the usual wednesday crown and fri or sat they have a live band play. most of the crowd there is pretty cool but somewhat older.as far as the weather, living in holland city limits wont be that hard to get around. those are always the first roads done and the plows do a pretty good job keeping it clean. we dont get a ton of snow and being from boston it will probably be similar to what your used to. im a young married woman myself (22) so its nice around here. there are the bars in saugatuck and grand rapids but they tend to get played out and i hate driving so far after hanging out all night, thats why i now prefer to stay at one of the local bars i told you about

[Header25]

Thanks for the tips! When I visited we went to the Holland Brewery. Great beer and food. Was very impressed. Fell in love with some of the strores, got a bunch of cute clothes.
I currently live in Harvard (cambridge)so I am used to the college kids, and all that comes with them. Nice to have them around...but can get annoying. Thankfully when I was in college I was never that annoying! HA j/k
We are moving to 8th St. So glad to hear that is not were all the gangs are. So astonishing that all that gangs stuff happens so close to such a close to such a cute town!
Was wondering if you could help me the commute from Holland to GR. Do a lot of people do it? How long does it take during rush hour? Is it bad in the winter? I am in the finance field and it looks like any job I am interested in is in GR.
Thanks for all your help. Really appreciate it and would love any other tips.
Thanks

[Igcnmama]

oh no problem. yeah it is a big shocker that some of the gang things happen so close. its like two different worlds, but yet so close together. but living on 8th street will be fun for you. getting to GR really isnt that hard. if you are living on 8th you'll want to get to river and go down to 16th street and follow that down until you see the highway. seeing how 16th street is on 35 miles it will probably take you 15 mins to get there, but once you've been in town long enough you'll find short cuts and what not. but yeah when you see the highway you just head twords GR and your on your way. the wintertime can sometimes cause a problem with the driving times, and of course there are always accidents, but the plow trucks try their hardest to get those roads pretty well. and just allow yourself enough time to go slow. i woke up really early for a doc appt in gr and there was a blizzard the night before and i just cruised at 35 the whole way. make sure you keep distance from other cars, if they want to pass you then let them, dont let the locals in gr push you around because they are used to the driving. thats the biggest problem i think, people driving to close together and not having enough time to stop if a car starts to spin. so just watch out and take your time. once you are in gr city limits you will be fine, because so much traffic goes threw there that all the ice gets turned into slush. if you need anything else let me know

[jenner5298]

Originally Posted by Header25

I am also moving to Holland at the end of september. I am recently married and moving out there for my husbands job. What is it like for young couples? Is there any sort of "night" life. I have been to visit and it is so cute...but am moving from Boston so ecpecting a shock. We are renting a house on college ave (a block in) so will be close to "downtown". Any tips on how to meet people in the area?

Also what are the winters like? I am used to NE snow...do you really get a ton more?

Any other tips/info greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Hey there! We just moved to Holland this past winter. My husband took a job up here and we switched from a big city and I'm still trying to adjust. I would love to hear about your experience here. I'm still looking for things to do and places to meet people. We're also a young couple and trying to meet others our own age.

[allbusiness]

Header25 and Jenner:

I have commuted every day from the central city to grand Rapids for 20 years. 30-35 minutes max. It's a breeze! In the winter it's a bit more, but my 4WD vehicle helps a lot.

Downtown Holland is very cool and the rest of the city is great too. Don't listen to the naysayers. Nearly every town has some sort of gang problem these days, and the Holland cops are ON IT. Plus, 99% of gang violence is them against them -- law abiding folks rarely are involved. Plus the newspapers really play it up.

The 17th and 18th street areas are being revitalized as we speak into a "Arts Corridor" with a Hollywood-type" film production studion, arts gallary, coffee shops, wine bar, etc.

There is so much in Holland to make it a great place to live...the parks, restaurants, pubs, farmers market, Hope College sports, lots of theatre, a symphony, museum, arts council, the beach, 15 minutes from a major mall (Rivertown Crossings), etc, etc. Plus, Grand Haven and Saugatuck are a short drive north or south for diversions.

Be sure to plug in! Join HYP -- Holland Young Professionals. Get involved in PTO if you have kids. Find a growing church if that's part of your life (I recommend Christ Memorial). Join Rotary or Kiwanis (Is the Jaycee chapter dead?) Volunteer anywhere!

Attend HSRT (Hope Summer Repertory theatre), (HCT) Holland Community Theatre, Holland Symphony Orchestra, and more. Go to Hope football and basketball games even if you don't have any affiliation with them.

No excuse for sitting around complaining about nothing do to and how "elitist" the locals are. It's up to you! ;-)