East Grand Rapids for the Newcomer?

[AMCFan1]

I love EGR. I

[Budgie Frisket]

I love EGR. I

[GRDadof3]

Yes, East has beautiful houses. And beautifully manicured yards.

Nothing wrong with beautifully manicured lawns and mulch beds

[ChicagoBoy]

Here's my take a newbie...we just moved to EGR last year and had never lived in metro-GR until this move.

We looked at nearly every municipality and school district around and found that there are great choices for schools to fit nearly every lifestyle. EGR was right for us, but it's small and lacks some racial diversity. It's not perfect, but we like it so far.

That said, from one newbie to another, what we heard and what we found in EGR were vastly different in several ways.

Heard: EGR is an isolated small town that detests newcomers

Found: Nearly everyone we've met is incredibly friendly and happy to have us as neighbors. Anecdotally, there appear to be more transplants in EGR than other areas. Perhaps this wasn't always the case?

Heard: EGR is full of kids driving daddy's BMW

Found: Some kids driving BMWs, some kids riding bikes, some kids driving beat up early-90s Ford Escorts

Heard: Snobs, snobs, snobs. Everyone in EGR thinks they're better than everyone else.

Found: You wouldn't have chosen EGR if you wanted a 2 acre lot 45 minutes from downtown in a suburb without sidewalks. Since most Easties seems to have picked EGR to be in a walkable, running/biking/jogging/dog-walking city as opposed to a rural/suburban township lifestyle I think residents are routinely labeled snobs. That's just my take, but it's the closest I've come to figuring out the heavy disdain I heard from people when we told them we were moving to East.

Heard: EGR has great schools.

Found: EGR has great schools.

Heard: EGR has incredibly high taxes.

Found: EGR has higher taxes than most metro-GR municipalities but they're no worse than many other affluent towns across Michigan and a good deal better than some towns near Chicago.

Heard: EGR is a town full of rich people. If you're not rich, you won't fit in.

Found: EGR has rich people. There are also houses that go for less than $125,000. You get less for your dollar in square footage, but there are houses in all price ranges here in EGR.

Heard: EGR is too busy.

Found: EGR is a city, not a township. We wanted to know our neighbors, enjoy block parties several times a year, and be able to walk to anything we needed. To get that you need population density which in turn feels busy to some people. That's another reason some people don't like EGR I suppose.

Heard: EGR is very walkable.

Found: It is, the only thing we don't have within EGR city limits that I routinely need is a gas station (there are 2 just outside EGR but neither is within the city limits). We can walk for most core services and have a couple nice restaurants as well (Olive's and Rose's). As someone else mentioned, the Eastown neighborhood of GR is also walkable if you're in the western half of EGR. Books, tandoori, great breakfasts and a blockbuster are there, so it complements what EGR is lacking quite nicely.

Heard: EGR is bike-friendly.

Found: True. So is much of GR. You can ride from anywhere in EGR to Downtown-GR and never leave a 25mph. speed zone.

Heard: It's hard to get a house in EGR. Cut-throat real estate market.

Found: No such thing in Michigan right now. It's a buyer's market everywhere.

Hope that helps and welcome to town.

We've enjoyed it so far.

[ChicagoBoy]

Thanks, suydam, and all for the comments and info about East Grand Rapids...Maybe we can meet at the library coffee shop when it is finished

[Veloise]

Nothing wrong with beautifully manicured lawns and mulch beds

I like mulch.

[Budgie Frisket]

Nothing wrong with beautifully manicured lawns and mulch beds

Nothing wrong at all. And a lot of those gardens are mature... positively beautiful!

[Occam]

I grew up in EGR. I attended middle school and high school there. As a kid, I snuck out over to Eastown across the GR-EGR DMZ to sneak into bars =:-) Most of the comments have been spot on. A word of caution about the schools if you have kids: The social and academic pressures on the kids are pretty intense. Lots of peer pressure on how you look, dress, study and party. I've described it as the "EGRHS meatgrinder" a few times. Back in the 80's, It really was like growing up in a John Hughes movie such as Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller's Day Off just as much as it was like American Pie.

I'll have some blurry pix of East on my blog next week.

Quoted for truth. East does have this 'dark side' to it.

[PBJ]

Quoted for truth. East does have this 'dark side' to it.

Welcome to school systems across america.....

I know people from all over the state and country... They all tell a pretty similar story when it comes to the academic and social scenes. I have friends who teach from here to Florida all the way out to California... Public schools, private schools rich and poor... at the end of the day they're all the same.

To me it's the society we live in, you'll never find the Utopian school where everyone fits in, gets straight A's and looks like a model and is great at a sport in all 3 season. On the same token you'll never find the school where everyone looks like a country bumpkin, is happy with a C average and is fine not playing sports. Kids will be mean, kids will be cruel, kids will be kind and kids will be nice, just the way it is....

I've found the same in adult life, those who need to keep up with The Jones, those who look down on those not as "sucessful", and the ones that are happy just as they are...

just sayin'

Sorry a bit

BTW, I love East. Just drove all around it after picking up my Big Bob's because it's soooo beautiful this time of year

[ericnmu]

I lived in East (close to Eastown) my whole life, and attended EGR schools.

Maybe I'm oblivious but looking back on highschool, it was "uncool" to be mean to kids.

Ofcourse there will be the popular kids and the unpopular kids, but everyone got along well. It was never like the high schools you see in movies, where kids push eachother around with others cheering on.

[Budgie Frisket]

I lived in East (close to Eastown) my whole life, and attended EGR schools.

Maybe I'm oblivious but looking back on highschool, it was "uncool" to be mean to kids.

Ofcourse there will be the popular kids and the unpopular kids, but everyone got along well. It was never like the high schools you see in movies, where kids push eachother around with others cheering on.

Oh, it wasn't blatant. I didn't see anyone push each other around. It was more of an attitude. An exclusionary attitude.

[bigbobspizza]

I grew up in the GR public system and went to FHC high school. Have friends that went to East. I don't have kids but would have done anything to let them go to school here. It seems most kids graduate and go on to college here. So many of the families here are former students that may have left the area but come back to raise their children. The community as a whole really supports the school system.

[Budgie Frisket]

I grew up in the GR public system and went to FHC high school. Have friends that went to East. I don't have kids but would have done anything to let them go to school here. It seems most kids graduate and go on to college here. So many of the families here are former students that may have left the area but come back to raise their children. The community as a whole really supports the school system.

They do have an excellent school system, academically speaking.

[Yankee Fan]

It is east of Grand Rapids.

[Budgie Frisket]

A little further east and they would have Hahvahd.

[GVPeto]

I have always loved EGR. I grew up in Eastown, and had friends whom lived in EGR. Its a beautiful and dense city that has citizens that actually care about it, and don't want it looking like an ex-urb subdivision.

My friends and I used to ride our bikes around Reeds lake, and then hitup Jersey Junction (the best ice cream parlor of all time ) when we were young. I like it because you can actually go outside and DO something, a lot of things, that don't require you to come anywhere near your car.

Yes there is a "stigma" that has been atteched to EGR schools, but some ppl are now attaching that same stigma to the FH district and Rockford schools. Is it true? Tell me a HS where you WON'T find a clique-ey atmosphere.

Love EGR for what it is!

[Rizzo]

I love EGR, I was born there... Various people I know refer EGR to doctorville, and gripe about doctors that make millions. Honestly, if doctors make millions they diserve it -- seems like saving lives and careing for the health of hundreds of thousands of Metro Grand Rapidians should diserve a high salary.

[Budgie Frisket]

I covet 75% of the houses in EGR. Just have to find a rich man. Hah!

[Veloise]

I have always loved EGR. I grew up in Eastown, and had friends whom lived in EGR. Its a beautiful and dense city that has citizens that actually care about it, and don't want it looking like an ex-urb subdivision.

My friends and I used to ride our bikes around Reeds lake, and then hitup Jersey Junction (the best ice cream parlor of all time ) when we were young. I like it because you can actually go outside and DO something, a lot of things, that don't require you to come anywhere near your car.

Yes there is a "stigma" that has been atteched to EGR schools, but some ppl are now attaching that same stigma to the FH district and Rockford schools. Is it true? Tell me a HS where you WON'T find a clique-ey atmosphere.

Love EGR for what it is!

And they are getting their very own bicycle shop. Ada Bikes is expanding and opening something there (at Gaslight Village). September.

[MrScott]

And they are getting their very own bicycle shop. Ada Bikes is expanding and opening something there (at Gaslight Village). September.

Greetings everyone! I am new to UrbanPlanet.org but not new to EGR. I moved here from Long Island in 1990. I loved this City from the start. Still do with the exception of the "new" gaslight village. Oh well!

With the exception of D & W, Jersey Junction and the occasional 2 for 1 Tuesday Big Bob's I have sworn off all spending in gaslight.

I love the schools, love the neighborhoods, the vast majority of the people and Reeds Lake. I loath the backroom politics up and down the city government. I will forever insist that Gaslight Village is not and will never be urban.

[FilmMaker]

For the most part, EGR represents everything urban planning should be about: close-knit community, walkability, recreation, good schools and a broad variety of socio-economic residents. While it has its flaws, it is still much better than most other "community's in the area.

Allow me to offer one other village to consider: Rockford. Equally walkable at its core. Close-knit. Great recreational opportunities along the river and the White Pine Bike Trail. A total absence of big box stores. A great farmer's market. Excellent schools (which by the way were one of only five systems in the state to recently receive A's for ALL its schools - and they do it without any additional millages!). and again, a broad variety of socio-economic opportunities.

Please don't pile on with unnecessary comparisons - this is merely offered as an option to consider.

At the very least, I think the two villages are probably about the only true walkable communities surrounding the urban core.

[suydam]

For the most part, EGR represents everything urban planning should be about: close-knit community, walkability, recreation, good schools and a broad variety of socio-economic residents. While it has its flaws, it is still much better than most other "community's in the area.

Allow me to offer one other village to consider: Rockford. Equally walkable at its core. Close-knit. Great recreational opportunities along the river and the White Pine Bike Trail. A total absence of big box stores. A great farmer's market. Excellent schools (which by the way were one of only five systems in the state to recently receive A's for ALL its schools - and they do it without any additional millages!). and again, a broad variety of socio-economic opportunities.

Please don't pile on with unnecessary comparisons - this is merely offered as an option to consider.

At the very least, I think the two villages are probably about the only true walkable communities surrounding the urban core.

No piling on here. I agree, Rockford is a wonderfully walkable community at its core.

I'd add Ada Village to that list. I don't know much about the residential opportunities there, but when I ride my bike out that way for repairs, I love the opportunity to walk around the shops, head over to the covered bridge park, and hit up the Schnitz for a coffee.

In both cases (Ada Village and Rockford) it's dissapointing to see the complete and utter disregard for walkability once you leave the core. I suspect EGR would have had the same issues except that the entire area was built out before the modern idea of suburban nirvana (sprawl) came to pass.

One more thing Rockford has going for it: The Corner Bar. I wonder if they'd consider expanding to EGR.

[FilmMaker]

No piling on here. I agree, Rockford is a wonderfully walkable community at its core.

I'd add Ada Village to that list. I don't know much about the residential opportunities there, but when I ride my bike out that way for repairs, I love the opportunity to walk around the shops, head over to the covered bridge park, and hit up the Schnitz for a coffee.

In both cases (Ada Village and Rockford) it's dissapointing to see the complete and utter disregard for walkability once you leave the core. I suspect EGR would have had the same issues except that the entire area was built out before the modern idea of suburban nirvana (sprawl) came to pass.

One more thing Rockford has going for it: The Corner Bar. I wonder if they'd consider expanding to EGR.

In terms of overall recreational and retail offerings, I think Rockford is the clear winner - simply due to the river's central prominence - and the sheer number of eateries, shops and regular events. I grew up in Ada/Cascade (many, many years ago) but have chosen to now live in Rockford for these reasons.

By the way, believe it or not, Corner Bar isn't the only place for quality hot dogs in downtown Rockford! And don't forget Herman's Boy for the best selection of coffees in this part of the world.

I agree re everything you wrote about the areas surrounding Ada and Rockford, which is why I've chosen to serve on Plainfield's Planning Commission. We're probably behind the curve but we're working very hard to compliment and build upon the assets we have in place. For example, with the White Pine Trail dissecting our township, we're hoping to create broad connectivity that reaches from Cascade to Cedar Springs and beyond.

All that being said, there is an immediate opportunity to influence the future of Ada's village center. Next Tuesday, Oct 3 Ada Township is holding a public charette to discuss what the core village of Ada should look like going forward. The meeting is at Forest Hills Central High School. I'm sure there is additional info on the township web site. I may even attend for grins. I encourage anyone and everyone to show up and offer their two cents.

[GRDadof3]

In terms of overall recreational and retail offerings, I think Rockford is the clear winner - simply due to the river's central prominence - and the sheer number of eateries, shops and regular events. I grew up in Ada/Cascade (many, many years ago) but have chosen to now live in Rockford for these reasons.

By the way, believe it or not, Corner Bar isn't the only place for quality hot dogs in downtown Rockford! And don't forget Herman's Boy for the best selection of coffees in this part of the world.

I agree re everything you wrote about the areas surrounding Ada and Rockford, which is why I've chosen to serve on Plainfield's Planning Commission. We're probably behind the curve but we're working very hard to compliment and build upon the assets we have in place. For example, with the White Pine Trail dissecting our township, we're hoping to create broad connectivity that reaches from Cascade to Cedar Springs and beyond.

All that being said, there is an immediate opportunity to influence the future of Ada's village center. Next Tuesday, Oct 3 Ada Township is holding a public charette to discuss what the core village of Ada should look like going forward. The meeting is at Forest Hills Central High School. I'm sure there is additional info on the township web site. I may even attend for grins. I encourage anyone and everyone to show up and offer their two cents.

Hmm, interesting that you advocate the continued sprawling of people to Rockford (although that has dropped off dramatically), where there is virtually no employment base other than Wolverine (so people have to commute to GR), and yet 8 miles CLOSER to the city of Grand Rapids, you advocate fighting development there because it will continue sprawl along the Beltline, exactly 1 mile outside the GR city limits.

Again, I think Plainfield Twp (and probably not you) just has its own interests at heart, and not the "spirit" of the overlay district.

[suydam]

Hmm, interesting that you advocate the continued sprawling of people to Rockford (although that has dropped off dramatically), where there is virtually no employment base other than Wolverine (so people have to commute to GR), and yet 8 miles CLOSER to the city of Grand Rapids, you advocate fighting development there because it will continue sprawl along the Beltline, exactly 1 mile outside the GR city limits.

Again, I think Plainfield Twp (and probably not you) just has its own interests at heart, and not the "spirit" of the overlay district.

Rockford is at least a town....I think he was defending the central business district and surrounding housing stock. Not the insta-burbs out in the middle of nowhere.

I don't live there (we picked EGR because it was closer to GR) but I really liked the village feel of Rockford and wouldn't consider living in the city limits sprawling.