Why do you live where you live?

[Veloise]

... Many of our parents and in a few cases, some of us, live in a specific location solely because of employment opportunity. ...look more at what a city has to offer in terms of amenities and quality of life, and less on where is my spot on the assembly line.

...quality of life factors such as bike trails, art museums, coffee shops, and other third places to be associated with our first place, our home.

So with all of that in mind, and I know it

[Budgie Frisket]

My great-uncle moved to Detroit (from southern Illinois, where GP was a coal miner) to work in a bomber plant. Dad followed for a medical residency. Ma landed here from Louisiana and did her residency at the same place, Wayne County General Hospital (aka "Eloise"). I grew up in metro Detroit and spent most of my life in southeastern Mich.

A few years ago I was doing contract work from Ann Arbor and having to drive to the Detroit metro area every day. Then I moved back to the metro. No epiphany, but it dawned on me that I didn't have to stay in the 313.

So I went shopping. At the time I was haunting Kinkos several hours a week, so that was a perceived need. Also wanted different, lower-traffic places to ride and established bicycle clubs to ride with. Needed to stay within a couple hours drive of "The Henry Ford"; I was an active participant in a monthly event there. (The contra dance was cancelled in December 2004 on 4 days notice, after 23-1/2 years. There might be a website with more info should you care to google...)

And I wanted an established folkie/contra dance community, which pretty well meant Lansing, K'zoo, Traverse City, Midland, or here. And then there's the fabri-holic habit; used to love visiting here just to make a Field trip. I visited several times in the late 90's and did extensive recon trips in 2000. When my last contract gig evaporated June 2004, I rented a U-Haul and started packing. My anniversary is this weekend!

For a few weeks prior to getting out of the big "D," I had signage on the mirrors, walls, computer screen: I'm doing it! I'm moving to Grand Rapids! Occasionally I run across one, and remember how happy and pleased the thought made me. It still does. Only a few months after moving here I landed a (seasonal) position with my favorite city, and that was delightful. The other big city in Michigan has a slogan for employees: making it better for you. It really bothered me that I was trying to help bring Detroit back to its glory days while various @#$%^&* were taking every opportunity to negate that. (My car got broken into twice, I lost a bike, lost stuff off another bike...etc.)

Now that I'm here, I can't believe what a pleasant surprise GR is. (Why, you might even call it a well-kept secret!) I didn't even know about the rail trails, or all the colleges, or Riverside Park, or Heritage/Cherry/East Hill(s), or the DT events like BotM or the fireworks. (I volunteered to help out last year, and have signed up again for Tuesday. That's just not as feasible in Detroit.) I live barely a mile from DT and feel perfectly safe riding or walking around. And after I get past the CBD, I can continue down Market and in a few minutes I'm in a beautiful wooded area with no traffic.

Folks on the other side of the state can be friendly, but it's not as easy to find opportunities to meet and interact with them -- they are sitting in their cars on a freeway, or looking for a parking place at a mall. Here I'll be riding down Monroe and get friendly beeps from City buddies. On Monroe Center I'll run into my UPS driver (he knows where I live!) and my church minister. I can ride to just about any local bike shop. The baristas at Four Friends *still* remember what I used to get there when I worked DT. The buses go just about everywhere. There's better employment here than in the 313, and I could work anywhere from Grand Haven to Hastings and spend less time commuting. And I live in a lower with a basement (for the bikes and fabric) and a front porch full of container flowers and neighbors who smile and wave and help me move in large heavy pieces of furniture.

I chose to live downtown after living for more than 25 years in the Heritage Hill area. After renting, being a homeowner on the Hill, then divorcing and renting again, the Cityview project came up and I couldn't resist. It's been absolutely wonderful to walk to work at the Waters Building for the past two years. (Get up at 7:45 a.m. and still make it to work by 8:00 a.m., believe it or not). Alas, my firm has moved out to the Cascade area, and I am severely bummed. This upcoming week will be our first week out on Cascade. Blech!

I hope to find other employment back downtown because I haven't driven to a job in more than five years, and I don't want to start up again now. (Although I have to, at least temporarily).

In August, I am moving to Union Square, and it's close enough to downtown that I hope to walk again (once I find another downtown job ). Ah, yes. The joys of pounding the pavement for employment.

Anyway... I must say that GR has come a long, long way from when I first moved here in 1969. Back then, they rolled up the streets on Sundays.

BF

[Kayak1]

I grew up in Holland just north of the State Park so after graduating from College I knew that I wanted to live by the beach, bike paths, downtown Holland, etc. I was working in GR though so after 2 years, I moved to Jenison where my sister was living and working. Got married, had kids and still live here. Nice place but I miss being able to ride my bike to the State Park or Kayaking on Lake Mac or going downtown Holland to the Farmers Market. Good schools and Grandma(free babysitting) is only 10 minutes away.