People talking about Grand Rapids

[mpchicago]

There is an article in the latest issue of  GR Magazine on Kentwood.  Long and short, it's about a town that's trying to lose the "Rentwood" image.   I know we are all rooting for the City of Grand Rapids, but I don't think any of us want dumpy suburbs either.  

[GRLaker]

I'm all about a healthy group of suburbs. Kentwood has a ways to go to shed the Rentwood image though. It was once a nice suburb full of beautiful mid-century up to turn of the century homes, but it really got hit hard in the 2000s with a mass exodus of people into Caledonia as well as foreclosures. If millennials can go in there and renovate those homes and landscaping, that will go a long way to upping the city's value.  It will be a challenge, but it's doable. I hope the same is done with Wyoming.

1 hour ago, joeDowntown said:

I think someone predicted Kentwood to be a hot market. It makes sense that if the price skyrocketing, people might take a look at Kentwood. As far as "ranches that haven't been renovated since the 80s", that's ripe to change if first time home buyers move in and start making upgrades. I'd love to see Kentwood "bounce back" a bit. It used to be THE place to live back in the heyday of Steelcase (1980's?).

Joe

I remember GRDad discussing Wyoming, Walker, and Kentwood being the places millennials will likely start moving to based on affordability. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by GRLaker

[GRDadof3]

9 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

Maybe someone should first tell them that Kentwood is mostly subdivisions, unconnected roads, non-walkable, and full of ranch houses that haven't been renovated since the 80s?

 

But I suppose if you need to live in the GR area, and cant afford GR, you go for what you can get.

That's exactly why it's a hot market: homes that need to be renovated. And actually because Kentwood is a city, there are sidewalks everywhere. And several bike trails. And diversity. 

Somewhere on this site I predicted Wyoming and Kentwood would be the next hot markets. And Walker, don't rule out Walker.

[The ATX]

There is a thread on SSP about Grand Rapids.  Some UPers might want to jump in and lend some support.  It's a spin off thread about Fort Wayne that mentioned G.R. that was started by someone in Portland considering a move to smaller mid-western city.  The Fort Wayne thread went off to bizarro world.  The G.R. thread is mostly staying on topic, but there is a lot of ignorance about Grand Rapids. 

SkyScraperPage Grand Rapids Thread

[ZAP!]

6 hours ago, The ATX said:

there is a lot of ignorance about Grand Rapids

Boy is there ever.

"There are no 'solid, walkable neighborhoods' in GR"

The gall. 

[Pattmost20]

I thought about replying on that thread, but just too much ignorance. "Everything south of downtown is bad and there is a high homicide rate"... 2-3 per 100,000 homicide rate puts us solidly in the "very safe" category in most people's books. 

[GR_Urbanist]

I just wish those that hate this city so much would just move already, and seriously just stay there. And the rest just dont visit.

Quote

There should be a catch-all "small rust belt cities" thread, where people who care can discuss these irrelevant places like GR until their heart's content.

I usually hate most non-UP online discussions about GR because it is just people trashing the place because of petty stuff.

 

 

Edited October 7, 2018 by GR_Urbanist

[joeDowntown]

This is from earlier this Fall, but on September 4th, the city of GR had gone 147 days without a homicide. I personally find that to be incredible for a city of our size:

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/no-homicides-in-grand-rapids-this-summer/1417576304

Maybe I'm naive, but I honestly can think of ONE specific area in Grand Rapids that I would be "afraid" to go to / drive through.

Joe

[Prankster]

Seems like there has been a fair amount of bashing other cities on this forum over the years, namely Detroit. People who live in glass houses...

[GRDadof3]

19 hours ago, The ATX said:

There is a thread on SSP about Grand Rapids.  Some UPers might want to jump in and lend some support.  It's a spin off thread about Fort Wayne that mentioned G.R. that was started by someone in Portland considering a move to smaller mid-western city.  The Fort Wayne thread went off to bizarro world.  The G.R. thread is mostly staying on topic, but there is a lot of ignorance about Grand Rapids. 

SkyScraperPage Grand Rapids Thread

I actually didn't find the discussion all that bad, and I was surprised it went on so long. I used to be a member at SSP but haven't logged on in probably 10 years. 

Some of those members are right, downtown GR is growing but the rebirth and preservation of GR's neighborhoods and business districts is something you just don't see in a lot of cities of this size. Even cities like Indianapolis only really have one "Wealthy Street/East Hills" type neighborhood that I know of. GR has at least half a dozen well maintained and vibrant business districts, and more seeing investment every day. That is why I think people say GR is a "mini-Portland. "  If you want to buy a home within walking distance of a low-crime vibrant or semi-vibrant business district, you'll find that on Cherry Street, Wealthy Street, Eastown, East Fulton/Midtown, Creston, West Side (Bridge St and Leonard), Monroe North (getting there) and even East Grand Rapids. 

I can tell you the member SkyscaperPage17 is the same troll who frequents city-data.com forums bashing Grand Rapids. He used to live here and has this strange obsession with trying to bring GR down a few notches. @MJLO knows who I'm talking about. lol. 

[The ATX]

26 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I can tell you the member SkyscaperPage17 is the same troll who frequents city-data.com forums bashing Grand Rapids. He used to live here and has this strange obsession with trying to bring GR down a few notches. @MJLO knows who I'm talking about. lol. 

He's on UP in the Nashville forum a lot as well.  He's an anti Detroit and Michigan in general troll.

[MJLO]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

 

I can tell you the member SkyscaperPage17 is the same troll who frequents city-data.com forums bashing Grand Rapids. He used to live here and has this strange obsession with trying to bring GR down a few notches. @MJLO knows who I'm talking about. lol. 

 

1 hour ago, The ATX said:

He's on UP in the Nashville forum a lot as well.  He's an anti Detroit and Michigan in general troll.

Honestly i'm surpised at how favorable the thread actually was lol.  In terms of SkyscraperPage17, i'm not sure if he's the same guy.  The guy @GRDadof3 is referring to is relentlessly contrarian  to pretty much everything.   It didn't contain any of the Grand Rapids performing "below it's potential" rhetoric, followed by a long lecture on race relations i'm used to.  Not to mention he tends to be a little more high on the future of Detroit and it's potential.  Though I didn't look into his history.

[GRDadof3]

10 hours ago, MJLO said:

 

Honestly i'm surpised at how favorable the thread actually was lol.  In terms of SkyscraperPage17, i'm not sure if he's the same guy.  The guy @GRDadof3 is referring to is relentlessly contrarian  to pretty much everything.   It didn't contain any of the Grand Rapids performing "below it's potential" rhetoric, followed by a long lecture on race relations i'm used to.  Not to mention he tends to be a little more high on the future of Detroit and it's potential.  Though I didn't look into his history.

Yeah, maybe you're right. Just seemed oddly hating on GR, lol. 

[organsnyder]

13 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

If you want to buy a home within walking distance of a low-crime vibrant or semi-vibrant business district, you'll find that on Cherry Street, Wealthy Street, Eastown, East Fulton/Midtown, Creston, West Side (Bridge St and Leonard), Monroe North (getting there) and even East Grand Rapids.

Don't forget Alger Heights! Not as trendy as many of the others, but I'd put it head-to-head against any neighborhood in GR for walkable amenities.

[ProtoSapien]

11 hours ago, MJLO said:

 

Honestly i'm surpised at how favorable the thread actually was lol.  In terms of SkyscraperPage17, i'm not sure if he's the same guy.  The guy @GRDadof3 is referring to is relentlessly contrarian  to pretty much everything.   It didn't contain any of the Grand Rapids performing "below it's potential" rhetoric, followed by a long lecture on race relations i'm used to.  Not to mention he tends to be a little more high on the future of Detroit and it's potential.  Though I didn't look into his history.

I thought your post on SSP was well said.  

[GRDadof3]

41 minutes ago, organsnyder said:

Don't forget Alger Heights! Not as trendy as many of the others, but I'd put it head-to-head against any neighborhood in GR for walkable amenities.

You're right! I was actually thinking Alger Heights but forgot to include it. 

[GRDadof3]

40 minutes ago, ProtoSapien said:

I thought your post on SSP was well said.  

It was good. I would chime in too but I don't feel like digging up my old profile in there.  The only thing I would correct is that in Kent County, 19% of the population identifies as "Catholic" (114,000 in 2012). CRC was way behind that at 45,000. Ottawa County is probably less Catholic heavy. Non-denominational was more than CRC actually.  There is definitely not a lack of "white ethnic" Catholic folks. 

https://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/06/survey_says_see_which_religion.html

Found this interesting too:

The data also reveals that West Michigan is not the highest city on the hill of American religion, despite its devout reputation. The Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro area ranks 51st of 102 major metro areas in religious adherents per 100,000 residents.

Someone also mentioned on there that GR's urban population is only 600,000, which is untrue. Kent County alone is 636,000, and then a large chunk of Ottawa County is contiguous with Kent County along the border (Georgetown/Jamestown/Allendale). 

I know I'm talking to the statistical master but for those reading at home.

Oh I did find the data from 2010 for Ottawa County, about 9% are Catholic and 15% are CRC. 

 

 

[GRLaker]

SkyscraperPage17 is that MLive poster that comments on any positive news story about Grand Rapids with, "But the DeVos' live there!" "But there are too many white Christians!" "But it's too conservative!" "But there are crimes that happen there!" No matter how much positive comes out of Grand Rapids, that person will always be there to tear it down because their warped mind contains nothing but negative thoughts about it.

[GRDadof3]

2 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

SkyscraperPage17 is that MLive poster that comments on any positive news story about Grand Rapids with, "But the DeVos' live there!" "But there are too many white Christians!" "But it's too conservative!" "But there are crimes that happen there!" No matter how much positive comes out of Grand Rapids, that person will always be there to tear it down because their warped mind contains nothing but negative thoughts about it.

It's definitely weird. It would be like me going online to everything related to Tucson or some other random city and tearing it down.   I think he/she has a connection here, maybe an ex who dumped them. 

[GRLaker]

2 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

It's definitely weird. It would be like me going online to everything related to Tucson or some other random city and tearing it down.   I think he/she has a connection here, maybe an ex who dumped them. 

Man...If hating a city of an ex that dumped you was the normal thing to do, I'd have to hate 75% of the state.

[GRDadof3]

7 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

Man...If hating a city of an ex that dumped you was the normal thing to do, I'd have to hate 75% of the state.

 Yeah, look out Kzoo/Western Michigan University, you're getting a smack down from me!!!  Brown and gold are the worst colors EVER!!

[MJLO]

30 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

It was good. I would chime in too but I don't feel like digging up my old profile in there.  The only thing I would correct is that in Kent County, 19% of the population identifies as "Catholic" (114,000 in 2012). CRC was way behind that at 45,000. Ottawa County is probably less Catholic heavy. Non-denominational was more than CRC actually.  There is definitely not a lack of "white ethnic" Catholic folks. 

https://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/06/survey_says_see_which_religion.html

Found this interesting too:

The data also reveals that West Michigan is not the highest city on the hill of American religion, despite its devout reputation. The Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro area ranks 51st of 102 major metro areas in religious adherents per 100,000 residents.

Someone also mentioned on there that GR's urban population is only 600,000, which is untrue. Kent County alone is 636,000, and then a large chunk of Ottawa County is contiguous with Kent County along the border (Georgetown/Jamestown/Allendale). 

I know I'm talking to the statistical master but for those reading at home.

 

 

Those are actually good stats that I didn't look into (regarding religious disbursement).  I wish I would have now lol.  It just goes to show how long it actually takes for  old stereotypes to die off.   If someone wants to actually engage in more discussion about GR I can bust out the stats.  I created my SSP handle a while ago and have never used it.  It didn't seem like it would be impactful to come out of nowhere and try and push back against every factually inaccurate statement made.   Typically brand new personalities on forums that emerge to do that come off a bit crazy.  Being a full time stereotype battler on City-Data has really taught me to pick my battles, vs. trying to refute each hyperbole or lie some crazy internet troll puts out. 

*That 600k urban area figure comes from the 2010 decenial urban area number that put GR's urban population at  580k (roughly).  It drives me nuts when people use an eight year old census calculation as  a present day stat.  It's a number that won't account for 70k new residents.  Not to mention any infill that may have pushed more census tracts on the periphery to the 1,000ppsm needed to be included in an Urban Area population count.  Hard to say where GR's urban area might land after the 2020 recalculations.

21 minutes ago, GRLaker said:

SkyscraperPage17 is that MLive poster that comments on any positive news story about Grand Rapids with, "But the DeVos' live there!" "But there are too many white Christians!" "But it's too conservative!" "But there are crimes that happen there!" No matter how much positive comes out of Grand Rapids, that person will always be there to tear it down because their warped mind contains nothing but negative thoughts about it.

Some people are angry at things they can't control, as a means for coping they run out and try and force their opinion and change as many minds as they can to their POV.  The internet age has given them a home outside of letter writing to the op-ed page.  Best to ignore as much as possible IMO, they run out of steam when they don't get reactions. 

[GRDadof3]

1 minute ago, MJLO said:

Those are actually good stats that I didn't look into (regarding religious disbursement).  I wish I would have now lol.  It just goes to show how long it actually takes for  old stereotypes to die off.   If someone wants to actually engage in more discussion about GR I can bust out the stats.  I created my SSP handle a while ago and have never used it.  It didn't seem like it would be impactful to come out of nowhere and try and push back against every factually inaccurate statement made.   Typically brand new personalities on forums that emerge to do that come off a bit crazy.  Being a full time stereotype battler on City-Data has really taught me to pick my battles, vs. trying to refute each hyperbole or lie some crazy internet troll puts out. 

*That 600k urban area figure comes from the 2010 decenial urban area number that put GR's urban population at  580k (roughly)  It's an 8 year old number that won't account for 70k new residents.  Not to mention any infill that may have pushed more census tracts on the periphery to the 1,000ppsm needed to be included in an Urban Area population count.  Hard to say where GR's urban area might land after the 2020 recalculations.

Some people are angry at things they can't control, as a means for coping they run out and try and force their opinion and change as many minds as they can to their POV.  The internet age has given them a home outside of letter writing to the op-ed page.  Best to ignore as much as possible IMO, they run out of steam when they don't get reactions. 

Our friend IndenturedServant, if he didn't get the response he wanted in a thread he just starts an entire new thread pushing his viewpoint. 

There were a few here like that too years ago. FreddyC was one. Good times. 

[MJLO]

28 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Our friend IndenturedServant, if he didn't get the response he wanted in a thread he just starts an entire new thread pushing his viewpoint. 

There were a few here like that too years ago. FreddyC was one. Good times. 

Yeah I'll say I definitely appreciate the community on here.  Not really any hair on fire trolls that are pissed off or resentful of their past.  While we have our disagreements it tends to be pretty straight forward discussion.  Quite possibly the best place on the internet to understand what's happening in GR

[The ATX]

18 hours ago, MJLO said:

Yeah I'll say I definitely appreciate the community on here.  Not really any hair on fire trolls that are pissed off or resentful of their past.  While we have our disagreements it tends to be pretty straight forward discussion.  Quite possibly the best place on the internet to understand what's happening in GR

You made some good posts in that thread.  But I locked it because it wasn't going to get better.  On the positive side of things, we learned that Grand Rapids does have a national Rep for good beer.   Usually there is a lot of support for Rust Belt and Northeastern cities on SSP, and it's the Sun Belt cities that usually get trashed.  So I don't quite understand some of the anti GR posts that  were made.