People talking about Grand Rapids

[Sparty97]

As a Gen X'er, I've got a while until I retire but I can already see the draw of spending the winters down in Florida.  I've noodled with the idea of buying a condo down there near a beach, using it for vacations and then renting it out until we are ready (15-20 years from now).  The biggest fear is the real estate bubble bursting or betting on an area of the state that becomes less appealing in 20 years.

[Allison Slater]

If I ever snowbirded, I think I'd see myself going to Texas, not Florida. But I'm just a millennial. That's a looong way down the road.

[Pattmost20]

9 hours ago, tSlater said:

If I ever snowbirded, I think I'd see myself going to Texas, not Florida. But I'm just a millennial. That's a looong way down the road.

For me probably California if I can afford it, otherwise Mexico or Spain. The combination of food, scenery, and price of real estate in both is unbeatable. 

[organsnyder]

9 hours ago, tSlater said:

If I ever snowbirded, I think I'd see myself going to Texas, not Florida. But I'm just a millennial. That's a looong way down the road.

Agreed. South Padre Island is much nicer than equivalent beach towns in Florida.

[HavingAhoot]

24 minutes ago, organsnyder said:

Agreed. South Padre Island is much nicer than equivalent beach towns in Florida.

South Padre was a trash fest when I was there. I mean I had a blast cause I was 20 and that the time to be there but its was Liquor store, Club/Bar, Fast food, Hotel, Liquor store, Club, Bar Fast food, Hotel.

Florida is popular because it has a high temps for a pretty low price. Now I think its the most tacky state of all. (Tequila Robs, Pirates Cove, Todds little Jamaica type places) Yes,  but i'll take it to get out of february for a few weeks. I'd much rather Spain or California but that trip just doubled or tripled in cost.

[GRDadof3]

27 minutes ago, HavingAhoot said:

South Padre was a trash fest when I was there. I mean I had a blast cause I was 20 and that the time to be there but its was Liquor store, Club/Bar, Fast food, Hotel, Liquor store, Club, Bar Fast food, Hotel.

Florida is popular because it has a high temps for a pretty low price. Now I think its the most tacky state of all. (Tequila Robs, Pirates Cove, Todds little Jamaica type places) Yes,  but i'll take it to get out of february for a few weeks. I'd much rather Spain or California but that trip just doubled or tripled in cost.

I enjoy Florida for one week blocks at a time, but I can't see "snowbirding" there for 4 or 5 months. We looked at buying a condo in the St Pete Beach area and renting it out, and using it a few weeks a year. But then we realized we'd be going to the same place for every vacation. Sort of depressing.    Also, the local food and beer in the greater St Pete/Tampa area was marginal at best, unless you went to a really expensive place. We're pretty spoiled here. 

I hear Flagstaff AZ is pretty cool. Close to Utah, lots of hiking and biking. 

 

[walker]

37 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

I hear Flagstaff AZ is pretty cool. 

Pretty cool in the sense of weather in that because of its elevation it never gets really hot like the rest of Arizona.  It's a little warmer than here in the winter but if you're looking for a few weeks of warm sun in the winter, better to head forty minutes south to Sedona or two hours south to Phoenix.  If I wanted to live in Arizona year-round though, I think I might pick Flagstaff.  There's also an interesting canyon about an hour and a half to the north.  Flagstaff is kind of isolated and not that big.  It's about the size of Kalamazoo and property is expensive. 

I thought this thread was suppose to be about people talking about Grand Rapids?    

[arcturus]

Here in AZ I often talk about Grand Rapids

[GRDadof3]

59 minutes ago, walker said:

Pretty cool in the sense of weather in that because of its elevation it never gets really hot like the rest of Arizona.  It's a little warmer than here in the winter but if you're looking for a few weeks of warm sun in the winter, better to head forty minutes south to Sedona or two hours south to Phoenix.  If I wanted to live in Arizona year-round though, I think I might pick Flagstaff.  There's also an interesting canyon about an hour and a half to the north.  Flagstaff is kind of isolated and not that big.  It's about the size of Kalamazoo and property is expensive. 

I thought this thread was suppose to be about people talking about Grand Rapids?    

Phoenix just sounds yuck to me. Like Las Vegas. I'm not a fan of Florida ocean beaches, or even Eastern seaboard beaches like Hilton Head. They're rather flat, rock-hard and boring. And the outdoor activities in Florida are pretty limited, unless you enjoy biking with 80,000 cars going by in 100 degree weather. So just trying to think of some warmer climes that aren't beach related, but with water and outdoor activities. 

[GRLaker]

1 hour ago, HavingAhoot said:

South Padre was a trash fest when I was there. I mean I had a blast cause I was 20 and that the time to be there but its was Liquor store, Club/Bar, Fast food, Hotel, Liquor store, Club, Bar Fast food, Hotel.

Florida is popular because it has a high temps for a pretty low price. Now I think its the most tacky state of all. (Tequila Robs, Pirates Cove, Todds little Jamaica type places) Yes,  but i'll take it to get out of february for a few weeks. I'd much rather Spain or California but that trip just doubled or tripled in cost.

South Padre has the feel of a desert backing up to a body of water. I'd take the palm trees and white sand beaches of the Florida gulf coast any day over Texas' beaches. 

Florida is definitely a cheap vacay. You can do a week-long getaway for a week in Fort Myers for $900/person - including tickets, hotel, and food. I would imagine that the cost of living there is comparable to the cost of vacationing there. If I had my druthers, I would go to Hawaii, but then you're talking thousands per person. Not worth it when the ultimate goal is to escape to some warmth, sun, beaches, and palms. 

[GRLaker]

8 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Phoenix just sounds yuck to me. Like Las Vegas. I'm not a fan of Florida ocean beaches, or even Eastern seaboard beaches like Hilton Head. They're rather flat, rock-hard and boring. And the outdoor activities in Florida are pretty limited, unless you enjoy biking with 80,000 cars going by. So just trying to think of some warmer climes that aren't beach related, but with water and outdoor activities. 

There's San Diego. Warm weather, mountains for hiking, water/beaches. It would be an expensive trip, but I've heard nothing but good things.

[TheSutterKing]

I live in SD, its definitely great.

[organsnyder]

1 hour ago, GRDadof3 said:

Phoenix just sounds yuck to me. Like Las Vegas. I'm not a fan of Florida ocean beaches, or even Eastern seaboard beaches like Hilton Head. They're rather flat, rock-hard and boring. And the outdoor activities in Florida are pretty limited, unless you enjoy biking with 80,000 cars going by in 100 degree weather. So just trying to think of some warmer climes that aren't beach related, but with water and outdoor activities. 

San Antonio fits that bill quite nicely, IMHO. I was just there for a quick conference, and walked ~10 miles of riverwalk without repeating a route—and I didn't get to a lot of it.

[Pattmost20]

3 hours ago, HavingAhoot said:

I'd much rather Spain or California but that trip just doubled or tripled in cost.

California is true due to price of Real Estate. If you are talking about actually snow-birding (Leave for 3-5 months), you can get round trip to Spain once a year for under $500. And once you're there food, beer, wine, and real estate are all cheap. Nice apartments/condos near the beach in Valencia for sub $200k. Alicante is worth looking into as well, one of the largest international airports in Spain, huge string of beach towns and cities, plus fairly cheap to get there from Chicago.

 

Edit: Also, buying Real Estate as a foreigner is really easy. 3% foreign interest rates with just the normal 20% down.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Pattmost20

[RegalTDP]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Phoenix just sounds yuck to me. Like Las Vegas. I'm not a fan of Florida ocean beaches, or even Eastern seaboard beaches like Hilton Head. They're rather flat, rock-hard and boring. And the outdoor activities in Florida are pretty limited, unless you enjoy biking with 80,000 cars going by in 100 degree weather. So just trying to think of some warmer climes that aren't beach related, but with water and outdoor activities. 

Sacramento.  It's on a flat plain but you have the whole Sierra Nevada close to you.  And the city is definitely appealing to anyone who likes the look and feel of Grand Rapids.  Personally, it's my favorite city in California. 

Edited January 23, 2019 by RegalTDP

[Pattmost20]

2 minutes ago, RegalTDP said:

Sacramento.  Personally, it's my favorite city in California.  It's on a flat plain but you have the whole Sierra Nevada close to you.  And the city is definitely appealing to anyone who likes the look and feel of Grand Rapids.

Ahhh Sacramento, the newest suburb of the Bay Area. I have some friends there, I had a blast visiting but prices are skyrocketing as people are willing to drive 1.5 to 2 hours to SF for work.

[GRDadof3]

41 minutes ago, organsnyder said:

San Antonio fits that bill quite nicely, IMHO. I was just there for a quick conference, and walked ~10 miles of riverwalk without repeating a route—and I didn't get to a lot of it.

San Antonio does look pretty nice. Never been we'll have to make a trip out there some time.  I'm just talking for snowbirding, too much family and too many friends here.

[GRDadof3]

Bringing this back full circle, Grand Rapids made another list: #20 for bed bugs. 

https://www.wxyz.com/news/study-4-michigan-cities-make-list-of-top-bed-bug-infested-cities-in-the-country

[RegalTDP]

54 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Bringing this back full circle, Grand Rapids made another list: #20 for bed bugs. 

https://www.wxyz.com/news/study-4-michigan-cities-make-list-of-top-bed-bug-infested-cities-in-the-country

I hope someone makes a lip-dub video to protest.

[Pattmost20]

Went to the Aziz Ansari show last night. He mentioned how he lived here a few months during the filming of 30 minutes or less, though it was mostly a set up to talk crap about Buffalo. It was along the lines of "I like Grand Rapids. I really mean it. I don't say that in Buffalo."

The opener complimented Madcap Coffee and called Ohio the "Cheesecake Factory of States." He knew his audience. 

[RegalTDP]

Was listening to NPR on Wednesday and All Things Considered aired a story about the proposed 911 ordinance: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/15/723686010/grand-rapids-mich-aims-to-make-racially-biased-911-calls-illegal

Perhaps this has been getting lots of local coverage already, but out on the West Coast this was the first I'd heard of it.

[Guest]

Also on NPR yesterday....  Joshua Johnson from 1A has been at the Michigan Radio studios in AA.  They talked a lot about Michigan's economy and products that are made here.  Grand Rapids got a lot of mentions.

[RegalTDP]

Couldn't help but laugh at this: Restaurant Impossible's construction manager posted on Instagram his reaction to seeing the outside of Chez Olga's building

Edited May 20, 2019 by RegalTDP

[Pattmost20]

1 hour ago, RegalTDP said:

Couldn't help but laugh at this: Restaurant Impossible's construction manager posted on Instagram his reaction to seeing the outside of Chez Olga's building

It'll be interesting to see what they do to that place. Honestly I've never had a bad experience there, not sure why it would get picked. But then again Hopleaf in Chicago (one of the best and busiest beer bars in the city, going on 27 years) was contacted by Bar Rescue to shoot an episode. They laughed it off of course and said no. 

[HavingAhoot]

The problem with this place is not the food,Food was/is great. I believe the problem is a combination of marketing and service/management. I've only been twice, but part of the reason is I never think about it even while walking by sometimes. Also when mentioning it to people a lot of the time the reaction I get is "whats Chez Olga??" Then the service part: When I last went I walked in to the empty restaurant and sat myself down and waited for what seemed like a very long time while hearing ppl in back. to the point I looked to make sure they were still open. Now I know its not Bistro Bella Vita but just could use some more organization and marketing imo. I'm glad they are getting help but I hope the food stays flavorful.