Baxter- A Historic African American Community in Grand Rapids Eastside on the Rise

The Baxter neighborhood was established in the late 1800s and named after Albert Baxter a notable historian and novelist from the late 19th century. The neighborhood was originally populated by Irish and German immigrants as Grand Rapids was rapidly expanding. By the 1960s Baxter had transitioned to a predominantly Black demographic and sadly faced redlining and segregation challenges, which accelerated disinvestment and blight in the neighborhood at a faster pace than its more white neighborhoods to the north (i.e. East Hills). The community responded with the creation of the Baxter Community Center in 1969 to address the neighborhood’s many social injustices and unmet needs. ​And by the 1980s the Baxter Neighborhood Association was established to help foster neighborhood improvements, local businesses, and community events like festivals and parties.  Thanks to these efforts and retaining ethnic diversity, the Baxter community’s residential inventory remains mostly intact and the Wealthy St business corridor is now flourishing with many restaurants, bars, local businesses, and a thriving local historic theater. Eastern Ave has been slower to rebound but is seeing a plethora of new apartment bldgs with good urban infill. MLK St, the southern border, is still pretty blighted and desolate.

For Baxter to be a top tier urban district it’s first order of business is the redevelopment and densification of the Eastern and MLK business corridors. These corridors have the majority of the neighborhood’s blight and autocentric development. I would also like to see more walkable schools, better bike amenities, more rental options, and improvement on crime.

Click here to view my Baxter album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Solid urban density.
• Solid ADA curbs with about 80% of curb cuts. Good Sidewalks
• Very convenient access to Dwtn being only 2 miles away. Also a short 18 min bus ride.
• One of Grand Rapids most diverse neighborhoods with a large Black and Hispanic population alongside a 45% White population. Poverty is high here (around 25%) but lots of medium and upper middle class households.
• Higher pct of family households here.
• Decent for sale options and pretty affordable. 2-beds selling btwn 150K-250K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 150K-400K.
• Solid tree canopy but not as good as more affluent neighborhoods to the north.
• One park centrally located in Baxter and two on its edges. MLK park is a decent size and contains a public pool.
• Attractive historic homes throughout most of Baxter. Decent historic commercial especially along Wealthy.
• Modern in-fill is getting better and better with lots of quality urban infill along Wealthy and more and more multi-family buildings popping up along Eastern. Eastern and MLK however have a decent amount of unattractive autocentric infill.
• Quality urban massing along Wealthy. Hit or miss along Eastern but getting better. MLK’s urban form is generally unattractive thanks to blight and autocentric uses.
• Decent cultural amenities including several restaurants, bars, & cafes, a brewery, a historic indie movie theater, and walkable access to the many night life and restaurants in East Hills and East Town.
• Retail amenities within Baxter are decent but mostly limited to Wealthy Street. They include a gourmet grocery store, a butcher, decent # of boutiques & clothing stores, a couple home good stores, several salons, a couple churches, a medical clinic, a couple dessert joints, and the Baxter Community Center, which hosts lots of community services. Plenty of walkable retail amenities in neighboring East Hills and East town only a 10 min walk.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Only one dedicated bike lane and unfortunately it doesn’t take you Dwtn. Not bike sharing stations.
• Decent but not great public transit access.
• Limited walkable school options. No schools located within the neighborhood but a handful in adjacent neighborhoods. However only one is a school of significant size.
• Rental inventory is pretty limited. What does exist is of pretty modest price.
• The neighborhood was rough not too long ago but it has come a long way and blight is pretty limited now and crime is lower than it was. Blight is concentrated along MLK the southern edge of Baxter.