Swan- Historic Working Class Polish Name on Grand Rapid’s Southwest Side

I included most of what is shown as the Swan neighborhood on google but cut out the southern and eastern edges that are mostly industrial space using Wealthy as a southern border and cutting up to Butterworth via an abandonded industrial road.

The name Swan referred to the Historic Native American chief John Wabasis, also known as “White Swan. Historically the neighborhood was just called Southwest Grand Rapids but it took the name Swan in the 1980s as the neighborhood took on more of an identity with the creation of a Neighborhood Development Organization. Similar to West Grand, Swan grew in the late 19th century thanks to the expansion of Grand Rapids Industrial might, especially the Furniture Industry. This particularly attracted large waves of Polish immigrants. They created a relatively walkable neighborhood with very convenient access to Downtown. In the Post War era, Swan experienced decline but not as extreme as South Grand Rapids and has mostly retained its urban fabric. Polish immigrants have increasingly been replaced by Hispanic immigrants and young professionals and families attracted by its convenient access to Dwtn and cheap housing prices.

This is a solid urban district but to become a premiere Grand Rapids neighborhood akin to Eastown or East Hills it needs more development which would drive better walkable amenities and retail options. Bridge is the best urban district with lots of quality urban in-fill and food & beverage amenities. Fulton has some urban form but could use a lot more quality urban in-fill. Architecture is generally modest turn of the century working class housing. One of Swan’s best amenities is its proximity to Dwtn located just across the river. Swan also hosts excellent waterfront parks and recreational trails.

Click here to view my Swan Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Most historic architecture is more working class housing from the late 19th century. Some more ornate older bldgs mixed-in near Bridge and Bridge itself has attractive historic commercial bldgs.
Good sidewalk infrastructure and about 70% of all intersections are up to ADA standards.
Decent amount of historic infill especially along Bridge, but parts of Fulton closer to the River and even new construction homes in the residential streets btwn Bridge and Fulton. More autocentric in-fill along Fulton.
Good urban massing along Bridge but more of a mixed bag along Fulton. The closer to Dwtn, the best the urban form.
Solid tree canopy for the most part.
Solid public transit especially closer to the River.
Very convenient access to Dwtn across all modes. One can walk to dwtn in 10-15 minutes in some parts of Swan.
Good array of dedicated bike lanes which connect well to dwtn and the waterfront recreational trails.
Excellent diversity metrics, especially economic.
So so school amenities with a couple Catholic Schools and public grade schools. Good ratings.
Solid park amenities especially with the extensive riverfront park and recreational trail. Also a couple small and medium parks, a YMCA, along with the Grand Rapids zoo just wet of the neighborhood.
Pretty good array of restaurants and bars, some cafes and bars, a couple breweries & live music venues, a couple museums along the lakefront, and convenient access to all the cultural amenities dwtn.
Pretty good rental options with 1-beds leasing btwn $900-1.3K, 2-beds btwn 1K-2.3K, 3-beds btwn 1.5-3K.
Nice array of for sale options with only a handful of 1-beds selling btwn 150K-250K, 2-beds btwn 150K-300K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 100K-400K. Plenty of affordable for sale options here.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Density is below average for an urban district.
* Grand Valley State along the river however is very autocentric with large surface parking lots.
* Generally a safe neighborhood but some dodgy spots.
* So so retail amenities including a hardware store, a local butchery, a couple florists, a local bookstore, several salons and barbershops, a couple bakeries, a YMCA, a local public library. Also convenient access to the many retail amenities and boutiques in Dwtn.

West Grand- Historic Working Class neighborhood on Grand Rapids Westside

I included most of what is shown as the West Grand neighborhood on google but cut some of the park space on the western and northern edges and cut the northeast slice north of Ann St as its all industrial.

West Grand was developed in the late 19th early 20th century rooted in its role as a working-class neighborhood during the city’s booming furniture industry. It developed as a relatively walkable streetcar neighborhood welcoming several ethnic communities especially Polish, German, and Irish immigrants. Deindustrialization certainly negatively impacted the neighborhood but West Grand never hit bottom like other largely African American neighborhoods on the southside. In recent decades there has been a resurgence of interest in the neighborhood leading to a relatively stable housing market, decent retail and cultural amenities especially along its booming business district on Bridge but also along Leonard St, and Fourth & Stocking.

This is a solid urban district with good safety levels, decent amenities, attractive historic architecture, diverse and affordable housing but to become a premiere Grand Rapids neighborhood it needs much better density and more infill development along its commercial corridors and industrial areas (along the river and Seward Ave). Public transit is really only good in the southern and eastern part of the neighborhood and schools are a bit limited and generally not well rated.

Click here to view my West Grand album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good sidewalk infrastructure and about 80% of all intersections are up to ADA standards.
* Variety of historic residential architecture from the late 1800s all the way to 1950s ranch homes generally moving from southern to north but also east to west. Most architecture is more modest working class housing but generally pretty well maintained. Nicer historic commercial bldgs along Bridge and several impressive brick warehouse buildings along Steward and closer to the river.
* Urban form is pretty good especially along Bridge St and to a lesser extend Stocking Ave. Urban form along Leonard is more of a mixed bag but good urban form in stretches esp. btwn.
* Outside of the more industrial stretches, pretty solid tree canopy.
* Solid access to Dwtn with transit trips generally 15-20 mins away. Decent set of bike lanes with pretty good access to dwtn and the recreational trails along the river.
* Solid diversity metrics especially racial.
* Generally a pretty safe neighborhood but some grit in spots, especially the more industrial areas.
* Decent retail amenities including a couple smaller supermarkets, a hardware store, several pharmacies, a local butchery, and florists, a couple clothing stores & banks, several barbershops, a bakeries, a YMCA, a local public library & post office, a couple medical offices, and several churches.
* Decent cultural amenities including plenty of restaurants & bars, a brewery, a couple cafes, a couple places with live music, and a comedy club.
* Pretty good rental options with 1-beds leasing btwn $900-1.3K, 2-beds btwn 1K-1.7K, 3-beds btwn 1.5-2.5K.
* Nice array of for sale options with some 1-bed condos selling btwn 150K-300K, 2-beds btwn 100K-400K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 100K-450K. Plenty of affordable for sale options here.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Public transit is hit or miss and not great along the western and north edges of West Grand.
Missing some crucial urban retail including a local public library and post office and supermarket. Also very few clothing and boutiques.
Density is so so for an urban area.
Large amount of surface parking in the more industrial areas along the review and poor urban form. Urban form is hit or miss along Leonard St.

East Grand Rapids- Grand Rapid’s Exclusive Historic Suburb

East Grand Rapids was first settled in the early 1830s and remained a tiny settlement for many decades. This began to change with the opening of Reeds Lake amusement park which began attracting visitors as early as the 1870s. By the 1890s Electric streetcars came into use and the settlement became a village in 1891 and reached 500 residents by 1900. Growth continued modestly in East Grand Rapids allowing it to become an home rule city in 1926 reaching 1,300 residents. The City rapidly grew in the 1930s quadrupling its population in 5 years. This is when the City’s business district along Wealthy St came into its own. East Grand Rapid continued growing steadily until 1970 when its population maxed out at 12K. The 1970s was a bad decade for the City like many urban districts but after this the City’s more or less stabilized bottoming out at 10,500 residents in 2010. Since then East Grand Rapids reversed course adding 700 residents.

East Grand Rapids is your standard successful historic inner ring suburb having high quality of life amenities (parks, schools, safety) with an in-tact business district but with sub par public transit and bike infrastructure largely due to its more suburban level density and a lack of rental housing. For East Grand Rapids to become a premiere urban district it needs to greatly increase its density, especially in the dwtn area around Wealthy Street. This suburb also reeks of exclusivity as its racial make up is 90% White and median household income at 170K. Very few working class households live here.

Click here to view my East Grand Rapids Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Sidewalks are consistent but ADA standard curbs cover about 60% of all intersections.
* Great access to Dwtn being only a 13 min drive and 20-25 min bus ride.
* About as safe of a community as you will find in America.
* Well rated walkable public schools located in the urban park of the City. Only one private school however.
Rentals are very limited.
* Good range of for sale options. Handful of 1-bed condos that sell in the 200Ks. 2-beds range btwn 200K-400K with a mix of townhouses, condos, & SF homes, and broad range options with 3 & 4 beds selling anywhere btwn 250K-2M.
* With its decent walkability and high level of services, this is a very in demand suburb.
* Great tree cover throughout the suburb.
* Excellent lakefront park and recreational trail just limited parks outside of here.
* Bump outs and wide sidewalks installed along Wealthy Ave main street.
* Pretty good urban form along Wealthy but a good amount of surface parking.
* Excellent array of historic homes through this urban section of East Grand Rapids.
* Limited residential urban in-fill but a good amount of decent quality commercial in-fill along Wealthy St.
* Decent cultural amenities including several restaurants, a local coffee shop, a local history museum, a high quality performing arts center and walkable access to all the cultural amenities in neighboring Eastown.
* Solid Retail amenities include a supermarket & a couple pharmacies, a couple banks, several boutiques, gift shops, and home good stores, a cheese shop, plenty of salons, a handful of dessert shops & gyms, a local public library, and major hospital. Also walkable to the retail amenities in neighboring Eastown.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Pretty mediocre public transit access.
Not great density for an urban district.
Streets are generally connected by very curvilinear.
A couple bike segments in East Rapids but not good connectivity to actual destinations.
Very white and affluent suburb with limited economic and racial diversity.
Good Pedestrian activity is good along the Wealthy St (dwtn East Grand Rapids) but quiet in the residential areas.
Rentals are very limited in East Grand Rapids”

Eastown- Popular Urban Community in Grand Rapid’s Eastside

Eastown began as a streetcar commuter suburb in the early 20th century and was an important midway stop between downtown Grand Rapids and the resort area of Reeds Lake (now East Grand Rapids). The neighborhood filled in by the 1930s with a handsome array of larger single family homes catering to the professional middle class. However, the district was redlined in the mid-century and experienced several decades of disinvestment in the post war area. Fortunately the neighborhood began to attract creative and intellectual types in the 60s and 70s and was often referred to as the “Greenwich Village of Grand Rapids”. Eastown has fully stabilized and is one of the City’s most popular and neighborhoods and arguably holds its best urbanism thanks to its solid commercial districts running down Lake and Wealthy Streets.

For Eastown to be a premiere urban district it simply needs a density level of at least 15K to drive more retail and cultural amenities. This would require significant densification along its commercial corridors and relaxing its likely strict single family zoning laws. Eastown could also use better public transit access and more walkable schools.

Click here to view my Eastown album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Solid access to dwtn being only 2 miles away.
* Great sidewalk infrastructure and ADA curbs are up to date in most intersections.
* Very safe community with limited blight.
* Decent for sale diversity and price points but not 1-bed condos and only a handful of 2-beds that sell btwn 270K-340K. Plenty of 3 & 4 beds that sell anywhere btwn 200K-600K with a handful of mansions that sell for more.
* Decent inventory: 1-beds lease in the low-medium 1Ks but are pretty limited, more 2 & 3 beds that lease btwn 1.7-2.4Ks. Several 4 beds as well.
* Excellent tree canopy throughout.
*Overall a pretty safe community with limited blight
* Great array of larger historic homes from the 1890s-1930s. Some nice historic commercial but generally planer.
* Good park amenities starting with the multi-functional Wilcox Park and Acquinas College has gorgeous grounds & woods, sigsbee is also a nice park and MLK park has a pools and sits just south of Eastown.
* Only a handful of infill. Generally pretty good urban form.
* Solid cultural amenities especially restaurants, bars, cafes, a performing arts theater at Acquinas College, a couple live music venues, the Indie Wealthy Theater is only a block outside of Eastown, and lots of great cultural amenities in neighboring East Hills.
* Generally good urban form along the two major biz districts of Eastown (Lake & Wealthy) and the couple blocks along Robinson & Fulton. But a decent amount of small surface parking lots throughout.
* Good retail amenities including a drug store, some boutiques & clothing stores, a couple bookstores and home goods stores, several salons, a bike shop, several dessert joints, a couple of gyms, a local post office, several churches, and a major hospital just east of the neighborhood. Also walkable access to all the retail amenities in neighborhood East Hills.
* 3 dedicated bike lanes with decent connection to surrounding neighborhoods.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Schools are pretty limited to most private elementary schools. A public elementary school located within Eastown but not well rated.
Public transit is so so for an urban district.
Missing some key retail amenities including a neighborhood supermarket, public library, and local boutiques and gift shops are a bit limited.”

Madison Area/South Hills- Home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Meyer House and another Grand Rapid’s Neighborhood on the Rise

South Hill and Madison Area were shaped by several waves of immigration starting with the Dutch in the late 19th century, Italian immigrants in the early 20th century, and later the neighborhood transitioned into a majority African American. South Hills is a residential only subdistrict with large early 20th century homes that were originally filled with upper middle class families. The districts also hosts the Frank Lloyd Wright Meyer May house. The area declined in the 60s and 70s thanks to white flight and disinvestment. However, the neighborhood never fell into ruin thanks to the resilience of the residents and in time investment has returned to the neighborhood especially within the past decade. Wealthy Street in the northeast corner of Madison Area is a vibrant commercial node, most of the homes are occupied and especially in good condition in South Hills and the streets just south of Wealthy St.. The neighborhood also welcomed a new park in 2014, Pleasant Park from a former parking lot.

But for Madison Area to be on the same urban level as some of its adjacent communities like East Hills and Eastown, it needs more investment and people which will help foster more retail and cultural amenities especially along the underinvested biz districts of Madison and Eastern Avenues. It would be great to have more walkable amenities in the southern half of the district.

Click here to view my Madison Area Album and South Hills Albums on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Good Sidewalk and ADA infrastructure. About 85% of curbs are up to date.
Solid public transit access
Decent Urban Density.
High poverty rates but still good income diversity.
About 40-50% Black population but overall great diversity.
Very convenient access to Dwtn being only 2 miles away. Also a short 20 min bus ride.
Gorgeous historic architecture along Wealthy, the northern edge of Madison Area and South Hills where the Frank Lloyd Wright house is located. Beyond these areas architecture is a mixture of modes test working class and middle class homes from the 1910s & 1920s.
Solid tree canopy except the southern edge of the district which is industrial.
Some good urban mixed-use infill bldgs along Wealthy. More and more along Eastern but plenty of autocentric in fill still along Eastern and parts of Madison.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Some blight pockets along the southern edge of Madison and crime appears higher than more gentrified neighborhoods to the north but the neighborhoods is much safer than it was a couple decades ago.
A handful of schools located within Madison area with mixed ratings
1 bed rentals are limited but decent amount of 2 & 3 rentals. Prices are pretty modest.
For options are a bit limited. No 1-bed condos and sales prices are pretty modest. 2 beds sell btwn 150K-240K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 100K-325K.
Parks are limited to several cemeteries and a nice playground park.
Some food & beverage businesses located along Wealthy btwn Union and Eastern. Not much else in Madison area besides the Frank Lloyd Wright house, but the neighborhood is walkable on the northern half to cultural amenities in East Hills and Baxter.
Most of the retail amenities are concentrated along Wealthy St including several boutiques & clothing stores, a local bank, a couple home good stores, several salons, and a couple bakeries. Other retail amenities outside of Wealthy St are limited but include a supermarket, a public library, and a couple of churches.”

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.

East Hills- A Great Urban Revitalization Story only 2 miles east of Downtown Grand Rapids

The majority of the East Hills neighborhood was built in the late 19th Century, when the area was made up of orchards and farms. During the late 1800s grand Rapids experienced a major population boom thanks to the effects of the industrial revolution and massive European immigration. Thanks to its convenient accessibility to Dwtn via the streetcar many of Grand Rapid’s new immigrant residents settled here. They helped build a thriving urban community with 4 business districts cutting through the East Hills community (Wealthy, Lake, Cherry, and Fulton). During the 1960’s East Hills lost its luster as many residents left for the suburbs and an increase in crime, blight and abandonment came to the area a common fate to so many American inner city neighborhoods in the Post War Era. Fortunately East Hills was able to retain most of its urban fabric thanks to the strong organization efforts of the East Hills Council Neighborhoods in the 80s & 90s. By the early 2000s the 4 business districts were welcoming a plethora of new shops , restaurants, bars, and coffee shops and the neighborhood has never looked back.

This is one of Grand Rapid’s best urban districts thanks to its 4 walkable business districts, good rental inventory, great tree canopy , comfortable sidewalks, and convenient access to dwtn being only 1.5 miles away. But for this to be a premier urban district on a national level it needs better bike access, better diversity, more walkable schools, and better park amenities.

Click here to view my East Hills Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Excellent sidewalk infrastructure with most ADA curbs being up to date.
Solid urban density at just under 10K people per square mile.
Very convenient access to Dwtn being only 1.5 miles away and a 10-15 minute transit ride.
Limited blight here and a pretty safe community.
Excellent historic architecture esp. the turn of the century homes but also good historic commercial buildings too.
Strong sense of place with several urban biz districts and distinctive buildings.
Decent for sale diversity and price points but not 1-bed condos. 2-beds sell btwn 200K-425K. 3 & 4 beds btwn 200K-600K with a handful of mansions that sell for more.
Good rental inventory especially . 1-beds lease in the low-medium 1Ks, 2-beds in the 1Ks. 3-beds lease btwn 1.8K-2.3K. A handful of 4 beds as well.
Great tree canopy throughout the district.
Some modern in-fill bldgs but what does exist is pretty good urban quality.
A handful of surface parking lots on the 4 urban biz districts (wealthy, Cherry, Lake, and Fulton) but overall urban form is very good in East Hills.
Some small groceries but no supermarkets here. Plenty of boutiques & clothing stores, several home goods stores, ton of salons & barber shops, a couple book stores, a toy store, plenty of dessert joints, a couple of gyms & churches.
Great array of restaurants, bars, and cafes, a handful of art galleries & nightclubs, an indie movie theater, and a couple bars host live music.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

Some economic diversity but racial and generational diversity are pretty limited.
So so bike access to a couple segments of dedicated bike lanes. No bike sharing stations.
Only one school located within East Hills. At least it is a well rated public schools. A handful of somewhat walkable schools in the adjacent areas that are generally rated pretty well.
Only a handful of parks within East Hills that are pretty small. A couple walkable parks in adjacent neighborhoods.
Missing some key retail amenities including a local post office, public library or hospitals and only a handful of doctor’s offices.”

Midtown- A Comfortable Streetcar Era Grand Rapids Neighborhood only 2 Miles east of Downtown

Until the early 20th century Midtown was known mostly for farming and the City’s oldest Cemetery (Fulton Street). With the advent of the downtown trolley running through Midtown development picked up and the neighborhood is now filled with 1910s & 1920s bungalows and foursquares. Fulton still has a relatively intact streetcar business district but Michigan unfortunately became mostly autocentric. Midtown is overall a comfortable urban district with convenient access to Dwtn, decent retail and cultural amenities, affordable housing, thick tree canopy, decent park amenities, and high levels of safety.

For Midtown to become a premiere urban district it needs more density and continued quality urban infill on Michigan Ave. This would help drive better retail and cultural amenities. Midtown also needs better bike and public transit infrastructure and more walkable schools.

Click here to view my Midtown album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Very convenient access to Dwtn being only a 20 minute bus ride and 10 min bike ride.
Excellent economic diversity and decent racial diversity.
Generally good sidewalk and ADA infrastructure. About 75% of all curb cuts are modern standard.
Overall a pretty safe community with limited blight.
Decent rental inventory especially 2&3-bed options. 1-bes lease in the low-medium 1Ks, 2-beds btwn 1.5K-2K. 3-beds lease btwn 1.8K-2.5K. A handful of 4 beds as well.
Few 1-bed options but good diversity of other for sale options and pretty affordable. 2-beds sell btwn 125K-350K. Pretty good variety for 3 & 4 bed homes selling anywhere between 175K-450K.
Decent park amenities including Midtown Green, a large cemetery, several ballfields and the extensive Hillcrest park on the eastern edge.
Excellent tree canopy.
Decent cultural amenities including several restaurants, bars & cafes, and a couple art galleries.
Pretty good urban massing along Fulton but Michigan is pretty autocentric. This is slowly getting better however.
Decent retail amenities include a supermarket, a couple smaller gourmet grocerias, a year round farmer’s market, a couple drug stores, several salons, a handful of clothing/gift stores, a couple book stores, a hardware store, a couple bakeries & gyms.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Pretty mediocre transit service for an urban neighborhood.
* Bike infrastructure is limited to a couple block stretches of dedicated bike lanes. No bike sharing stations either.
* Not a ton of family households and a disproportional # of college students and young adults living here.
* No schools within Midtown but some good walkable options on the edges of the neighborhood.
* Not much dedicated affordable housing in Midtown.
* A good amount of the urban infill is autocentric but more and more urban infill is coming especially to Michigan street as larger apartments.
* Missing some key retail amenities such as a post office, public library, and medical offices. Also few boutiques, churches, and banks.

Downtown Grand Rapids, MI

Downtown Grand Rapids is the original settlement for the City like most American cities and transitioned from a mostly manufacturing/warehouse area for the city’s flourishing furniture corporations in the mid-late 19th century to a more traditional American dwtn in the early 20th century. Dwtn doesn’t have well branded/defined districts but I would generally divide it into 4 quadrants: The SW quadrant is the Warehouse District with lots of loft conversions, unique stores & boutiques and some newer developments like Studio Park and Van Andel Arena. The SE Quadrant host the Trinity Health District with Dwtn’s worse urban form. There is the Historic Core centered btwn Fulton & Lyon and Division and the River contains a great collection of well maintained turn of the century historic commercial bldgs and Dwtn’s Civic Heart (Rosa Parks Circle). North of here is the Medical Mile containing Corewell Hospital, many research facilities, and the City Civic Center.

Downtown Grand Rapids is a solid urban Downtown in the top tier of Dwtns in metro areas btwn 1M-1.5M. Dwtn excels at hosting a great collection of well maintained historic bldgs, comfortable sidewalks & streetscaping, good cultural and regional amenities, quality school & high levels of university students. Recent in-fill has generally been at a high urban quality and retail amenities are decent. For Dwtn Grand Rapids to become a top tier urban district it needs to continue attracting more residents, improve its bike infrastructure, create more and better park amenities, and fill in a decent # of surface parking lots especially during Trinity Health Hospital.

Click here to view my Downtown Grand Rapids Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Solid grid and connectivity. Dwtn has several wide main streets common for Mid-western Dwtns but no wide 1-way pairs. Two highways cut through dwtn but not inner belt.
Solid public transit Dwtn and surrounding pre-1920s neighborhoods. Decent transit for neighborhoods developed before WWII. Hit or miss transit service for suburban areas, but most suburbs have some level of transit.
Decent number of activities for families dwtn with several family friendly museums and a sports arena mainly used for Hocky.
Solid K-12 schools with pretty well rated public schools and a good # of private/charter schools.
Better rental options with some studios leasing in the low 1Ks, more 1-beds that lease btwn 1-2K, wide variety of 2-beds that mostly range from 900K to 2.5K, but some that lease around 5K, but only a handful of 3 & 4 bed options.
Pretty good college present Dwtn with 12K students enrolled at Grand Rapids CC which has a large presence in the SE edge of Dwtn with multiple bldgs. There are a couple other smaller satellite campuses Dwtn including a pretty large one from Grand Valley State University.
Very solid stock of attractive historic architecture including a nice mix of late 19th century 4-6 story Italianates, several midsize antique towers, and lots of warehouse bldgs south of Fulton.
Plenty recent multi-family infill and several decent newer residential towers. Plenty of bland mid-century architecture too although the City Hall bldg is to some pretty interesting.
Decent retail amenities including a supermarket, a couple drug stores, a good amount of boutiques, consignment stores, and gift shops, a handful of antique stores & bookstores, plenty of banks, plenty of salons, some dessert joints, a couple of gyms, two major hospitals, and plenty of churches.
Solid cultural amenities including plenty of restaurants, bars, & cafes, several live music venues, a major theatre complex, several performing arts theaters (although mostly modern), plenty of art galleries, a decent # of museums (esp. if you include those across the river), and a couple historic sites. For regional amenities Dwtn hosts a large convention center and indoor arena.
Solid employment #s Dwtn (at least pre pandemic) of around 35-40K.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is so so but certainly could be better for a stable dwtn like Grand Rapids.
* No direct transit line from the airport to Dwtn. Takes about 1 hr. using 2 bus lines.
* Bike infrastructure is pretty mediocre. Some bike lanes in and around dwtn and decent lanes across the City but not consistent connections across the City and into Dwtn. Some bike lanes in the suburbs but not good connections into the City. There is no dedicated bike share System in the City.
* Pretty good range in prices for for-sale options but a bit limited. Some 1-bed condos that sell anywhere btwn 200K-400K, more 2-bed condos ranging from 200K-800K, Only a handful of 3 & 4 beds that are generally more expensive.
* Park and recreation space is pretty underwhelming for a Dwtn. There is a recreational trail along the east side the grand trail but it feels free urban. Several smaller plazas and parklets and 4 medium sized parks (Rosa Parks Circle, Calder Plaza, Veterans Memorial Park, and Hearthside Park). The Rosa Parks Circle was a good additional to dwtn and has provide a much needed Civic Heart with lots or programing (including an ice rink). Calder Plaza also has some events but not in the heart of Dwtn and is a pretty cold modernist plaza.
* Some more interesting medium sized high-rises along the river. But other the Grand Rapids skyline is pretty so so. Just not a critical mass of vertical buildings or other stand out landmarks.
* Good number of surface parking lots especially surrounding the two hospitals Dwtn. The number of surface parking lots around Trinity Health Center is particularly atrocious in the SE corner of Dwtn. At least the Medical Mile area is seeking lots of new construction.

Heritage Hill- Arguably Michigan’s best Historic District

The Heritage Hill neighborhood is located just to the east of Downtown Grand Rapids and is the City’s oldest residential district. It also has Michigan largest concentration of nineteenth and early twentieth-century homes, with many of them as mansions for the City’s elites. However, this neighborhood was under threat from the recking ball as City officials threatened to demolish huge swaths of the neighborhood in the 1960s. Thankfully tactful community organizing resisted these efforts and one of the best Historic Distracts was created in Grand Rapids. Heritage Hills in the present day is one of the City’s more desirable communities, retaining its historic fabric, amplified by great access to Dwtn, good housing diversity, and decent schools and food & beverage businesses. But to become a top notch Midwestern neighborhood it needs more retail and walkable amenities. This can start with rebuilding Michigan Avenues as an urban mixed-uses corridor instead of autocentric business district, and allowing more mixed uses along Fulton, Cherry, and Wealthy Streets.

Click here to view my Heritage Hills neighborhood on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

Almost all intersections have modern ADA curb cuts.
Respectable density at just under 10K per square mile.
Great historic homes.
Solid public transit access and great access to Dwtn being only 1 mile away.
Great Tree canopy.
Decent # restaurants, bars, and a couple cafes, a couple art galleries, a couple museums & historic houses and convenient access to all the cultural amenities dwtn.
Decent # of schools within the district and public schools have ok ratings
Overall pretty safe with limited blight.
Pretty good rental diversity and also affordable. 1-beds lease in the low 1Ks, 2-beds btwn 1.2K-2K, and only a handful of 3 & 4 bed rentals.
Decent # of 1-bed condos that sell anywhere from 150K-300K, decent # of 2-beds sell btwn 200K-500K including many units carved out of historic mansions. Pretty good variety for 3 & 4 bed homes selling anywhere between 250K-750K.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* One east to west dedicated bike lane and not dedicated bike stations here nor in Grand Rapids as a whole.
* Some poor urban form along Michigan Ave with large surface parking lots but improving with better urban infill. Rest of the neighborhood is pretty good.
* Not great park space within the community. Only a couple of smaller parks but more parks surrounding it.
* Retail amenities are pretty limited but include a Dollar Store, a couple clothing stores, a couple dessert joints, a couple gyms, a couple churches and a major hospital.