Katherine F. Gregg

There are so many great city neighborhoods for families with young children - Riverside Park, Mulick Park, Alger Heights, Wilcox Park, Marywood, just to mention a few. These neighborhoods are all affordable (great homes for under $125,000) and charming but feed in the GRPS district. Great if you want to send your kids to private schools or move into a better school district when the kids get older. East Grand Rapids, Forest Hills and Rockford all have great, kid friendly neighborhoods (you just have to look a little harder in FH and Rockford than EGR) and the best public schools in the area. The downside is that homes cost more in these neighborhoods. Resale in EGR is going to better than anywhere else and people live there for the school district and the sense of community for both kids, teens and adults. - Tue Jun 17 2008, 11:08

It depends what you consider interesting. GR is becoming a college town (Calvin, Aquinas, Kendall, GVSU, CC plus more) and as a result there are lots of young and hip parts of town with restaurants, bars, book stores, music, museums, art. If you have school aged kids, interesting neighborhoods might be those in better school districts like East Grand Rapids (EGR), Forest Hills or Rockford. If you're an empty nester and like to golf, there are some great condos on golf courses. So it really depends what stage of life you're in and what your interests are. EGR has a population of around 10,000 and is a walking community. Great public schools, fabulous new library, scenic (two lakes, walking trails), plenty of parks and recreational facilities. It's an established community with mature trees and stately homes. I could go on and since I am an EGR native. After having lived in other parts of the country for 25 years, I'm back in good ole EGR raising a family. And yes, EGR is close to downtown GR - a 5 minute drive or a 10 minute bike ride. - Wed Jun 11 2008, 13:30