Lifestyle
Michigan’s second-largest metropolitan area offers a dynamic, community-centered lifestyle that revolves around friendly, tree-lined neighborhoods and first-rate attractions. Fine restaurants, lively nightclubs, elegant performance centers, celebrated museums, trendy boutiques, and recreational amenities combine to place Greater Grand Rapids in a class of its own. With its growing economy, outstanding quality of life, and low cost of living, Grand Rapids is attracting an increasingly diverse and sophisticated population. Professionals from around the world are relocating to this Midwestern jewel with a level of cultural enrichment that is rarely found in regions of a similar size. Highlights include the nationally recognized Grand Rapids Symphony, the nation’s second-largest community theatre, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, and Michigan’s only opera and professional ballet companies. Even the spectacular 125-acre botanical garden includes a 30-acre sculpture park, rated one of the finest in the world.

Downtown Grand Rapids is experiencing a renaissance of exciting development, transforming the already dramatic skyline with new construction. More than 20 distinctive neighborhoods in Grand Rapids, from trendy Eastown to historic Heritage Hill, combine with scores of suburban communities and rural small villages to cater to every lifestyle. Lush parks filled with sports and recreational facilities and amenities are available for public enjoyment or as a backdrop for scores of outstanding recreation programs. Greater Grand Rapids is located near the shores of scenic Lake Michigan, making it easy for residents to enjoy boating, sailing, yachting, water-skiing, and other water sports. Professional and minor-league sports draw enthusiastic crowds to exciting events for baseball, hockey, and arena football. Dozens of public and private golf courses are available within an easy drive, and downhill or cross-country ski areas spring to life when the snow flies each winter. Around the four seasons and for every reason, Greater Grand Rapids is a wonderful place to call home.