Grand Rapids from up high

[guitarslingeroflove]

what's this song?

[doltbezoar]

Could you possibly have gotten more hokey music than this?

[montylewis12]

favorite city in michigan....not saying much though ;) fire up chips!

[mygirl22ward]

It's a shame the Grand River is always a lovely shade of brown......Yes, I live here and enjoyed that ArtPrize last summer, but that poor river....

[BuddhaShiva1]

I agree with SunBuddha's comment. Definitely a big downtown for a city it's size. It doesn't have a lot of really tall buildings, but it has a lot of modern buildings that are more than just a few stories. Nice views.

[qwandiddy]

Yeah, downtown GR is getting bigger and better, especially around Butterworth Spectrum Campus, Man i can hardly recognize Michigan Street. LOL!!!

[MasterMark123]

I was born in GR May 21, 1955 and moved out 45 years ago . I have never returned. It looks like it has grown into a nice little city now days ... good for you GR ! Life there must be SO slow though.. As a gay man I needed to move to a larger metro area .. has GR any decent gay life ? Is it an affirming city for people who are not main stream White ,Catholic , and blue collar ?

[AwesomeTechno15]

Grand Rapids has changed a lot since then!

Probably over 5 years ago, the city must have decided to change, cause they redid and built a lot of things. Downtown is really nice, it has shops, restaurants, clubs, and many bars.

It has mixed races, so it's not just white people there. Not any blue collar type of people go there. Though downtown is more for young people at night. I don't know if it's for gay people though, it's not like they're hicks and Christians everywhere who will judge you.

[MasterMark123]

Thanks for the heads up ;-)

[RubikFox1000]

Actually there is now an LGBT club right downtown on Division Street called Rumors Nightclub. :D

[SunshineBuddha]

Great photos, thank you. Very impressive downtown for a city of its size.

[lyonkath]

I was feeling homesick and found this video. Thanks for posting it!

[qwandiddy]

Yeah me too I used to live in GR then moved out in 2004, but this video really had made me homesick now that I really want to move back but I really dont want to becuz Michigan is one of the highest states for unemployment, so I'll think ill just stay where I'm at now

[lyonkath]

We left GR soon after the recession began in 2003. We hoped it was just temporary, that eventually the economy would improve and we could move back. That of course hasn't happened yet. Instead, however, we've been helping unemployed family members relocate to Iowa where there are jobs. Having family around helps the home sickness. Now if I could just think of a way to get Meijer to open a store here or see a commercial for Cedar Point on TV, life would be perfect! :)

[qwandiddy]

Actually, GR isn't a very good place to move back, the economy is worser, couple of my friends just recently moved out of there this past spring after couldn't find no other job for over a year after laid off. So its nothing new.

I stay in Chicago now for about 4 years but mostly low-incoming people including my friend did move from Chicago to Iowa like crazy because of lack of jobs in Chicago area so I guess you are right about Iowa have more jobs.

[RideTheRapid]

Is the last shot aerial?

[grandrapids]

Yes thats from an airplane. Some guy went up and took a bunch of beautiful pictures from up there.