Grand Rapids, are your ears buzzing? Because everyone’s talking about you… Here in Michigan, we recognize the Grand Rapids area as a thriving community with great job opportunities, rich cultural offerings, and top schools. Recently Coldwell Banker analyzed data for over 11,000 suburbs across the nation. East Grand Rapids ranked among the Top 10 Best Places to Live for Suburbanites. But we’re not the only ones talking about all GR has to offer: In April 2004, Grand Rapids was named as one of America's Most Livable Communities by the Partners for Livable Communities. It was also ranked fifth-healthiest town for men by Men's Health Magazine from among 101 cities surveyed (October 2002). As a matter of fact, one of the city’s most popular fitness events, the 25K Fifth Third Riverbank Run, happens each May and attracts 10,000 participants from all over the globe. Another reason people here are so healthy could be Grand Rapids’ “Medical Mile.” This designated area of downtown is home to several hospitals and premier specialty health centers such as Butterworth Hospital, Van Adel Institute, Meijer Heart Center, Helen Devos Children’s Hospital, and the Lemmon-Holton Cancer Pavilion.

Grand Rapids sits on the far west side of “The Mitten” and is the hometown of former President Gerald R. Ford. Speaking of President Ford, The Gerald R. Ford International Airport, located here, is the second largest airport in Michigan and serves more than 2 million travelers annually. Grand Rapids is home to beautiful neighborhoods such as downtown’s Heritage Hills Historic District, which is noted for featuring 60 different architectural styles. Residents enjoy boating and swimming in nearby Lake Michigan. And if you’re looking for an ever bigger city experience…Chicago is only 3 hours Southwest. There are 28 public golf courses with many only fifteen minutes from downtown making it one of the top cities in the U.S. for public golf courses-to-population ratio. Shoppers will find endless places to browse like Breton Village Shopping Center, Woodland Mall, the Wolverine Company Store, Shuler Books, Groskopfs, Lia Rose, and Off the Cuff. Grand Rapids is noted for having a commitment to the arts.

The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park  has the Midwest's most comprehensive sculpture collection. Also worth visiting are the many art galleries including Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, City Art Gallery and the Calvin College Gallery. Dubbed as the “World’s Largest Art Competition,” Art Prize is an international art competition independently organized and open to any artist over the age of 18. The competition is unique not only because of the size of the top prize (a whopping $200,000) but because that prize is judged and awarded by the public. Heritage Hill is a neighborhood in Grand Rapids, Michigan and is one of the largest urban historic districts[] in the United States. It is bound by Crescent Street (north), Union Avenue (east), Pleasant Street (south), and Lafayette Avenue (west). Its 1,300 homes date from 1843 and represent Michigan's largest and finest concentration of nineteenth and early twentieth-century houses. Nearly every style of American architecture, from Greek Revival to Prairie is represented.

These were the homes of lumber barons, teachers, judges, and legislators who shaped the city’s future. Heritage Hill was designated by the American Planning Association as one of 2012's Great Places in America. Heritage Hill is adjacent to downtown Grand Rapids and is the city's oldest residential district. It is home to about 4,400 residents and covers an area of about 3,500 acres (14 km2). Homes For Sale Roanoke Va One LevelA number of architectural styles are included in the historic district including Greek Revival, Italianate, Colonial Revival, Chateauesque, Queen Anne, Shingle Style and over 50 others. Houses For Sale Elora OnThere is also a Prairie Style house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright which was built in 1908-09.White Eyelet Shower Curtains

In the 1960s, urban renewal efforts throughout Grand Rapids called for demolishing up to 75% of the neighborhood. However, protests from residents led to the organization of the Heritage Hill Association, in 1968. The residents filed court challenges and were able to stop the loss of historic neighborhood properties under the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. This was the first such case of the use of a successful suit to protect a neighborhood's character under the Act. Today, the Heritage Hill Association provides neighbors a way of collectively building a healthy, historically preserved community where people can live and work in a secure and stable environment. Issues include land use, crime and safety concerns, preservation, parking and traffic, education and other quality of life issues. Heritage Hill was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the Michigan State Register of Historic Sites[3] in 1971. The Master Plan of Heritage Hill, approved by the city in 1988 and incorporated into the city's 2002 master plan, helped shape the restoration and development of the neighborhood's many historical properties, as did the 1992 Prospect Plan.

When the city approved the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital's parking ramp, it attached funding to carry out the prospect plan as one of the conditions. Prior to its designation as a National Historic District a number of homes were demolished. One notable home that was lost was the Bissell house, built for Melville R. Bissell (inventor of the carpet sweeper) & his wife Anna. The site is now occupied by Grand Rapids' NBC television affiliate station, WOOD-TV Channel 8. Each year in May, the Heritage Hill Association sponsors a weekend Home Tour in the Historic District that includes admittance to select homes. The Association also publishes a series of self-guided walking tours of the historic district which can be taken at any time, but which does not include admittance to the homes. Heritage Hill, despite the conditions of some of the adjacent locations, has remained very well preserved, as is evidenced by the condition of the homes present in the area. ^ /greatplaces/neighborhoods/2012/ American Planning Association, Great Places in American: Neighborhoods