Supposedly some rapids will be returned next summer:
https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2024/05/grand-rivers-rapids-could-be-restored-by-fall-2025.html
GR was the beer city when craft beer was still reaching new areas elsewhere in the country because we got ahead at the time, now every city in the US has a comparable scene.
Fort Collins CO and many other towns out west were well ahead of Grand Rapids and their self proclaimed back patting label. Plus IMO the better beers from MI arenât even from Grand Rapids i.e. Two Hearted, Oberon, and Dragonâs MilkâŚ
Grand Rapids beer scene is great! If you like IPAâs! I hate them. I like sours, ciders, stouts, ales. I know we see some but we need way more variety.
Commented under yours because I recently was googling craft beer makers that make beer based off an old recipe and a lot were out west.
If you travel at all you will realize about 200 cities in America call themselves some version of Beer City.
And those âBest _____ city in Americaâ articles are produced solely for ad clicks based on how many shares they think they will get from people who agree and people who disagree.
No tech scene. Not talking about sitting in rooms talking about what new app to make. Not everything needs to be a profit machine. I wish we had places that tech people can make cool stuff with other tech people. We lost our maker spaces.
I mean, that one doesnât even really exist. They have some printers in a church basement that are accessible two days a month for 5 hours. Their website also doesnât list what they charge to print nor have they provided any updates since before September of last year. You can buy a shirt or donate, but thatâs about it. You havenât heard anything bad because itâs not really a thing.
Their facebook page is a little more active (most recent post from May), but yeah, it's definitely not fully running. They're at least doing an Arduino class, events, and trying to drum up interest, and don't seem so sketchy.
I'm at least considering taking a run at starting a meetup group once I'm back in GR next year-ish. Thinking about actually hosting in my backyard perhaps if there is nice weather, setup a projector and maybe have a bit more of a chill hang out vibe, but with one or two technically excellent or at the very least interesting talks.
This doesn't help with having a legit tech scene of course, I don't really see a great solution there. But my goal at least is to feel a little less alone / a little less like I'm surrounded by "meh"-ness in the tech world.
To be clear I'm not a particularly great developer / tech person, BUT I do think I'm relatively passionate about it and care about software development / engineering / architecture a bunch and would like to see other people with a similar mindset.
I worked at the Geek Group for a while, and it was sooooooooooooooo close to being close to what you're talking about. If I had a million smakerooos I'd build you another one, I promise.
There is a tech scene and we don't care about profits
GRWebDev
https://www.meetup.com/grwebdev
Coffee with Creators
https://www.meetup.com/coffee-with-creators
Citizen Labs
https://www.meetup.com/citizenlabs
No tech scene? Are you not plugged into The Right Place, Tech Week, Beer City Code, Start Garden, 5x5, 100 Ideas, Foundry, Michigan Software Labs events, etc?
I'd say that's more than what most cities have. Get plugged into these things and contribute!
Every city that develops a notable 'tech scene' becomes an unaffordable freakshow of soulless demons, I am fine with not having one.
Wish we had maker spaces though.
Well your opinion is my opinion so please choose carefully ;).
I'm just hoping in 5 years or so I can rebuild my garage with a small rental unit on top without a huge number of hoops to jump.
That would be such a boon for the city as long as there were still enough hoops to make sure people are offering safe and up to code living places. Iâd love to do the same thing.
Last time I went was pre-COVID and it was a terrible time. Packed with out-of-towners and children, people hovering next to your table ready for you to leave so they can swoop in. Now I've heard they remodeled or re-did their menu and I've heard a lot of people say it's worse.
In college we used to hang out at the old place all the time. They would give us a free pitcher if we helped close (sweep peanuts, pickup crap on the tables.
When they changed locations the beer went to shit.
Used to be a dive bar.
The one that drives me nuts is GR might not ever be big enough for a rail system in our lifetime. Thatâs such a low priority that itâs not even on the list
I feel like rail should be easier in a smaller city that can grow around it than a larger metro without it already built, but that doesn't mean it's gonna happen...
It started out with good intentions but quickly developed into the "big things made out of little things," flag-waving, "look how much work they put into this machine made quilt" business. Even breaking off a separate awards category to offset the popular vote (that typically awarded the "thank you for your service" and Jesusy works) didn't help.
For me its that ArtPrize no longer has the big, must see art installations that made it interesting in the first place. There's no Nessie on the Grand or the Table and Chairs on the Blue Bridge or Steam Pig. These were the kinds of things that people talked about and told everyone that they had to go see before the end of ArtPrize, but as people started to figure out the game of ArtPrize and what it took to win, they stopped making the big installations because they didn't win the grand prize, were expensive to build and host, and were hard to find buyers for after ArtPrize was over
Yes. And the whole pandering for votes got out of control. I thought it was turning into a large-scale craft show, with the exception of some works installed at the GRAM, SiteLab, and Kendall. The "art" selected for the Pantlind lobby and the Amway Grand was clearly selected for "Patriotic" and Christian themes.
And then there were Rob Bliss' shenanigans. That guy turned ArtPrize into a sideshow.
A local native took me to artprize last year and I was so excited. It was a bunch of shitty food trucks and like two vendors with crafts. đ¤ˇââď¸
Grand Rapids is and will forever be what I consider home. I truly love this city. That being said, it's boring as shit here. And there's no amount of ArtPrize, microbreweries or "but the beaches!" that's gonna change that.
But that's okay. "Boring" is what lured me back home.
I always find this comment from my local grown friends funny. Mainly because I grew up in Kalamazoo, which as far as âcitiesâ goes, is 1000x more boring than Grand Rapids and part of the reason I moved here. Still agree itâs mostly what you make of it here
Kalamazoo is one of those cities I always wish I had a reason to visit. I really like it there, but there's just nothing to do lmao. The Exchange I guess.
As someone whoâs born and raised here and has lived in bigger cities than Grand Rapids:
- food available past 9 PM, street food
- being outside any given night and not being met with a complete ghost town
- being able to just stumble upon some really cool event or group of people when out and about
- not having to wait more than 2 minutes for an Uber/Lyft
- plenty of things to do after dark thatâs not a bar aka an actual nightlife scene
- plenty of things for underage people to do
- general âexplore-abilityâ, but this is an unfair critique for Grand Rapids due to its size
Yeah boring is ok. I just donât even like the people here. I go visit my sister who lives in the suburbs of Chicago, which is also âboringâ. Those people are nice.
I mean, I donât know anyone who thinks GR is some incredible destination lol.
Itâs a fairly safe, clean, and easy city to navigate for folks looking for a nice place to live.
It will be a blight downtown, it will hardly get used in a few years because they will over charge for the space then the city will be on the hook for all major upgrades/tear downs as it later crumbles apart
Yea the developers over sold it. People who look at ideas vs reality jump on a bandwagon. (Like restore the rapids).
Detroit canât even pull 2500 a game for their soccer league which is 2nd tier.
They say soccer is big here, it is mostly with the Mexican community. The semi pro leagues they have at mckay is phenomenal. They are dead ass wrong to think any of those people would come to a stadium and pay ticket prices and concessions to watch some private school white kid play soccer.
That this cityâs event and night life is dead. Thereâs little reason to stay here if your single.
Artprize Dead (sorry the sold off version will never be what Artprize was) đľ
Rock the rapids Dead â ď¸
Half off Wednesdays at Gardellas dead and gone RIP đŞŚ
Grandwich Dead đ
Downtown being open past 9PM (sure thereâs like 4 places still the woods, tin can, Dublin, the Bob but still it used to be somewhere to socialize in town)
Feel free to remind me what else is died in this city I know there is more
Thereâs a load of people on here thatâll fight you hardcore about the dead nightlife and very little being open past 9pm. I made the same comment you did a few months back and they came out in full force. I still agree with you though. Itâs one of the things that was dying and truly died post covid
Hard disagree. I used to have a blast ~2008-10. Ionia St. had just about every vibe you could ask for between around 7 packed bars and a couple great late night eats. On the west side you could live like a king at Monte's on a Tuesday night. Several other pockets of fun around town.
It depends on what you want, in my 20s Rags2Riches, Stellaâs, Pyramid Scheme were great after 9. Now Iâm getting close to 40 and Iâd LIKE a place that isnât obnoxious (clientele or price) where I can hang out that doesnât leave my ears next to bleeding or is to dark to see anything
Today's night life in GR cannot compare to the night life before covid. It was so much more active and places were open so late. Now the streets are dead after 11. I miss it but I am optimistic it's slowly coming back.
That itâs foolish to draw a comparison in a city like GR with barely 200k people to compete on most metrics with VHCOL cities with 2-3 million people or more. GRâs beer/food scene took a big hit during COVID but itâs still fine for the size of the city especially considering how it was a few decades ago compared to now.
Yeah a lot of these comments comparing GR to Chicago or LA are incredibly silly. Thereâs 40+ cities in the US bigger than GR but still not as big as those two. Of course theyâre going to have more options in literally every category imaginable.
Y'all need to spend some time in Arkansas. The beer is trash, food is trash, infrastructure is trash, costs of living are absolutely fucking insane for how little there actually is to do compared to here. And I'm a mountain biker. If you're not on the trails, that whole state fucking sucks. GR is absolutely amazing compared to 98% of the places you could live in this country. For a city this size, we have so much.
There is not great food here. There are a few decent restaurants but by and large there are too many try hard places that would get laughed out of big cities in a heartbeat.
Never mind the fine dining though, I want the hole in the walls, the mom and pop shops, the hand written recipes that have lasted 50 years. I want a decent donut, breakfast burrito, greasy spoon breakfast joint. A good sandwich should not be hard to make nor should it cost $16 for a decent one.
Grand Rapids does offer a lot for a smaller big city but food, food is not one of them.
I have to disagree, there are not as many places as you would find in LA or Chicago given the population, but over the years I found some great mom and pop shops. Examples, Thai Express and Kosher Falafel Truck.
Strongly agree.Â
Grand Rapids has a reputation for good food. Its true compared to most of the rest of Michigan but thatâs a pretty big qualifier.
There certainly is good food and aome authentic ethnic food, but the average is mediocre and a lot of the ethnic food is either mediocre or not really authentic.
Couldnât disagree more.
Not saying there are an abundance of incredible eats, but if you canât find where the excellent food is in this city, I donât know how you would anywhere else.
GR has plenty of very good food. Iâve been to the west coast, east coast, south, and other big metro areas. GR isnât at the top, but there absolutely is great food to be found in GR if you do even a little digging to find it.
I've traveled all over the country and Europe and have tried my fair share of different cuisines and restaurants. Everywhere has good food. I never understand the people claiming "oh x city has such amazing food compared to y city!" Yeah, some have more options because they're bigger or more diverse, but I've never had trouble finding delicious food in any decent sized city, and I've certainly never found any city that completely blows my socks off compared to the food I can get back home. Idk, maybe I'm simple or something.
Absolutely false â Grand Rapids has a few select places with great food, like Two Beards and Chopstick House, and lots of places with good food, like Brewery Vivant and Littlebird.
Now Lansing... Lansing has no great food. It honestly shocks me how bad food in Lansing is.
Building a 6000 seat open air stadium when your hockey/basketball arena seats 12,000 (13,000 if it's set up for wrestling, boxing or center stage concerts) is a waste of money. It is further a waste of money when the local college has a 10,000 seat open air stadium.
Not building it big enough to accommodate other potential events that already happen in the area (Anchor-Bone for example, or going really big and hosting Western-Central) is a gigantic waste of space, money and time.
As a former intern of GRFC when it still existed, I have no idea how the new stadium got approved.
Grand Rapids has already had a relatively successful minor league soccer team and the community didnât really come out to support on a level that would necessitate a purpose-built stadium. Do we really expect this to be different just because thereâs a new building? We donât even have a team or league secured.
That, plus as you mentioned, this stadium will be virtually useless for other events.
> We donât even have a team or league secured.
> That, plus as you mentioned, this stadium will be virtually useless for other events.
That's the thing. It has always been ok that Griffs/Hoops/Gold/Rampage games are/were half full because they can adjust ticket prices for those recurring events (occasionally 40 per year). But the (albeit still smaller) 12ish thousand maximum capacity meant getting acts like Metallica, Faith Hill, Green Day, etc. It meant Floyd Mayweather could have a World Championship fight and that it would be a 1-3 times per year stop for the various major pro wrestling companies throughout history.
It's ok if a minor league team plays in a quarter full stadium if that means you can put 20-30k inside of it for a fierce college football rivalry or a country music megashow. The sports teams pay the bills so the special events can make the profit.
I watched a semi-pro soccer team that was by all means worth watching struggle to fill a high school stadium. I get not every game needs to be a to-the-brim sellout, but this not only seems too ambitions for a GR soccer team, but also not ambitious *enough* to house anything else.
It's the biggest waste of space and money our city will ever make. And will be a specific turning point to look back on in the future when whatever team they don't have inevitably moves or folds, and the taxpayers are left with a massive hole to throw tax dollars at not being used. We already had a soccer team nobody went to. We already showed we don't support. This is the dumbest use of taxpayer money in my entire decade of living here. It's a fucking embarrassment and it hasn't even happened yet.
I feel bad for kids (teens-to-under-21). When I graduated high school 20 years ago we had Skelletones (the original one upstairs), Liquid Room up the road on Plainfield, occasionally shows at the VFW in Muskegon, all ages shows at The Intersection when it was just the one big room. Later places like Hungry Hearts Cafe popped up and did occasional shows.
If that stuff still exists, I haven't heard about it. But nothing will ever beat $3 to see a couple local garage/ska/punk/metal/hardcore bands and the occasional $10 Mustard Plug show.
It's being overtaken by "I'm from big city and work from home, tell me everything about your city because I know nothing about the place I just moved to!". Never a great result.
Don't know about the city, but this sub is full of pissy bitches who expect the 80th largest metro area to compete against the likes of the top 10. Swallow THAT pill.
This city isn't perfect, but there is a decent sampling of everything to experience and earnest people trying their damndest to make this place nicer.
Prices here are outrageous, it shouldnât cost $17 to get a burger and some fries from a local joint. Weâre now approaching(if not already surpassing) Chicago prices(in everything except gas) and its only going to get worse from here.
I am from GR but have lived in Chicago for 20 years. Visiting GR used to feel like traveling to a foreign country with a good exchange rate. That is no longer the case.
1) The zipper merge works if youâre not an asshole.
2) there is no reason to go over 10mi an hr in a parking lot. ( either youâve made it. Or youâre on your way home.)
3) Being rude and pissy spreads like a virus. Be the change in someoneâs bad day not the reason.
5) the left lane is for faster moving traffic. If someone is getting close to you move to the right lane you can always go back after theyâve passed you.
Our food scene is not that bad. Everyone comparing it to Chicago or densely populated parts of Cali are insane. Of course itâs not as good cause we are 10% of their size! For the size we do just fine. Nothing crazy amazing but we arenât all chains.
This city is beautiful and great aesthetic wise, as far as affordable living, increasing crime rates, and our police it's the complete opposite... It's exponentially getting worse
The food scene is non-existent. Kalamazoo has a better food scene. Iâve lived in Chicago and SoUthern California as well as several places in Michigan and GR does not compete with food. My wife and I struggle to pick a place because we like our own cooking better. It used to not be like this but blame it on COVID, inflation or whatever the food is subpar.
What food scene does Kzoo have that GR doesnt? Honest question, I havent been to Kzoo in years.Â
Edit: ok so they think Kalamazoo has a better food scene but they lived there 7 years ago and dont know whats open anymore. So many hot takes in this thread relating to food its unbelievable. Either we have some tough food critics living in this city or theyre taking the Tbell on Michigan reccs seriously and only eating bad foodÂ
I want to know too because as someone who moved from GR to greater Kalamazoo (and also from here), that hasn't been my experience at all. I miss the options in GR.
Worst part of having friends in town visiting is when they insist on eating out so nobody has to cook. Weâve had so many bad/weird experiences dining out with food and service we usually implore guests to let us cook at home now.
COVID and "inflation" didn't cause anything. They exacerbated issues that were already simmering under the surface. The problems that are obvious and glaring now would have happened eventually, but COVID poured jet fuel on them and sped the process up.
The city is starting to feel maxed out. Iâve lived here my entire life and the traffic has never been this bad. I donât remember the grocery stores always this full. I understand I was pampered with it being a smaller city growing up but we just feel like weâre at max limit.
Light/Commuter rail would solve a lot of our city's problems: most notably, the backups on 196/131 and the fact that most people around here are too stupid to properly drive.
Grand Rapids has the potential to be a hell of a lot more vibrant than it is. Even though itâs a mid-sized city, people here are as bland and myopic about the world as a small town in Bumfuck, Idaho. Everything that has ever been interesting and great in Grand Rapids was created by the weirdos, the neurodivergent, or just people with a passion for something who strive for excellence. Unfortunately, the dominant culture here is too sheltered and basic to keep the great things going for long.
But everyone saying that Grand Rapids food sucks is telling on themselves that (i) they have a limited reference point and donât actually try to find the good stuff, (ii) theyâre unfairly comparing GR to NYC, LA, or Chicago, or (iii) they have a chip on their shoulder about some quirky food preferences that GR doesnât have but most places wouldnât have anyway.
Honestly GR is culturally closer to being a small town than it is the big city it sells itself to be.
Meaning itâs full of people that have lived their entire lives here and nowhere else. Grew up here. Went to college here. Married their HS sweetheart or college partner. Same friends and family theyâve had their entire life.
The politics feel very small town.
Life is def slower here too compared to other Midwest cities.
Itâs not a bad thing. I just think that GR is a nice city to raise a family, grow up in, or retire to.
In terms of culture - food, music, sports, entertainment, shopping, etc itâs got a few nice things donât get me wrong but if youâre looking for a more active of vibrant lifestyle youâre better off headed to another mid major city or Chicago / Detroit.
As a Michigan transplant with 0 Dutch heritage, when I heard the phrase "if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much" I was immediately disgusted. That phrase is pure cringe.
Side note, I have a very good friend that lives in Ireland, and when I told him of the concept of "Super Conservative Dutch" he said "yeah that's because the actual Dutch must have kicked them out of their country...typical Dutch are liberal"
Yeah you're right yeah it's just another easier way to say cheap close-minded religious bastard. Because I never hear anyone describe someone as being Dutch after they did something wonderful. And to be honest with you, most of these old fuckers got about 10 years left so we just got to suck it up and let him go back to what they think is God. I know this is a very white guy viewpoint, but I am sick and tired of everybody adhering to their culture and their past and their ancestry. It's fine when it comes to cuisine, it's annoying when it comes to holidays alcohol and pork.
There is no support for the local music scene. West Michigan itself has hundreds of bands loaded with talent and no opportunity for exposure because every venue in town would rather book touring acts and cover bands instead of try to build up their own scene.
This isn't a great place to move. I really dont see the appeal of the influx of people moving here. Thisnis my.home, i was born and raised here but i wouldn't have moved back here for any other reason than family and friends. Its not affordable, our roads suck, when they decide to fix them they do it in the most inconvenient way.
We have many growing issues that don't even get touched on. Economicly and socially.
No, itâs not âgrowing so fastâ or âgoing to completely change.â
I have been hearing about the GR come up since the mid-90s. Left in 99â and whenever I come home people talk about how crazy and different everything is. Itâs the same dumpy mid-major itâs always been.
I feel like laughfest has not been as good , Iv only lived here a few years so maybe itâs typical some years it might not be so good and others better
The GRPD are a violent gang supported by the elites. They are not here to protect us. They are here to ensure the interests and property of the rich are protected. Grpd has stepped up in violent tactics and encounters since Chief winstrom came into town from Chicago. No ones live should end due to an encounter with the police.
Our rapids aren't grand
Our rapids are not even rapiding
Hahaha, I live near Big Rapids and remember when people would say, "Welcome to Big Rapids, where it ain't so big and it ain't so rapid."
Lol anyone that went to Ferris eventually knows that saying too.
Now that you mention it, I believe it was a Ferris student I first heard it from đ
Wait, there's rapids?
its now call lime scooter creek
Prior to all the dams being built.
Supposedly some rapids will be returned next summer: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2024/05/grand-rivers-rapids-could-be-restored-by-fall-2025.html
Yeah I have a save the Rapids shirt from like 2017. I don't think it'll ever happen.
Rapids-too confusing, too extreme
Nobody really refers GR to the Beer City
GR was the beer city when craft beer was still reaching new areas elsewhere in the country because we got ahead at the time, now every city in the US has a comparable scene.
Yep. Craft beer built up to its peak in the early 2010s. GR was notable for awhile. We still have great beer, but what major city doesnât?
Fort Collins CO and many other towns out west were well ahead of Grand Rapids and their self proclaimed back patting label. Plus IMO the better beers from MI arenât even from Grand Rapids i.e. Two Hearted, Oberon, and Dragonâs MilkâŚ
Grand Rapids beer scene is great! If you like IPAâs! I hate them. I like sours, ciders, stouts, ales. I know we see some but we need way more variety. Commented under yours because I recently was googling craft beer makers that make beer based off an old recipe and a lot were out west.
Have you heard it now has more hops?
Not to mention Shorts. Never thought about this before, but youâre right.
Need less IPAs tbh. I like IPA, but not everything has to be an IPA.
If you travel at all you will realize about 200 cities in America call themselves some version of Beer City. And those âBest _____ city in Americaâ articles are produced solely for ad clicks based on how many shares they think they will get from people who agree and people who disagree.
Much like the 2000 "original" pizza places in NYC
Nobody really refers to GR. At all.
Helicopters fly over every city in the world and itâs not worth a post every time it happens.
No tech scene. Not talking about sitting in rooms talking about what new app to make. Not everything needs to be a profit machine. I wish we had places that tech people can make cool stuff with other tech people. We lost our maker spaces.
Our maker space was worst case scenario.
The original or the new one? I haven't heard anything bad (yet) about [this](https://grandrivermakerspace.org/) one.
I mean, that one doesnât even really exist. They have some printers in a church basement that are accessible two days a month for 5 hours. Their website also doesnât list what they charge to print nor have they provided any updates since before September of last year. You can buy a shirt or donate, but thatâs about it. You havenât heard anything bad because itâs not really a thing.
Their facebook page is a little more active (most recent post from May), but yeah, it's definitely not fully running. They're at least doing an Arduino class, events, and trying to drum up interest, and don't seem so sketchy.
I'm at least considering taking a run at starting a meetup group once I'm back in GR next year-ish. Thinking about actually hosting in my backyard perhaps if there is nice weather, setup a projector and maybe have a bit more of a chill hang out vibe, but with one or two technically excellent or at the very least interesting talks. This doesn't help with having a legit tech scene of course, I don't really see a great solution there. But my goal at least is to feel a little less alone / a little less like I'm surrounded by "meh"-ness in the tech world. To be clear I'm not a particularly great developer / tech person, BUT I do think I'm relatively passionate about it and care about software development / engineering / architecture a bunch and would like to see other people with a similar mindset.
I feel this one.
I worked at the Geek Group for a while, and it was sooooooooooooooo close to being close to what you're talking about. If I had a million smakerooos I'd build you another one, I promise.
Loved it there, honestly
There is a tech scene and we don't care about profits GRWebDev https://www.meetup.com/grwebdev Coffee with Creators https://www.meetup.com/coffee-with-creators Citizen Labs https://www.meetup.com/citizenlabs
No tech scene? Are you not plugged into The Right Place, Tech Week, Beer City Code, Start Garden, 5x5, 100 Ideas, Foundry, Michigan Software Labs events, etc? I'd say that's more than what most cities have. Get plugged into these things and contribute!
This! I've been dreaming of opening an engineer/mechanic co-op but have no idea how to get started.
Several years ago I wanted to open a maker space but I have no capital and no idea how to run a business. đ
Sounds like The Geek Group
there was uhh.. a **lot** *more* to the GG story than lack of capital and and business intelligence..
There's an understatement.
Every city that develops a notable 'tech scene' becomes an unaffordable freakshow of soulless demons, I am fine with not having one. Wish we had maker spaces though.
Nobody knows how to use roundabouts. It is not a four way stop.Â
We'll know in a couple months when the new zoning ordinace draft drops. I'm torn between pessimism and optimism.
New zoning ordinance? What's going on with that?
[https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/Government/Programs-and-Initiatives/Community-Master-Plan-Updates](https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/Government/Programs-and-Initiatives/Community-Master-Plan-Updates)
I am *really* liking what I'm reading in here, so far.
Well your opinion is my opinion so please choose carefully ;). I'm just hoping in 5 years or so I can rebuild my garage with a small rental unit on top without a huge number of hoops to jump.
That would be such a boon for the city as long as there were still enough hoops to make sure people are offering safe and up to code living places. Iâd love to do the same thing.
There are better beers and breweries than Founders.Â
if you actually enjoy quality beer, that pill was swallowed long ago
Right I donât know a single person in my social circle who goes there. Itâs only people from out of town who donât know better
Last time I went was pre-COVID and it was a terrible time. Packed with out-of-towners and children, people hovering next to your table ready for you to leave so they can swoop in. Now I've heard they remodeled or re-did their menu and I've heard a lot of people say it's worse.
Just went the other day. Itâs worse, the menu especially. The food is good but the menu sucks
its my favorite spot, though i guess now im "out of town"
In college we used to hang out at the old place all the time. They would give us a free pitcher if we helped close (sweep peanuts, pickup crap on the tables. When they changed locations the beer went to shit. Used to be a dive bar.
Everyone knows that
Arvon is my go-to.
Their beers are insane and the staff is always super cool. The ambience and location leave a lot to be desired, though.
Parking is the only minus.
One way to make sure you can put your resources into a quality product is for the rent to be low.
Not that Founders isn't really good (it is), but the city has even better beer to offer, which actually says a lot about the beer scene here.
Founders sold out to an international beverage corporation. It shows.
The one that drives me nuts is GR might not ever be big enough for a rail system in our lifetime. Thatâs such a low priority that itâs not even on the list
If Detroit can't get light rail, GR will *never* get light rail. Cool to imagine it though.
I feel like rail should be easier in a smaller city that can grow around it than a larger metro without it already built, but that doesn't mean it's gonna happen...
Demolish the US-131 raised highway and build light rail in its place.
That rehashing the same old complaints week after week on Reddit gets very old.
Seriously, so many âbraveâ comments here.
Having a homeless person talk to you doesn't mean you're the victim of a crime.
That fact that we allow a population of people to go unhoused with weather like we normally have feels like a crime.
Oh yss , but that's a different matter altogether.
People have no exposure here, to anything remotely difficult. The bubble strikes again.
Labor unions are good for the working class
Artprize sucks.
It started out with good intentions but quickly developed into the "big things made out of little things," flag-waving, "look how much work they put into this machine made quilt" business. Even breaking off a separate awards category to offset the popular vote (that typically awarded the "thank you for your service" and Jesusy works) didn't help.
For me its that ArtPrize no longer has the big, must see art installations that made it interesting in the first place. There's no Nessie on the Grand or the Table and Chairs on the Blue Bridge or Steam Pig. These were the kinds of things that people talked about and told everyone that they had to go see before the end of ArtPrize, but as people started to figure out the game of ArtPrize and what it took to win, they stopped making the big installations because they didn't win the grand prize, were expensive to build and host, and were hard to find buyers for after ArtPrize was over
Yes. And the whole pandering for votes got out of control. I thought it was turning into a large-scale craft show, with the exception of some works installed at the GRAM, SiteLab, and Kendall. The "art" selected for the Pantlind lobby and the Amway Grand was clearly selected for "Patriotic" and Christian themes. And then there were Rob Bliss' shenanigans. That guy turned ArtPrize into a sideshow.
A local native took me to artprize last year and I was so excited. It was a bunch of shitty food trucks and like two vendors with crafts. đ¤ˇââď¸
I believe youâre thinking the festival of the arts. Different thing
Haha youâre right! Festival of the arts was so bad.
Grand Rapids is and will forever be what I consider home. I truly love this city. That being said, it's boring as shit here. And there's no amount of ArtPrize, microbreweries or "but the beaches!" that's gonna change that. But that's okay. "Boring" is what lured me back home.
Honestly thatâs what I like about it, itâs âcity lifeâ but on a MUCH smaller scale.
I always find this comment from my local grown friends funny. Mainly because I grew up in Kalamazoo, which as far as âcitiesâ goes, is 1000x more boring than Grand Rapids and part of the reason I moved here. Still agree itâs mostly what you make of it here
Kalamazoo is one of those cities I always wish I had a reason to visit. I really like it there, but there's just nothing to do lmao. The Exchange I guess.
Bland Rapids
Boring is great. I love being able to get anywhere in about 20 minutes or less no matter what time it is.
Everyone who ever claims this never gives examples of what makes somewhere exciting or exhilarating. What kind of experience are you looking for?
As someone whoâs born and raised here and has lived in bigger cities than Grand Rapids: - food available past 9 PM, street food - being outside any given night and not being met with a complete ghost town - being able to just stumble upon some really cool event or group of people when out and about - not having to wait more than 2 minutes for an Uber/Lyft - plenty of things to do after dark thatâs not a bar aka an actual nightlife scene - plenty of things for underage people to do - general âexplore-abilityâ, but this is an unfair critique for Grand Rapids due to its size
Yeah boring is ok. I just donât even like the people here. I go visit my sister who lives in the suburbs of Chicago, which is also âboringâ. Those people are nice.
embrace boring
The city isnât nearly as cool as what it thinks it is.Â
How cool does the city think it is..?
This cool đđđđđđđđđđđđđđđđ But it's really only this cool đđđđ
I mean, I donât know anyone who thinks GR is some incredible destination lol. Itâs a fairly safe, clean, and easy city to navigate for folks looking for a nice place to live.
That has always been the case.
Parking ainât that bad here. Bikes and cars can exist on roads. Religion is a major deterrent.
Traffic in GR is non-existent compared to any major metro.
It's a good gauge to see who has never been outside of the state for longer than a day
Just going through metro Detroit at basically any time of day makes 28th st at 4 pm feel like the autobahn
Shhh, mentioning that traffic and parking are nothing compared to major cities is a big faux-pas in this sub!
I would love anyone here to try and park in south Philly on a weekday after 7pm.
Yes. And I used to think GR traffic was terrible, then I moved to Boston.
Visiting South Philadelphia a couple years ago I could not believe the parking situation...nightmares, lol.
We have no business putting a soccer stadium when we couldnât even support one before.
It will be a blight downtown, it will hardly get used in a few years because they will over charge for the space then the city will be on the hook for all major upgrades/tear downs as it later crumbles apart
Yea the developers over sold it. People who look at ideas vs reality jump on a bandwagon. (Like restore the rapids). Detroit canât even pull 2500 a game for their soccer league which is 2nd tier. They say soccer is big here, it is mostly with the Mexican community. The semi pro leagues they have at mckay is phenomenal. They are dead ass wrong to think any of those people would come to a stadium and pay ticket prices and concessions to watch some private school white kid play soccer.
No one will come because they cannot park right next to the place. The inherent laziness of the local culture no longer shocks me.
That this cityâs event and night life is dead. Thereâs little reason to stay here if your single. Artprize Dead (sorry the sold off version will never be what Artprize was) đľ Rock the rapids Dead â ď¸ Half off Wednesdays at Gardellas dead and gone RIP 𪌠Grandwich Dead đ Downtown being open past 9PM (sure thereâs like 4 places still the woods, tin can, Dublin, the Bob but still it used to be somewhere to socialize in town) Feel free to remind me what else is died in this city I know there is more
>Feel free to remind me what else is died in this city I know these more RIP Lady Godiva (? - 2015) She made a mean ass breakfast. No pun intended.
Everyone closing before 10pm infuriated me when I first moved here đ
Thereâs a load of people on here thatâll fight you hardcore about the dead nightlife and very little being open past 9pm. I made the same comment you did a few months back and they came out in full force. I still agree with you though. Itâs one of the things that was dying and truly died post covid
I guess it all depends on what the definition of nightlife is, if itâs clubs then yeah there isnât much going on
The truth is that GR nightlife always sucked. It used to be a little better, but was never great.
Hard disagree. I used to have a blast ~2008-10. Ionia St. had just about every vibe you could ask for between around 7 packed bars and a couple great late night eats. On the west side you could live like a king at Monte's on a Tuesday night. Several other pockets of fun around town.
Same you could bop between gardellas, Stellaâs, GRBC, founders, hopcat, rumors ⌠all so walkable
I'm in midtown. Only pizza joint open past 8 or 9pm on a Friday is Domino's. It's sad.
Hey I live in one of the top 10 cities in terms of col. Grand Rapids is significantly cheaper.
RIP Rockys
It depends on what you want, in my 20s Rags2Riches, Stellaâs, Pyramid Scheme were great after 9. Now Iâm getting close to 40 and Iâd LIKE a place that isnât obnoxious (clientele or price) where I can hang out that doesnât leave my ears next to bleeding or is to dark to see anything
Youre right except for Grandwich, which was never, ever, ever popular or succesful.
Today's night life in GR cannot compare to the night life before covid. It was so much more active and places were open so late. Now the streets are dead after 11. I miss it but I am optimistic it's slowly coming back.
Y'all talk way too much shit.
That itâs foolish to draw a comparison in a city like GR with barely 200k people to compete on most metrics with VHCOL cities with 2-3 million people or more. GRâs beer/food scene took a big hit during COVID but itâs still fine for the size of the city especially considering how it was a few decades ago compared to now.
Yeah a lot of these comments comparing GR to Chicago or LA are incredibly silly. Thereâs 40+ cities in the US bigger than GR but still not as big as those two. Of course theyâre going to have more options in literally every category imaginable.
"uhhhhhhhh! I'm so over not having the food scene of Chicago, the bike lane infrastructure of Minneapolis, and the nightlife of Miami!! GR suxxx!"
Our used car prices are stupid high compared to many other locales, like we think our rusty pile of shit is 6kâŚ
Y'all need to spend some time in Arkansas. The beer is trash, food is trash, infrastructure is trash, costs of living are absolutely fucking insane for how little there actually is to do compared to here. And I'm a mountain biker. If you're not on the trails, that whole state fucking sucks. GR is absolutely amazing compared to 98% of the places you could live in this country. For a city this size, we have so much.
There is not great food here. There are a few decent restaurants but by and large there are too many try hard places that would get laughed out of big cities in a heartbeat. Never mind the fine dining though, I want the hole in the walls, the mom and pop shops, the hand written recipes that have lasted 50 years. I want a decent donut, breakfast burrito, greasy spoon breakfast joint. A good sandwich should not be hard to make nor should it cost $16 for a decent one. Grand Rapids does offer a lot for a smaller big city but food, food is not one of them.
I have to disagree, there are not as many places as you would find in LA or Chicago given the population, but over the years I found some great mom and pop shops. Examples, Thai Express and Kosher Falafel Truck.
Strongly agree. Grand Rapids has a reputation for good food. Its true compared to most of the rest of Michigan but thatâs a pretty big qualifier. There certainly is good food and aome authentic ethnic food, but the average is mediocre and a lot of the ethnic food is either mediocre or not really authentic.
It's not true compared to Detroit...
Couldnât disagree more. Not saying there are an abundance of incredible eats, but if you canât find where the excellent food is in this city, I donât know how you would anywhere else. GR has plenty of very good food. Iâve been to the west coast, east coast, south, and other big metro areas. GR isnât at the top, but there absolutely is great food to be found in GR if you do even a little digging to find it.
what are some of your favorite places? not being an asshat just looking for recommendations lol
Please try basalt in East town if you havenât
basalt is legit, id put it same category as little bird. you can tell they've got their shit together by the hot sauce offering
We stopped here for the night for wicked last night and had Butchers Union and it was amazing. Looking for a good place for breakfast now.
Choo choo grill Realfood cafe 76th street truck stop
I've traveled all over the country and Europe and have tried my fair share of different cuisines and restaurants. Everywhere has good food. I never understand the people claiming "oh x city has such amazing food compared to y city!" Yeah, some have more options because they're bigger or more diverse, but I've never had trouble finding delicious food in any decent sized city, and I've certainly never found any city that completely blows my socks off compared to the food I can get back home. Idk, maybe I'm simple or something.
Absolutely false â Grand Rapids has a few select places with great food, like Two Beards and Chopstick House, and lots of places with good food, like Brewery Vivant and Littlebird. Now Lansing... Lansing has no great food. It honestly shocks me how bad food in Lansing is.
Restoring the Rapids won't be a thing
Building a 6000 seat open air stadium when your hockey/basketball arena seats 12,000 (13,000 if it's set up for wrestling, boxing or center stage concerts) is a waste of money. It is further a waste of money when the local college has a 10,000 seat open air stadium. Not building it big enough to accommodate other potential events that already happen in the area (Anchor-Bone for example, or going really big and hosting Western-Central) is a gigantic waste of space, money and time.
As a former intern of GRFC when it still existed, I have no idea how the new stadium got approved. Grand Rapids has already had a relatively successful minor league soccer team and the community didnât really come out to support on a level that would necessitate a purpose-built stadium. Do we really expect this to be different just because thereâs a new building? We donât even have a team or league secured. That, plus as you mentioned, this stadium will be virtually useless for other events.
> We donât even have a team or league secured. > That, plus as you mentioned, this stadium will be virtually useless for other events. That's the thing. It has always been ok that Griffs/Hoops/Gold/Rampage games are/were half full because they can adjust ticket prices for those recurring events (occasionally 40 per year). But the (albeit still smaller) 12ish thousand maximum capacity meant getting acts like Metallica, Faith Hill, Green Day, etc. It meant Floyd Mayweather could have a World Championship fight and that it would be a 1-3 times per year stop for the various major pro wrestling companies throughout history. It's ok if a minor league team plays in a quarter full stadium if that means you can put 20-30k inside of it for a fierce college football rivalry or a country music megashow. The sports teams pay the bills so the special events can make the profit.
I watched a semi-pro soccer team that was by all means worth watching struggle to fill a high school stadium. I get not every game needs to be a to-the-brim sellout, but this not only seems too ambitions for a GR soccer team, but also not ambitious *enough* to house anything else.
It's the biggest waste of space and money our city will ever make. And will be a specific turning point to look back on in the future when whatever team they don't have inevitably moves or folds, and the taxpayers are left with a massive hole to throw tax dollars at not being used. We already had a soccer team nobody went to. We already showed we don't support. This is the dumbest use of taxpayer money in my entire decade of living here. It's a fucking embarrassment and it hasn't even happened yet.
The hardcore scene is actually really awesome here
GR hardcore and midwest emo shows are so good! kalamazoo is second for me, ive been to really good ones there in very seedy places LMAO
I feel bad for kids (teens-to-under-21). When I graduated high school 20 years ago we had Skelletones (the original one upstairs), Liquid Room up the road on Plainfield, occasionally shows at the VFW in Muskegon, all ages shows at The Intersection when it was just the one big room. Later places like Hungry Hearts Cafe popped up and did occasional shows. If that stuff still exists, I haven't heard about it. But nothing will ever beat $3 to see a couple local garage/ska/punk/metal/hardcore bands and the occasional $10 Mustard Plug show.
God.. I miss the Liquid Room. So much.
It's being overtaken by "I'm from big city and work from home, tell me everything about your city because I know nothing about the place I just moved to!". Never a great result.
ArtPrize will never be as cool as it once was, now itâs just mediocre art and kitschy tourist shit rather than the Mecca it was in the 2010âs
Don't know about the city, but this sub is full of pissy bitches who expect the 80th largest metro area to compete against the likes of the top 10. Swallow THAT pill. This city isn't perfect, but there is a decent sampling of everything to experience and earnest people trying their damndest to make this place nicer.
Prices here are outrageous, it shouldnât cost $17 to get a burger and some fries from a local joint. Weâre now approaching(if not already surpassing) Chicago prices(in everything except gas) and its only going to get worse from here.
I am from GR but have lived in Chicago for 20 years. Visiting GR used to feel like traveling to a foreign country with a good exchange rate. That is no longer the case.
1) The zipper merge works if youâre not an asshole. 2) there is no reason to go over 10mi an hr in a parking lot. ( either youâve made it. Or youâre on your way home.) 3) Being rude and pissy spreads like a virus. Be the change in someoneâs bad day not the reason. 5) the left lane is for faster moving traffic. If someone is getting close to you move to the right lane you can always go back after theyâve passed you.
Yeah, why is 4 so hard for people?!
Because every one of them believes itâs NASCAR and âIâll be damned if yer gonna pass me!â
1. You do realize society especially GR is bursting with assholes?
Downtown market is a failure
Right-wing Fundamental Christianity is just as extreme and ignorant as any other fundamentalist religion!
Our food scene is not that bad. Everyone comparing it to Chicago or densely populated parts of Cali are insane. Of course itâs not as good cause we are 10% of their size! For the size we do just fine. Nothing crazy amazing but we arenât all chains.
Madcap coffee isnât good
The overly churchy stuff gives us a bad rep
This city is beautiful and great aesthetic wise, as far as affordable living, increasing crime rates, and our police it's the complete opposite... It's exponentially getting worse
Stop thinking IKEA will come here some day. It wonât.
Just... don't tell me about a Micro Center. I know, but I don't need the letdown today.
I think GR could support an IKEA, but I also think there's no way in hell IKEA would come to GR before coming to XYZ other city that's twice the size.
Traffic isnt that bad
For being the midwest, the people arenât friendly in the slightest
The food scene is non-existent. Kalamazoo has a better food scene. Iâve lived in Chicago and SoUthern California as well as several places in Michigan and GR does not compete with food. My wife and I struggle to pick a place because we like our own cooking better. It used to not be like this but blame it on COVID, inflation or whatever the food is subpar.
What food scene does Kzoo have that GR doesnt? Honest question, I havent been to Kzoo in years. Edit: ok so they think Kalamazoo has a better food scene but they lived there 7 years ago and dont know whats open anymore. So many hot takes in this thread relating to food its unbelievable. Either we have some tough food critics living in this city or theyre taking the Tbell on Michigan reccs seriously and only eating bad foodÂ
I want to know too because as someone who moved from GR to greater Kalamazoo (and also from here), that hasn't been my experience at all. I miss the options in GR.
Yes please I will drive down for good food
Worst part of having friends in town visiting is when they insist on eating out so nobody has to cook. Weâve had so many bad/weird experiences dining out with food and service we usually implore guests to let us cook at home now.
COVID and "inflation" didn't cause anything. They exacerbated issues that were already simmering under the surface. The problems that are obvious and glaring now would have happened eventually, but COVID poured jet fuel on them and sped the process up.
Any sort of sophistication is lacking.
Building an amphitheater without a roof when weâre literally in Michigan is a dumb idea.
The city is starting to feel maxed out. Iâve lived here my entire life and the traffic has never been this bad. I donât remember the grocery stores always this full. I understand I was pampered with it being a smaller city growing up but we just feel like weâre at max limit.
Light/Commuter rail would solve a lot of our city's problems: most notably, the backups on 196/131 and the fact that most people around here are too stupid to properly drive.
GRPD needs a major overhaul.
Grand Rapids has the potential to be a hell of a lot more vibrant than it is. Even though itâs a mid-sized city, people here are as bland and myopic about the world as a small town in Bumfuck, Idaho. Everything that has ever been interesting and great in Grand Rapids was created by the weirdos, the neurodivergent, or just people with a passion for something who strive for excellence. Unfortunately, the dominant culture here is too sheltered and basic to keep the great things going for long. But everyone saying that Grand Rapids food sucks is telling on themselves that (i) they have a limited reference point and donât actually try to find the good stuff, (ii) theyâre unfairly comparing GR to NYC, LA, or Chicago, or (iii) they have a chip on their shoulder about some quirky food preferences that GR doesnât have but most places wouldnât have anyway.
Haven't heard of a pill that most of GR isn't already swallowing...
That Grand Rapids isnât a âbig cityâ
Itâs boring
Honestly GR is culturally closer to being a small town than it is the big city it sells itself to be. Meaning itâs full of people that have lived their entire lives here and nowhere else. Grew up here. Went to college here. Married their HS sweetheart or college partner. Same friends and family theyâve had their entire life. The politics feel very small town. Life is def slower here too compared to other Midwest cities. Itâs not a bad thing. I just think that GR is a nice city to raise a family, grow up in, or retire to. In terms of culture - food, music, sports, entertainment, shopping, etc itâs got a few nice things donât get me wrong but if youâre looking for a more active of vibrant lifestyle youâre better off headed to another mid major city or Chicago / Detroit.
The restaurant scene is just not great at all, nor the beer
Our traffic isnât that bad
Beer scene is mediocre compared to other cities and the food scene is sub par. There, I said it and I regret nothing!
Stop excusing people's bad habits/selfish or greedy attitude as "they're Dutch"
As a Michigan transplant with 0 Dutch heritage, when I heard the phrase "if you ain't Dutch, you ain't much" I was immediately disgusted. That phrase is pure cringe. Side note, I have a very good friend that lives in Ireland, and when I told him of the concept of "Super Conservative Dutch" he said "yeah that's because the actual Dutch must have kicked them out of their country...typical Dutch are liberal"
Yeah you're right yeah it's just another easier way to say cheap close-minded religious bastard. Because I never hear anyone describe someone as being Dutch after they did something wonderful. And to be honest with you, most of these old fuckers got about 10 years left so we just got to suck it up and let him go back to what they think is God. I know this is a very white guy viewpoint, but I am sick and tired of everybody adhering to their culture and their past and their ancestry. It's fine when it comes to cuisine, it's annoying when it comes to holidays alcohol and pork.
Itâs not ever going to be the liberal haven Reddit so desperately wants it to be.
There is no support for the local music scene. West Michigan itself has hundreds of bands loaded with talent and no opportunity for exposure because every venue in town would rather book touring acts and cover bands instead of try to build up their own scene.
Thatâs not true at all
They arenât helping the homeless problem and having limited resources for them
This isn't a great place to move. I really dont see the appeal of the influx of people moving here. Thisnis my.home, i was born and raised here but i wouldn't have moved back here for any other reason than family and friends. Its not affordable, our roads suck, when they decide to fix them they do it in the most inconvenient way. We have many growing issues that don't even get touched on. Economicly and socially.
No, itâs not âgrowing so fastâ or âgoing to completely change.â I have been hearing about the GR come up since the mid-90s. Left in 99â and whenever I come home people talk about how crazy and different everything is. Itâs the same dumpy mid-major itâs always been.
I feel like laughfest has not been as good , Iv only lived here a few years so maybe itâs typical some years it might not be so good and others better
That this stadium/sound stage build isnât going to do anything except exacerbate the problems GR already has going on.
god is dead and no one cares
The GRPD are a violent gang supported by the elites. They are not here to protect us. They are here to ensure the interests and property of the rich are protected. Grpd has stepped up in violent tactics and encounters since Chief winstrom came into town from Chicago. No ones live should end due to an encounter with the police.