Grand Rapids is known as “Furniture City.” So is High Point, North Carolina.
Grand Rapids is known as “Beer City.” So is Asheville, North Carolina.
Grand Rapids is very different from either place. It sort of fascinates me, because it’s never really seen the depopulation that most other cities in the Upper Midwest have. There have been decades where the population declined a bit, but current estimates show that the city is currently at its highest population ever. And it reads like a much bigger city than it is, in some ways. The downtown area is aided by the presence of a major medical facility and several universities and colleges.
There are a ton of craft breweries and some interesting neighborhoods. The main public library rocks.
This is the first time in quite a while that I’ve spent a significant amount of time in a city I’d never visited before. And best of all, I got to hang out with a friend I hadn’t seen in almost 13 years. Bonus all the way around.
My hometown (but I don’t live there anymore). Sorry I wasn’t there to give you a tour. See you got to the Argos Bookstore. Next time!
There was one point in the 1970s when my family might have moved there. My dad was a plant manager for a furniture finish company that was based in Grand Rapids.
Interesting. Many of the Grand Rapids furniture brands ended up relocating to the Carolinas. What’s left is mainly office furniture (Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth, etc.)