Grand Rapids

Beer City, ArtPrize, and a downtown that just keeps growing.

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About Grand Rapids

Michigan's second city, with serious gravity of its own.

Grand Rapids is West Michigan's anchor and Michigan's second-largest city. The downtown sits on the Grand River, with a high-density skyline that has grown faster than almost any other Midwestern downtown over the past 15 years. CNN named it one of America's 10 Best Towns to Visit in 2024 for its creative energy and inventive dining.

The brand that defined the modern era is ArtPrize. The city-wide public art competition draws upwards of 800,000 visitors each fall, awards more than $300,000 in prizes (including a $100,000 public grand prize), and turns 200-plus restaurants, 11 breweries, and five museums into one giant gallery for two weeks.

Founders Brewing Co. and Brewery Vivant anchor a craft-beer scene that earned the city the Beer City USA title. The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park covers 158 acres with 300 sculptures, including Rodin, Ai Weiwei, and Louise Bourgeois.

Lifestyle

What life looks like here.

Dining & Shopping

Founders Brewing, Brewery Vivant, and HopCat anchor the craft-beer scene. The downtown food culture has a deep bench: chef-driven restaurants, a working farmers market, and a neighborhood food truck network.

Parks & Outdoors

Frederik Meijer Gardens (158 acres, 300 sculptures), Riverside Park, Millennium Park, and the Grand River trail system. Add the West Michigan lakeshore and Lake Michigan beaches within an hour.

Schools

Grand Rapids has a complex school landscape: Grand Rapids Public Schools serves the city, but East Grand Rapids and Forest Hills (in the suburbs) are among Michigan's top-rated districts and shape much of the family housing market.

Things to Do

ArtPrize each fall, Meijer Gardens year-round, Van Andel Arena concerts, Grand Rapids Public Museum, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, and a downtown calendar with festivals nearly every weekend in summer.

Local Favorites

Places worth knowing.

Annual Event

ArtPrize

The world's most attended public art event. Over 800,000 visitors each fall, $300,000 in prizes, and the entire downtown turns into an open-air gallery.

Culture

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

158 acres, 300 sculptures, conservatories, and 2026's monumental Dale Chihuly exhibit running May through November.

Dining

Founders Brewing Co.

The taproom that helped put Beer City USA on the national craft-beer map. Beer, food, and one of the most-photographed brewery patios in the country.

Sports

Van Andel Arena

The downtown anchor for arena concerts, the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL hockey), and major touring events.

Culture

Grand Rapids Public Museum

Michigan's third-oldest museum, with a working planetarium, a 1928 carousel, and rotating exhibitions on river life and design.

Outdoors

Millennium Park

Roughly 1,500 acres of lakes, beach, splash pad, and trails on the city's southwest edge. One of the largest urban parks in the country.

Education

Grand Rapids School Districts.

The Grand Rapids school landscape is unusually layered. Grand Rapids Public Schools is the city district, with the City High Middle School consistently ranked as one of the top public schools in Michigan. East Grand Rapids Public Schools (in the adjacent city of East Grand Rapids) is one of the highest-performing districts in the state.

The Forest Hills Public Schools district serves the eastern suburbs with three comprehensive high schools (Forest Hills Central, Northern, and Eastern), all top-ranked. Buyers shopping for schools should match the address carefully to district lines.

Top Tier East GR Schools

3 Forest Hills High Schools

City High Statewide Top Rank

Layered District Boundaries