SperlingViews - Grand_Rapids, Minnesota

I have lived in Grand Rapids my entire life. (43 years) I always feel safe here. We don't lock our house when we leave during the day. We only lock it at night. My husband leaves his keys in his car, in the driveway, during the day. I have no fear at all, doing any shopping at night after dark. You still have to be aware of your surroundings, as a female, walking, jogging, or biking alone. It isn' t like there are no criminals here but crime is very low here. You can live you life with no fear. [read more...]

Grand Rapids is my hometown being born here in 1961. Here's the long and short of it. I love it in the summer. I hate the winter. Winters are long, gray and hard. Summers are too short. The community is built around chains of lakes and resorting. Jobs are available but the pay in poor unless you have a career/college degree and are looking at a specific profession. Hospital is a major employer, several industrial parks and Itasca County is a large employer. I say this area is typical northern redneck. Diversity means there are actually Catholics and Lutherans here. If you are a beer drinking, fishing, snowmobiling, deer hunting type of person - this is your heaven. Also a good safe place to raise a family. For the older single woman or man -- maybe not so much to offer. Housing prices are still tooooo high for the median income of the job rate of pay. In Itasca County, Grand Rapids is the hub. I have a place for it in my heart because it is my hometown ... and yet, I find I want to leave it whenever I come back for more then a couple years. It can stagnate. Not a place for singles who like the arts, intellect and diversity.[read more...]