Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan with a population of just under 200,000 in the city limits, and nearly 600,000 in the surrounding county. The federal West Michigan metropolitan area, which includes Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Holland (and some intervening farmland), has 1,125,000 people.
Get in
Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) is the airport for Grand Rapids and Kent County and has daily flights (sometimes several) from most of the country's major hubs. (Although it has customs facilities for direct international flights, in practice it has very few.)
Major highways to Grand Rapids include I-196 (from the Chicago area), I-96 (from Muskegon, or from Lansing/Detroit), and US-131 (from Kalamazoo, or from northern Michigan).
Amtrak offers daily evening service from Chicago's Union Station on its Pere Marquette run. Greyhound also offers bus service to Grand Rapids from various Michigan cities.
Get Around
Like most mid-sized U.S. cities, an automobile is the most convenient means of getting around, with convenient free parking available most places outside of downtown. Parking downtown can be inconvenient and somewhat costly on weekdays and during major events (e.g. arena concerts). Walking within the immediate downtown area is pleasant enough in good weather, and generally safe.
Several taxi companies operate in the city, and cabs can be picked up at designated locations such as the airport, or by calling their dispatcher; cabs are not hailed on the street.
"The Rapid" bus service has a terminal downtown, and routes throughout the city and its suburbs, running early mornings through late evenings on weekdays. Several routes run with less frequent service on Saturdays and Sundays. The buses are clean, safe, and generally on-time.
Street addresses identify the quadrant of the city by adding NW, NE, SW, or SE after the full street name. This is the same system used by Washington (D.C.), but Grand Rapids doesn't have the capital's confusing system of alphabetic and numerical street names. There are a few numbered streets just northwest of downtown, but most of the numbered streets are from 28th Street and out on the south side; the far north side instead has Three Mile Road, Four Mile Road, etc. Generally speaking, east-west roads are called "Street" and north-south roads are called "Avenue", but there are plenty of exceptions. The only roads where addresses are given as "1234 East Something Street" are the two that divide the city (and therefore aren't in the quadrants): Division Avenue and Fulton Street. ("East Paris", for example, is a north-south avenue on the east side of the city. Note: There is also a Paris Avenue in Grand Rapids that runs parallel to East Paris.) There is an East Beltline – a divided highway but not a limited-access freeway – traveling north-south just out of the city limits. The South Beltline (M-6) is a new east-west freeway south of 60th Street.
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