I grew up in Grand Rapids, MI, and after college, I moved to Chicago for five years where I worked at an ad agency. I think being away for five years and living in a really big city gives you a different perspective on where you grew up. I saw Grand Rapids and West Michigan in a different ligh...MORE

I grew up in Hemlock, Michigan, a small town on the east side of the state. In 2008, I came to West Michigan to attend Grand Valley State University. The only thing I knew about West Michigan was that I had visited the GVSU campus and had walked around downtown Grand Rapids with my mom to see if...MORE

My journey to West Michigan began because my husband and I have a son with high-functioning autism and we were not finding the right type of inclusive environment and education for him where we lived in California. One of my friends was from West Michigan and she told us about Zeeland Christia...MORE

I am a firm believer in deciding what you want and making it happen. As native Michigander but not from this side of the state, I’m fortunate to have made my dream a reality in Grand Rapids. My last semester of college was dedicated to finding a health care public relations job in Gran...MORE

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE My boyfriend, Doug, got an internship with the Muskegon Lumberjacks in early 2...MORE

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE When my wife, Jenny and I moved here three years ago, we had two young daughters w...MORE

I was completely unfamiliar with West Michigan -- to me "Michigan" meant Detroit, because I heard about Detroit in the news all the time with rampant unemployment, a lot of crime, a place people were fleeing. But when I got to West Michigan, people were very quick to tell me this isn't...MORE

I'm originally from Puerto Rico and have been in the United States for the past 23 years. Before coming here, I lived all over -- I went to school in Boston, then moved to New York, and then Texas while I worked in Mexico. I also lived in Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.I came to We...MORE

I live in Grand Haven on the lakeshore, but grew up on the east side of Detroit. I first lived in West Michigan while attending Grand Valley State University and after graduation, and then I moved back to Detroit for 12 years. But I always had a kind of yearning to get back to West Michigan.&nbs...MORE

My husband and I are both Michigan natives but we moved to Baltimore, Maryland and then Hawaii for my job with the federal government. After having two children and being so far from family, we really wanted to move back so our kids could get to know their extended family. Both my husband and I...MORE