Southtown Moving Guide

Grand Rapids was not immune from the racial tensions spawned by the Civil Rights movement. In 1967, racially motivated fights took place near the intersection of Franklin and Jefferson Streets. Even though these were minor incidents, the city’s southeast side was marked with a stigma of violence and racial tension.

Neighborhoods went into economic decline, abandoned buildings dotted the district, and thousands of residents left. In some of Southtown, this reputation for violence, loss, and poverty is still a reality.

But the reality for several southeast side neighborhoods is changing; residents and community organizations are establishing a higher standard for living and doing business. These neighborhoods have set a course for revitalization and renewal, and they are steadily achieving their ambitious goals.

For urban dwellers who want to live in culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse neighborhoods, Southtown – bordered by Wealthy Street on the north, Fuller on the east, Burton on the south, and US-131 on the west – offers an array of housing options, schools, worship centers, shopping and business districts, and community organizations.

The Southtown district's impressive assets include:

• The most public schools and educational facilities (11) of any district in the city, including Dickinson Elementary, a new middle school on Madison Avenue which will open in 2007, and the Gerald R. Ford Job Corps Center for high school students.
• Eight city parks, including Alexander Park and Dickinson Park. What's more, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Mulick Park border Southtown’s east side and offer playgrounds and tennis courts, a public pool and a boxing gym.
• Seven neighborhood associations, illustrating citizen involvement in community issues.
• Five distinct neighborhood business districts represented by active business associations.
• Nearly 30 Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Islamic houses of worship, including Madison Square Christian Reformed Church, Mount Zion Church of God in Christ, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church and Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Islamic Center & Mosque.
• More than a dozen private schools, daycare centers, and preschools, including Oakdale Christian Preschool and Elementary, St. Francis Xavier Child Development Center, and Where Little Ones Achieve Daycare Center. Many offer bi-lingual Spanish/English programs.

Working-class Dutch immigrants founded the various neighborhoods in Southtown, but today’s residents include African-Americans, Hispanics, Whites, and people of Middle Eastern descent.

The Price is Right
Mason and Ellie Wood are thirty-something professionals who live in the South East End Neighborhood Association (SEENA) with their two young children. The Woods like the proximity to downtown’s museums, and the shopping and restaurants along 28^th Street. Just a short walk from their home is Mulick Park, where they often take the kids and Charlie, their Chinese Pug.

“We like the fact that there’s not a heavy concentration of any one particular culture or group,” Mason says. “We have lots of diversity, so we have an opportunity to interact with people who are different than we are, and that gives us an opportunity to learn. It’s a good environment for our children to grow up in.”

Indeed, SEENA holds a special Kids Activity Day every year as well as one of the city’s largest National Night Out parties. And the South East Area Farmer’s Market on the corner of Franklin and Fuller opened just two years ago and has been a big success.

“The neighbors are all quite friendly,” Ellie says. “It feels safe to walk to the park and there are lots of kids and young families. I really appreciate that there isn’t any racial tension. I’ve lived in primarily white and in primarily black neighborhoods, and there was a lot more tension in those neighborhoods than there is here.”

After house shopping around the city, the Woods decided that the SEENA neighborhood, when compared to other spots around the city, enabled them to buy more house than they could have in trendier neighborhoods like Heritage Hill and still stay under $100,000.

“For the price,” Ellie says, “we got a house that was twice the size and in better condition than we could have gotten elsewhere.”

“We have single-family homes [in the neighborhood],” says Sandra Latham, community organizer for the SEENA. “The homes are older. Owner-occupied homes are the majority, with a few rental properties. We’re dedicated to preserving and rejuvenating the quality of neighborhood living in a multi-racial urban neighborhood. We organize crime prevention programs and neighborhood improvement initiatives.”

The Adams Park Apartments on the corner of Fuller and Adams provides income-based housing to physically and mentally handicapped residents and senior citizens, illustrating how housing options vary widely across the area's unique neighborhoods.

“The South Hill Neighborhood is close to Heritage Hill, St. Mary’s Mercy Medical Center, and US-131,” says Carlos Rubante, a realtor with Greenridge Realty. “You see lots of young professionals, college students, and the trendy, artsy people. Housing costs range from a single-family home for $75,000 to up to $400,000. It all depends on the condition of the property, the size, and location."

“Along South Division, Campau Commons, a low-income housing development is being demolished and replaced with new housing,” Rubante adds.

That new housing includes 92 rental housing units, a community center, and an office building with a Head Start facility.

A Collaborative Improvement Campaign
In a nearby neighborhood, the South East Community Association (SECA) targets the area's vacant and declining properties and working with homeowners and landlords to clean them up.

“We identify the houses, and, if they need to be rehabbed, we contact the owner and find out if they can fix it up or if they want to sell it,” says Sarah Smith, SECA’s executive director and community organizer. “If they want to sell it, we work with Inner City Christian Federation, Lighthouse Communities, and Dwelling Place to get the homes into the hands of homeowners or responsible landlords.”

SECA maintains a list of home seekers and calls them when property becomes available. Smith says SECA representatives personally look over as many of the properties as possible to assure that the property is in good condition.

Over the past few years, many positive changes are in place because of active block clubs, the Grand Rapids Police Department’s Community Policing Program, improved housing, and hard work by neighborhood residents. Smith encourages anyone who wants to move into the area to sit in on a block club meeting or talk to a SECA staff member to find out what the neighborhood is like.

One of the most progressive regions on the southeast side is the Madison Square Neighborhood. Neighbors and local business owners are excited by new townhouses along Madison near Hall Street; the new Avenue Apartments senior housing center, the recently completed Gerald R. Ford Middle School, and the new Madison Branch Library.

“I’m really impressed with the neighborhood,” say Ray Jones who co-owns R & L Shoes with his wife, LaDonna. “The people are very friendly. Everything is so local there, you don’t have to go far to get what you need; there’s no need to jump in your car to go two blocks.”

The Madison Square business district received a $100,000 Cool Cities grant earlier this year, and is actively pursuing more grant dollars to invest in the neighborhood. As a Cool Cities designee, Madison Square receives preferential consideration when applying for certain state and local neighborhood improvement grants.

“We’re looking to raise $100,000 to restore the SECA building at 1408 Madison,” Smith said. “We pulled pictures that showed how it was in the 1950s and it looked like a storefront with a nice porch. That’s what we’d like to take it back to, and to put two 2-bedroom affordable housing apartments on the second floor.”

Other plans include improved streets, landscaping, and public safety, multiple-housing developments, and a community park on south Madison at the old “South Field,” the former football field for South High School.

Three business districts – Franklin/Eastern, Madison Square, and Division South – are hanging colorful banners with a Southtown logo and the tag line ‘Live. Shop. Work. Worship.’

While “Southtown” generally consists of the broader southeast side region, the area represented by the three business districts has adopted the name “Southtown” and launched a collaborative marketing campaign.

Progressive thinking and a willingness to roll up one’s sleeves and get involved are moving the southeast side beyond the tension of the past and toward a future of prosperity and hope.

Directions to Southtown

From the North:
Take US-131 South toward Grand Rapids and take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.

From the East:
Take I-96 West toward Grand Rapids and keep left to take I-196 West toward Downtown Grand Rapids/Holland. Merge onto US-131 South via Exit 77B on the left toward Kalamazoo. Take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.

From the South:
Take US-131 North Grand Rapids and take Exit 83A toward Hall St. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.

From the West:
Take I-196 East toward Grand Rapids and merge onto US-131 South via Exit 77B toward Kalamazoo. Take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.

Take I-96 East and merge onto US-131 South via Exit 31A toward Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo. Take Exit 83 toward Hall St. Turn slight right onto Shamrock/Hall Conn. Turn right onto Hall St and arrive in Southtown.