Grand Rapids makes AARP Magazine's Top 10 Places to Live

From MLive

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Wallet-friendly entertainment events such as ArtPrize and an affordable housing market helped Grand Rapids make it onto the AARP Magazine’s 2013 list of “Best Places to Live.”

The 10-city list, announced on Tuesday, Oct. 8, looked for communities in which retirees could live comfortably for $30,000 a year, said Gabrielle Redford, an editor with the magazine.

Free events like ArtPrize and low-cost tickets to sporting events like the Grand Rapids Griffins games helped put Grand Rapids on the list, Redford said.

“Do they have inexpensive things to do? That’s where Grand Rapids really rose to the top,” said Redford, a resident of suburban Washington, D.C. who said she was fascinated by the ArtPrize competition.

Redford said the list focused on communities where seniors with little more than a Social Security income could still live comfortably.

With a median home price of $114,200, Redford said Grand Rapids residents also have more money to spend on other activities. Median property taxes were listed at $1,830.

The magazine also cited the craft beer at HopCat, “the nation’s No. 1 brew pub” and the “Beer City USA” designation.

Other cities on the list were Bangor, Maine; the Daytona/Delton/Ormond Beach area in Florida; Erie, Penn., Greenville, South Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; Pocatello, Idaho, Pueblo, Colo.; Sherman/Dennison, Texas and South Bend, Ind..

Additional information on magazine’s list of “ Best Places to Live” can be found in the October/November issue or online at http://www.aarp.org/magazine/.