I moved back to Philadelphia after living in Grand Rapids for 9 months. Here are 5 things I miss — and 2 things I don't.

I thought the vintage and thrift shopping near Grand Rapids was some of the best I'd ever seen.

So many of my favorite thrift finds came from the stores in and around Grand Rapids. Each time I went out to try a new store, I would see a new sign for a vintage marketplace or pop-up event.

Outside downtown Grand Rapids, there are three warehouses —Warehouse One, Lost & Found, and Century Antiques — packed to the brim with secondhand home goods, clothes, and furniture across multiple floors. I adore the Philadelphia vintage scene for its local history and curated stores, but I have yet to find anything as vast as the Grand Rapids vintage warehouses.

The nearby beaches on Lake Michigan totally surpassed my expectations.

I grew up going to the beaches along the Jersey Shore and the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I didn't know what to expect when I visited Oval Beach on Lake Michigan in June 2022.

Besides the sun and sand, there weren't very many similarities between the lake beach and the beaches in New Jersey. There were ducks where I thought there'd be seagulls, and the freshwater lake was easy on my eyes and nose.

Oval Beach was small, quiet, and mellow, with a mixture of families and individuals spread out along the shoreline. Even though I came home with duckweed stuck to my body, I miss the experience of walking around the dunes and the quaint surrounding towns.

The small size of Grand Rapids made it easy to navigate and walk around.

Philly was deemed the eighth most walkable city in the US by Walk Score in 2021, but I found Grand Rapids' small size made it easy to walk around. Navigating through the downtown area in a car was also a breeze for me, thanks to the fact that the area has fewer main roads cutting through it. 

I don't use a car in Philadelphia, but I know it would take me a long time to get used to driving in its ever-busy streets.

Both Grand Rapids and its surrounding suburbs are clean, highlighting the nature around them.

One of my favorite summer activities to do near Grand Rapids was walking around quiet neighborhoods and visiting local parks.

Because they were well-kept and clean, I could really feel the separation from the city. It allowed me to immerse myself in the wildlife and enjoy all the Michigan outdoors had to offer.

A 2023 survey from lawn services company LawnStarter ranked Philadelphia among the country's 30 dirtiest cities, while Grand Rapids landed at 128. Although hand sanitizer is now a permanent resident of my purse, I understand that grime and grit are an inevitable part of living in a major metropolitan city.

I always had fun browsing the selection at Horrocks, an independent market with a garden center and vast beer selection.

Horrocks opened its doors in 2002 as an outgrowth of a decades-old family market, according to its website.

In addition to its brimming garden center, the large venue also has a hot food station and a tavern with rotating craft beers. The store allows you to make your own six-pack so you can sample different varieties at once.

On my visits to Grand Rapids, I'm always drawn to the Horrocks candy display, which often features local creations. I can confidently say I've never had so much fun at a grocery store.

 

One thing I don't miss is the particularly dry winter air, which caused problems for my skin and hair.

I bought everything from snow boots to thermal underwear when I moved to Michigan in the fall of 2021, ready for the brutal winter wind I knew would come.

I should have focused some of those efforts on buying a thick moisturizer and hair oil — my skin and hair never felt so dry, even when I wasn't leaving the house.

Even through the harshest winters in the Philadelphia area, I didn't feel my face get tight or see split ends start to form.

The snow also kept me inside more than I would have liked.

Thanks to the lake effect, a snow event that occurs when cold air moves across the warm waters of the Great Lakes, I often woke up to several inches of snow outside my window.

I found that traveling to and from Grand Rapids in the winter months was a nerve-wracking experience — I never knew if I was going to run into inclement weather that would keep me from my destination.

I made it to Grand Rapids for Christmas just hours before Winter Storm Elliot reached my home in December 2022. My Southwest flight back to Philadelphia was one of many canceled in the aftermath of the event. 

While there's been plenty of dastardly storms in Philly over the last few decades, I can't imagine walking around town in the snow as often as I did in Grand Rapids.