Family friendly and picture postcard perfect, the upscale neighborhoods that make up Forest Hills include some of the most desirable places to live in Grand Rapids, the grand, garden city of west central Michigan. Forest Hills features a highly sought after and well-regarded school district, among the finest in the state, which attracts residents with children of all ages.
Beautiful single-family homes as well as townhouses and condominiums are located in wooded settings surrounded by mature pines. There are riverfront locations offering incomparable fishing, boating and canoeing opportunities, master-planned developments with parks and playgrounds and mid century subdivisions offering plenty of value for quality and square footage, because this area is one of the top ten affordable housing markets in the country.
Reflecting Forest Hills’ spirited dedication to education and the arts, the newly constructed Forest Hills Public Schools Fine Arts Center was created to enhance the artistic growth and enjoyment of the community. Nestled on a spacious green campus, the Fine Arts Center is a dramatic composition in concrete, copper and glass designed in harmony with its natural surroundings. This 1,220-seat theater is equipped with leading-edge technology that provides a uniquely effective environment for learning opportunities and staged performances of all kinds. Take in a show produced by students or a traveling production by world-class professionals. Enjoy special concerts, performances and lectures plus art exhibits by student, local, regional and national artists displayed in the lobby.
Forest Hills is a mere 20-minute drive from Grand Rapids dynamic downtown district where a spectacular array of cultural and entertainment activities beckon including the Grand Rapids Symphony, Opera Grand Rapids, St. Cecilia Music Society and Grand Rapids Ballet. From dramas and comedies to touring Broadway productions, theater lover’s can choose from the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, Actor's Theater, Circle Theater, Heritage Theatre Group and Broadway Theater Guild.
Learn about local history at the Van Andel Museum Center, view breathtaking paintings at the Grand Rapids Art Museum or the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts and a visit to the John Ball Park Zoo or the Children’s Museum will thrill the kids. A real treat is lounging in an Eames chair in the lobby of the vintage 1913 Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, while admiring the largest gold leaf ceiling in the world overhead.
Forest Hills is breathtakingly beautiful throughout the year where the lush landscaping features fabulous flowers in spring and the rich colors of changing leaves in the fall. You can play golf, canoe a river or hike a trail in a setting of natural splendor and Anglers will thrill to some of the finest fishing around on the Grand River. Lake Michigan is only 30 minutes away, offering waves and deep waters for boating, swimming and skiing plus charming seaside villages featuring quaint shops, restaurants and historic attractions.
Discover the enchantment of nearby Ada, a classic small town with gently rolling terrain, acres of parks,
bike trails and a historic covered bridge over the clear waters of the Grand River where it meets the Thornapple River. Ada's Downtown is a hot shopping destination with modern shops in an old time setting and the Gaslight District of nearby East Grand Rapids features fine dining as well as family favorites.
There’s excellent medical care available at four major medical centers and a broad economic base consisting of manufacturing, service and retail sectors. The economy is expanding, it’s a great place to incubate a new business and Fortune magazine has named Grand Rapids the "tenth best city for business in the US" offering access to a thriving region of more than a million people. It’s not only a great place for business, but Forest Hills is also one of the best places in the country to retire according to CNN Money.
Look no further because Forest Hills is THE place to call home if you want to experience all the pleasures the Grand Rapids Metro Area promises!
LOCATION
Forest Hills is located approximately 15 miles east of Grand Rapids, in scenic Kent County, Michigan. Set amidst wooded, gently rolling hills running with crystal clear rivers and streams yet nearby the I-96, one of the Wolverine State’s major highways, Forest Hills feels far away but offers easy freeway access to anywhere from its convenient west central Michigan location.
Lake Michigan is 45 miles west, Detroit is 150 miles east and Chicago is 185 miles south. Quaint surrounding towns include East Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Lowell, Northview and Caledonia. The state capital at Lansing is 68 miles east and Ft. Wayne Indiana is 135 miles south.
Forest Hills is part of the City of Grand Rapids Greater Metro Area, which encompasses a region of approximately 45 square miles with a population of more than a million people. The Grand River, a major state waterway, runs through the city center and Grand Rapids is the county seat of Kent County, which totals 856 square miles area.
TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS
Forest Hills, as part of the Grand Rapids Metro Area, the second largest in Michigan, sits at the heart of a modern transportation infrastructure that makes it fast and easy to get wherever you’re going. Forest Hills is set along the I-96, one of Michigan’s major highways, which travels east towards Lansing and Detroit as well as west to Grand Rapids and Lake Michigan, then south towards Chicago. Nearby US-131 travels north-south offering easy access to Indiana as well as the far northern reaches of the Wolverine State and a web of well maintained state and county secondary routes makes getting to work or school a breeze.
Gerald R. Ford International Airport, conveniently located in Grand Rapids just fifteen minutes away, is the primary air transportation facility serving the entire West Michigan region. The airport is located at the intersection of 44th Street and Patterson Avenue SE and offers nonstop service to major domestic destinations, with continuing service available to points around the globe. It is the state's 2nd largest airport with over 170 daily flights providing service to more than 5,000 passengers.
The Interurban Transit Partnership (ITP) operates regular bus routes, parking lot shuttles and dial-a-ride service. Known as “The Rapid”, the system serving Grand Rapids and its surrounding communities was the recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Transit System Award given by the American Public Transportation Association. The ITP connects Forest Hills by bus and shuttle with Grand Rapids, East Grand Rapids, Grandville, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming and the townships of Byron and Gaines for a one-way fare of $1.30 with discounts for students and seniors.
There are two Greyhound bus stations in Grand Rapids as well as an Amtrak station where the Pere Marquette train begins its daily service between Grand Rapids and Chicago.
BRIEF HISTORY
The Forest Hills School District was founded in 1956 when residents in 13 neighboring, one-room schools consolidated into one district to build a high school for their children. The District has grown to serve over 8,500 students, and annually gains 200-300 new students.
Forest Hills Public Schools have come to be renowned for their commitment to knowing every student’s interests and gifts. Schools strive to provide every educational opportunity that will maximize each student’s preparation for the future and ability to succeed. A community controlled Board of Education was established that has lead the way in making every decision based on "what’s best for kids."
Proof of the Forest Hills School District’s commitment to academic excellence can be found not only in the resources and programs available to students and their families but in the high test scores and famed reputation of schools at every grade level within the district. It’s no wonder there’s no more highly sought after address for families in Grand Rapids than one in the Forest Hills School District.
ABOUT EDUCATION
Forest Hills public schools are among the finest in Michigan. The district is renowned for its commitment to academic excellence and resources lavished upon its schools. There is no more highly sought after address in Grand Rapids than one within the Forest Hills School District and there’s a reason why. Average student teacher ratios are 18 to 1 in kindergarten through 2nd grade and 22 to 1 overall. There are media centers in all schools and a wide range of elective classes including choir, band, orchestra, drama, foreign languages, science, math, technology, art and communications. High school’s offer 19 AP courses, there’s a preschool program and before and after school childcare programs at all seven elementary schools.
The area is home to twelve colleges and universities including Aquinas College, Calvin College and Cornerstone University, all private, religious schools, each with a campus on the east side of Grand Rapids nearby Forest Hill. Grand Rapids Community College maintains an extensive campus downtown with facilities in other parts of the city and surrounding region.
Grand Valley State University, features a main campus in Allendale with just over 15,000 students while continuing to develop its presence in Grand Rapids with an expanding downtown campus on the west bank of the river. Ferris State University has a campus downtown that includes both the Kendall College of Art and Design and the Applied Technology Center while Davenport University, a statewide educational institution, has one of its main campuses in downtown Grand Rapids.
Western Michigan University, about an hour away in Kalamazoo, is one of the top public universities in the state and one of the top 100 in the nation. There are 255 different degree programs including 165 bachelor’s degree, 62 master’s degree and 25 doctoral programs. WMU has a student body of approximately 30,000 students with satellite campuses scattered throughout the region offering both day and evening classes for working professionals.
- NUMBER1EXPERTS™ 
