E.M. Adams Sub.

Early evening, when the streetlights start catching the brick and the zoo's distant sounds drift over—that's when E.M. Adams Sub. shows itself best. This one-acre subdivision sits deep in John Ball Park, where 22 parks crowd the mile around you and a grocery is a two-minute walk away. The dining here is absurd for the size—348 restaurants within a mile, with coffee seven minutes out and a dog park closer still. Downtown Grand Rapids is four minutes away, the airport about 22 minutes if you're heading out. Transit runs practically at your doorstep, and if you launch a boat at Butterworth Park, you're looking at a mile and a half. Homes here run around $200K–$350K depending on what you find. You're not moving to a subdivision as much as moving into a neighborhood where the zoo is the anchor and everything else—the walkability, the eating, the actual living—flows from that.