John Ball Park Plat

It's the zoo, mostly—John Ball Zoo sits right here, 2,000-plus animals and nearly half the neighborhood in green space, which means you're living in one of those rare spots where a major regional attraction isn't somewhere you drive to, it's your backyard. The Plat itself is modest and walkable, nine acres of smaller lots (averaging about 5,200 square feet) where homes run around $285K, and downtown is just five minutes away; what makes it work is the density of actual things within a few blocks—96 restaurants, a coffee shop an eight-minute walk down the road, a grocery store less than a mile off. Transit stops are practically on your doorstep. You're close to Grand Rapids Public Schools, with the larger John Ball Park neighborhood providing that anchor of green space and those distinctive quirks—tunnels under highways, the Mines Golf Course suspended above a gypsum mine—that make living here feel less like suburban convenience and more like being part of something with actual character.