New Kensington Add.

The streets here are lined with the kind of compact 1910s homes that make you realize how much space we've collectively decided to waste everywhere else—little brick boxes with character, packed onto 0.11-acre lots that actually feel neighborly instead of isolating. New Kensington Add. sits right in the heart of Garfield Park, a 10-acre slice of Grand Rapids Public Schools territory where you're about 8 minutes on foot from a taco stand and roughly 60 restaurants within a mile if you're willing to wander a bit. The nearest transit stop is basically your front steps, downtown is a 7.8-minute drive away, and homes run around $167K—which, in a neighborhood with access like this, shouldn't surprise you. Plaster Creek Family Park is a short walk, there are seven parks within a mile, and the whole thing has the feeling of someone's actually thought about what a place should be, instead of just selling you the same suburban plot in a thousand different towns.