CASCADE TOWNSHIP, Mich. — For some young people who grew up in Cascade Township, the dream of moving back home after college isn't just difficult — it may be out of reach.
"I want to move back to the place I was raised, but it's not possible right now," said 23-year-old Zoe Lipke in November.
Lipke said she explored multiple options before giving up her search.
"I've looked for housing options, smaller houses, apartments, all those condos even, and there's nothing in this area that is reasonable for a recent college graduate," she said.
Her experience reflects a broader statewide concern. In her State of the State address, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said housing is out of reach for far too many Michiganders — particularly young people — and proposed streamlining zoning rules and cutting red tape to allow more homes to be built. State lawmakers unveiled a package of bills to do just that a week before the address.
But what counts as "affordable" varies widely depending on the community.
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The Numbers in Cascade
In Cascade Township, the gap is stark. Scott West, the broker-owner of GreenSquare Properties in Grand Rapids, said the median home price in Cascade currently exceeds $580,000 — compared to more than $350,000 in Kent County overall.
"When I bought my first home 20 years ago, it was $80,000," West said.
West attributed much of the spike to post-COVID housing inflation, which he said has dramatically stretched affordability across the board. The impact is perhaps best illustrated by a striking statistic from the National Association of Realtors cited by West. The average age of a first-time homebuyer, once 28 years old, is now 41.
"To me, that is extremely telling about how much affordability has changed just in that 15-year window," West said.
West said that even for buyers who can find something within reach in Cascade, the competition is fierce — and he expects it to intensify.
"Rates are improving, which I think is actually just going to make competition worse this spring than it has been the last two years," he said. "We're now hovering in the high fives, and I think as the general public starts to hear about rates in the high fives, that's going to sound a lot more attractive."
When asked about the diversity of housing options currently available in Cascade, West said the choices are limited regardless of type. A current listing of available homes in the township showed more properties priced over $1 million or $2 million than under $400,000, with only one single-family home listed below that threshold.
"There are very, very limited options for apartments and condos to fall in that affordable price range as well," West said.
The Township's Perspective
Cascade Township recently adopted a new zoning ordinance — its first zoning update since 1974 — which some neighbors argue does not support more diverse housing options or starter homes. Township Supervisor Grace Lesperance pushed back on that characterization, saying the conversation has largely been incorrectly framed.
"Affordability - governments and zoning can influence it, but that's really determined by the market," Lesperance said.
Lesperance said the zoning update was more than a year in the making and preceded by a strategic planning process and multiple public meetings, during which neighbors said they wanted to preserve Cascade's character and protect their quality of life. She said the loudest critics of the new ordinance are not primarily concerned with affordability — they are concerned with density.
"The real question, or the real debate, is about density," she said. "The people who are most critical and anti-Cascade zoning are the same people who — it's really an issue of density — and there are people who are making money off of the real estate market, and we didn't go dense enough for them."
Under the new ordinance, the township limited the number of homes that can be built in the rural, eastern portions of the township, increased it modestly in areas near the expressway with existing infrastructure, and placed restrictions on large-scale apartment complexes, drive-through restaurants and big box stores in the village area according to Lesperance.
Lesperance was clear that the township is not opposed to diverse housing — only to certain types of development in certain locations.
"It's not that we're saying we don't want certain types of housing," she said. "We're just making sure that the types of development that we see, new development, is in the right places at the right scale."
She noted that Cascade already has apartment buildings, condominiums and neighborhoods at various price points throughout the township, and said those options will continue to be available outside the village center.
"There are opportunities. There are all different types of housing available throughout the township — Cascade has many different apartment buildings at different income levels, condominiums, houses. We have lots of neighborhoods that are not million dollar homes," Lesperance said.
Close Enough to See, Too Far to Afford
As for Lipke, she ultimately moved closer to a job opportunity in downtown Grand Rapids and somewhere more affordable.
"I would like more opportunities. I would like to see more places being built or places being created that could house us," she said.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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