KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Kent County is growing, especially when it comes to its young adult population.
In 2000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 85,767 people between the ages of 25 and 34 were living in Kent County. Twenty years later in 2020, that population grew to 101,273, a 15,000-person increase, the largest of any county in Michigan.
The trend has continued to today, according to Katie Bourgois, a Grand Rapids area realtor who says one in four of her clients are young adults who want to move to Kent County.
"I think Grand Rapids offers a great balance," she said. "We have strong job opportunities. Our downtown is obviously growing like crazy. We've got an evolving food scene, concerts, sports."
Around a decade ago, when Bourgois and her husband moved to Kent County from the Lansing area, they also contributed to this growth.
"We always have this saying that the west side is the best side," she said. "It’s always been a great place to raise a family."
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For Evan Phillips and his fiancée, Morgan Lentz, the Medical Mile brought them to Kent County from Madison, Wisconsin as the latter's plastic surgery residency landed her at Corewell Health.
"Grand Rapids was definitely at the top of our list for the destinations," Phillips said. "It felt like a natural fit."
After nearly a year of living in Michigan's fourth most populous county, Phillips says he and Lentz have attended a Grand Rapids Griffins game, tried out new restaurants like Black Napkin and traveled to beaches on Lake Michigan.
"We're pretty excited about the amphitheater and the new soccer stadium," he added.
Living in a home in the Creston neighborhood, the two are residents of a fast growing area, according to Bourgois.
"I find that a lot of our first time home buyers, they gravitate toward Alger Heights, Fulton Heights, Creston, Riverside Gardens," she said. "They really want that walkability to restaurants and coffee shops and to be within ten minutes of downtown."
When these people leave their age demographic, Bourgois says they also often leave the city and move to the surrounding suburbs that offer "newer houses, more space, more land."
When Lentz finishes her residency, Lentz says they may move baack to Wisconsin, though Kent County is making its case for staying.
"It's definitely not out of the question," he said.
