Big Rapids Blah?? (Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing: home, school, university)

SWV · 06-09-2008, 05:36 PM

In 2 months I will be moving to Big Rapids as a college student at Ferris State, I'm from a pretty mid sized city (Kalamazoo) and we have lots to do.

But when I started to surf the magnificent internet for Big Rapids I came to realize it is a boring small town far away from any major city (Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Chicago, Lansing and etc.)

I know I will be studying and paying more attention to my studies for school, but what do young people like me do there?

And at the rate gas going, I will NOT be traveling a lot.

mackinac81 · 06-09-2008, 06:20 PM

Actually Big Rapids has more stuff than you might think. Suffice it to say it has all of the basic stuff that Portage has (Walmart, Meijer, Bennigans, etc...) but not much more. It's definitely more than a crossroads with a blinking light. But outside of BR, you won't find much. It's an hour north of GR and an hour south of Cadillac. Reed city is a nice town, but nothing for a college student to do there.

I know this simply from driving through the town on my way up north. As for night life, I'll leave that to someone from Big Rapids.

intelfan11315 · 06-09-2008, 07:24 PM

I have some buddies that go there, and they love it. it really depends on your interests. Obviously there isn't a lot to do out there.. its Big Rapids.. lol I think the main thing to really do is go to bars and go to parties. There aren't really any activites that go on in Big Rapids, lol. All of my friends that go there like it a lot, but they are all serious beer drinkers who really like drinking, lol. I wish you the best of luck in Big Rapids.

Rapunzll · 06-09-2008, 07:28 PM

Big Rapids isn't all that far from GR, maybe an hour. I have worked there on a Fed Govt. survey from time to time, and although I have worked all over the state, the people in BR always seemed the nicest.

Jacks1961 · 11-09-2009, 09:56 AM

What is the closest airport to Big rapids, where I can travel to cities like sfo? Thanks

redheadbuster · 12-21-2010, 08:40 PM

The closest airport to BR is Grand Rapids, about an hour away or you can go to the big one, Detroit Metro, about 4 hours away.
I lived in Big Rapids for about a year and I loved it. I moved from Redford, outside Detroit, so BR was a pleasant change for me. I am past the college age, but there is still plenty to do besides get drunk and be stupid. I lived on the east side of BR, and that was awesome; it is far enough away from all the bulls#@% that goes on in the city, but still puts you close enough to get to the stores. It all depends on if you enjoy the small town life or the big time scene; I grew up in a town of 5,000, so Br was perfect for me.
Before BR, I lived in Evart, about 26 miles northeast of BR, for 3 years. Evart was a town of 1,738 when I lived there, and finally decided that that was too small, and I got tired of driving 1/2 hour to get to Wal-mart or Meijer.

bmaneke · 02-16-2011, 06:19 PM

Big Rapids DOES in fact have an airport, no it's not a huge international hub for commercial airliners, but it is a fine municipal airport. Also it will be seeing improvments within the next year which will give it charter abilities.

timeofseasons · 02-17-2011, 10:40 PM

Don't expect Big Rapids to be ( because it's a small town) like East Lansing, or Kalamazoo or even Battle Creek. It also doesn't seem like an area that can even grow, but because Ferris State University is there you should expect something. It's only about an hour from Grand Rapids. It is also located an hour from Mt. Pleasant ( home to Central Michigan University). I have known of people driving an hour from Big Rapids to see a movie. I know of people who like the area and others who don't.

jaj121159 · 02-19-2011, 06:00 PM

If the OP is from Kalamazoo and doesn't like B.R. Go to Western. Actually B.R. is a nice town and has a lot to do. The night life isn't great, but there still is some. If a person can't find something to do in a town like B.R. they don't belong there.

CoolSocks · 02-26-2011, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaj121159

If the OP is from Kalamazoo and doesn't like B.R. Go to Western. Actually B.R. is a nice town and has a lot to do. The night life isn't great, but there still is some. If a person can't find something to do in a town like B.R. they don't belong there.

Well it didn't seem like the OP even visited BR before making the assumption that the town was boring, they just looked it up online. Nothing beats an actual face-to-face visit. I wonder if it worked out for him/her.