I have lived in northwest Michigan, about two hours from GR in a relatively small Lake Michigan community, my entire life and would have a hard time leaving the area. You can experience all four seasons, with no sustained extremes either way. My kids live in Kentwood, which is on the south edge of GR, my brother is in Ada which just east of GR and my nephew lives in East Grand Rapids. Frankly, I don't think you could go wrong anywhere is the GR area and then west to Holland and up to Grand Haven.
Weather in the GR area is typically 70's - 80's in the summer, 40's - 60's spring and fall and 20's - 30's in the winter. Snowfall is about 60" a year, but generally never more than 4" - 6" at a time and the streets are usually cleared by 6:00 or so in the morning if it is an overnight storm. Because of the varied temperatures in the winter, many times GR will received up to 4" of snow and it will be gone in a day or two.
Like any big City traffic can be a hassle, but it generally the heavy traffic only lasts an hour or so in the morning, late afternoon and maybe on getaway day of a major holiday. There are three expressways running east/west, one on the north side, one thru downtown and one around the south side. There is also an expressway that runs north to south thru downtown. I had an inspection in Howard City a week ago Friday and decided to visit with my kids for a couple of days. I ended up going north to south thru downtown to M 6 between 3:30 & 4:00. From I 96 on the north to M 6 on south, traffic was heavy but was moving between 75 & 80.
Unlike many large cities, from downtown Grand Rapids, one can go in about any direction and be in the country within about 10 minutes. As a City GR has seen some growth and a revitalization of the downtown, with a lot of the residential growth occurring in the surrounding communities that for the most part have been able to maintain their individuality. While housing prices have risen, I think anyone coming from a major metropolitan area would be surprised how much house they can get for the money.
The only drawback I can see for an appraiser being new to the market would be building up a client base. But if you are working with national AMC's or lenders, you can probably talk with them about being assigned work in the GR area.
Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. If I don't have an answer I can pull and Fernado and make something up.
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