This area is rapidly developing into a luxury/trendy/artsy neighborhood.

New to Grand Rapids mi...

Both CH and DW should be crossed off your list without hesitation but if you absolutely had no other option I guess I'd say Deanwood, if you've got a kid make sure he/she's a black belt b4 letting them frolic at the Rec Center, unless you're cool with them coming home shoeless/coatless etc.If you like hearing rapid gunfire, smelling weed 24/7, stolen cars flying up and down the block 24/7 and a complete feeling of lawlessness then move on in (oh the occasional naked people on PCP running around make for an interesting sight too).

The risk here is we don't know how much higher rates would be which could make the refinance not make as much sense and I don't see how we could continue with this rapid inflation of housing prices.  

There is also a large group in Ann Arbor and one in the Grand Rapids area.

For CA in an area with rapid rent appreciation, some might consider those pretty good numbers, although personally I am worried about what happens to rents in a few years when our cash crop moves mostly from personal grows to commercial operations -- for me it's a short to medium term play in the area.   

Kalamazoo, East Lansing (Lansing), Ann Arbor (better to get Ypsilanti bordering Ann Arbor) and definitely Grand Rapids.

Also the STL Post Dispatch has a homicide map which is also good for getting a feel for how shooty a neighborhood is.A demographic map would also come in handy but may be out of date as that data is usually compiled every decade and STL is changing fairly rapidly in places.

The percentage of investor ownership is rapidly increasing.

You're living in the past and electricity rates have gone up rapidly.