The city that has it all

Tonight, I was updating my interests on my Facebook profile, and out of curiosity, tested the automatic link that is under "Current City," and was directed to a Facebook/Wikipedia page for Grand Rapids that included the history of the city, along with demographics, population, industry, economy and cultural information.

Can I just take a minute to say that I am so thankful for a city that has...

• A strong arts base (GR Symphony, Ballet and Opera, various art museums and galleries, and of course, now ArtPrize)
• A booming medical industry (Think Medical Mile's cancer and heart centers)
• Several higher education institutions (Grand Valley State University, Ferris State University, Calvin College, Cornerstone University, Aquinas College, Grand Rapids Community College, etc.)
• Numerous types of media organizations (I counted 61, which includes newspapers -- The Grand Rapids Press, of course -- TV and radio stations and online publications)
• Four Christian publishing houses (Zondervan, Baker, Eerdmans and Kregel)
• Plenty of museums (for art and area history/culture)
• A million good places to eat (And now we have Restaurant Week, which I get to go to this week!)
• Rising film opportunities (Festivals and film offices alike)
• Beautiful scenery (Go to Belknap Lookout at night.)
• Tons of festivals throughout the year (Festival of the Arts, Hispanic Festival, Celebration on the Grand, etc.)
• Concerts to attend (Meijer Gardens venue is the prettiest, Van Andel attracts national acts, and MixTape, Orbit Room and The Intersection book the smaller/local/up-and-coming bands)
• Authors to see (This week I am going to see Stephen Prothero lecture on his new book, "God Is Not One" at GRCC's Diversity Lecture Series. Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University and recently was featured on The Colbert Report.)
• So many different neighborhoods to visit (Hint: Heritage Hill, Eastown, East Hills, Belknap-Monroe, for starters) 

I think I'll stay here. :)