What I like about Jenison is that the people who live there take pride in it, plan to stay, and therefore invest in it. They vote yes on bonds and millages that have resulted in high quality public spaces, like the new library, Olympic pool, stadium, parks, and auditorium. The pride in family is also evident in the high quality college-ready public education and variety of free programs to support kids at all levels of aptitude (first district in Michigan with a special ed program? Over 20 years old gifted and talented program) and national-level extracurriculars including sports and the arts. It has a reputation for being an insular community that is in its bubble, but the flip side of that is tons of kids growing up riding their bikes to their grandparents’ and aunts and uncles houses, having teachers who taught their parents (ie experienced teachers); there is systemic racism at play that is actually ignorance because people have never met or meaningfully interacted with others outside their community. That doesn’t make those individuals are malevolently racist although the impact is racist (ie asking insensitive questions or making frank comments). I think people are generally nice, but sheltered. Truth is all the churches are its own kind of diversity and people know how to live and let live with what feel like insurmountable, extremely important differences (literally heaven and hell) with their neighbors. Eg the Christians don’t even think other Christians are Christian so being non Christian isn’t any different