The Highland Park Neighborhood Association is beginning 2025 with a series of introduction posts of our board members. Now you’ll be able to recognize them on the street; please say “hi!”.
Alison Black
Board Role: Secretary, board member for five (5) years.
In 2018, I bought my first home – a cozy, 1930s bungalow on the east side of the Highland Park neighborhood. My search was typical of those in Grand Rapids, then and often now: protracted and exhausting. Through a crazy turn of events, I became a local poster child for a national housing crisis gaining steam. My home search and I were featured both in the Wall Street Journal and in a 2-part segment on WOODtv news.
Before that, I rented for a time on the west side of the neighborhood, in a home once owned by a war hero and former GRPD deputy chief who inspired a GI Joe doll.
Suffice it to say, my time here has been memorable!
I love living in Highland Park. Cost of living here is so reasonable for a highly walkable neighborhood with lots of green space and located 15 minutes from pretty much anywhere in the city. My neighbors are artists and musicians, tradespeople, teachers, clergy, retired military and more and we all wave and say hello. It’s an old immigrant neighborhood that reminds me of the one in which my grandparents lived, where I spent many happy summers as a kid. I felt immediately at home here. And I fairly quickly got involved with HPNA as I’m a big believer in pitching in to support what you care about. I can’t say enough about the quality of the folks who volunteer their time alongside me and I’m so proud of the work we do and the difference we make.
On the job, I’m an office manager for a local custom home builder. I deal every day with older homes needing safety updates, rising building costs, a shortage of qualified trades, scarcity of available land on which to build, and other housing-related issues. I value the role HPNA plays in facilitating conversations between neighbors, developers, and local government to work toward safe, affordable and equitable housing for Grand Rapidians.
At home, my husband and I like music and hanging with the dog and the cat.
If you would like to support the Highland Park Neighborhood Association you can make donations at our donations page. The association is entirely funded by community support.
