MUSKEGON, MI - Marty Ferriby didn't intend to be a pioneer when she moved into a new home steps from downtown Muskegon - it just better fit her lifestyle.

But she likes the idea that she and her husband, Roger Rapaport, are among the first to move into the brand-new Midtown Square neighborhood.

"We weren't particularly trying to be a pioneer, though that's a neat thing," Ferriby said. "It does have a feeling of putting your money where your mouth is."

After all, Ferriby, who is executive director of the downtown Hackley Public Library, has long been an advocate of all that downtown has to offer. She attends downtown's First Congregational Church, she's a regular at productions at the Frauenthal Theater, is a fan of civic theater and enjoys the exhibitions at the Muskegon Museum of Art.

Now it's much easier for her to go to those favorite places of hers.

Ferriby and Rapaport left their Glenside Neighborhood home of 14 years, and its accompanying yard work and upkeep, for a condo at Habourtowne. The condo was nice, but it was too far from what they liked to do and they were spending too much time in the car, Ferriby said.

Now, she and Rappaport are close to the Muskegon Farmers Market, the Post Office, summer Parties in the Park, restaurants and cultural events.

"We discovered that everything we do is downtown," Ferriby said.

That is what Muskegon leaders believe will draw others to the approximately 175 residential units that are under development in downtown's core.

Developers and planners say that to build a sustainable downtown, people must be there not just during work hours or evening hours, but around the clock. They have to live there, bringing demand for all sorts of shops and services.

"I think really to get the 24/7 vibrant downtown we want, we need people living here -- and they want options for shopping, entertainment," said Gary Post, who has lived downtown for nine years.

If that's the case, Muskegon is well on its way. A year from now, hundreds more people are expected to be calling apartments in the core downtown home.

The only significant apartments currently downtown are the roughly 130 Amazon Apartments on West Western that until now have been reserved for low-income renters. As leases come due, units are being turned into market-rate apartments that will bring more affluent people downtown. The Amazon is planning upgrades to apartments, including new flooring, as well as a new dog park in its courtyard, said Amazon Property Manger Rachel Fuller.

Post is encouraged by the wide variety of options, including his two-story, in the-thick-of it townhomes; the mostly-subsidized senior housing at Berkshire; the apartments at Highpoint Flats, Lake View Lofts and Terrace Plaza; and the new single-family homes at Terrace Point Landing on Muskegon Lake and the city's Midtown Square neighborhood.

Chris Benedict and Josh Canale are the ones behind the six-story, multi-use building on West Western Avenue on which ground recently was broken. They believe the building's 20 Lake View Lofts apartments will be fully leased before they're finished, with interest coming from young professionals and empty-nesters.

"A lot of people who work downtown want to live here," Benedict said.

The entertainment Post said downtown-dwellers seek is already pretty well established with the Frauenthal Theater, museums, downtown festivals, breweries, restaurants and farmers market.

"I swear (Muskegon) has more culture per capita than any other town in Michigan, and probably more events per capita," Rooks said.

However, retail is not solid, and that poses a bigger challenge. When the old Muskegon Mall was torn down following its closure in 2001, the downtown was left with few storefronts where retailers could set up shop. Post has done what he can with the historic Century Club, one of just five buildings saved after the mall demolition, which houses several small retailers.

The city also has done its part with its new "Western Market" - garden-shed size movable stores placed along Western Avenue and leased to small boutique-type retailers. The market was deemed a success, and City Manager Frank Peterson hopes it will demonstrate to retailers a demand that will encourage them to set up shop downtown.

More retail can only help attract more downtown dwellers, Peterson said.

"Entertainment attracts residential, which attracts retail," Peterson said. "Then they start build on each other, like a circle."

The depressed rental rates in Muskegon, while nice for those hoping to move downtown, makes it difficult to attract outside developers, said Jon Rooks, one of downtown Muskegon's most successful developers. In addition to restaurants, hotels, an office building and a marina, Rooks is developing the 47-apartment HighPoint Flats building and the neighborhood of upscale single-family homes on Muskegon Lake.

While residential rates in Grand Rapids are $2 per square foot, Muskegon's is more like $1.35, said Rooks, who has multiple developments in Grand Rapids as well. Grand Rapids' rental rates doubled over 10 years, and Rooks can see Muskegon's doing the same.

"That makes it hard to make money in the short term," Rooks said. "You have to look at it as a long-term hold."

Dave Alexander, director of the Downtown Muskegon Now promotional organization said there's "pent-up demand" for downtown living.

"Millennials want to be downtown," Alexander said. "It's the cool place to be. You want to live, work and play in an exciting area.

"Right now, people are begging to come down."

Once people live downtown, demand will usher in retail - the last piece in the development puzzle, Alexander said.

With limited buildings available to renovate into housing, future developments will have to be new construction, Alexander said. The success of the current housing boom downtown will be needed to attract others willing to finance and build even more - but Alexander has no doubt they will come.

"I think anyone who's putting something up is setting themselves up for a very nice return rate," Alexander said. "The boat's going to rise down here."