Slabtown
North of West Front Street between Division Street and the West Bay shore, with West End Beach on the water and Randolph Street and North Elmwood Avenue running through it. In the Census block group that holds most of the neighborhood the typical home dates from 1938, about seven in ten are detached houses and owner values run near $481,000, with a wide margin. About a tenth of its dry land is in FEMA's high-risk zone, most of it the coastal strip along the bay. The western end shares a block group with Garfield Township, which holds about half of that group's homes.
Central
The Central Neighborhood Historic District runs from the alley north of Fifth Street to the alley south of Eighth, between Division and Locust streets, and the neighborhood association's map carries Central south to Fourteenth Street. In the block group that covers Central from Front Street to Eighth the typical home dates from 1938, a little over half are detached and owner values come in near $557,000, a figure with a wide margin. Strips along the Boardman River by Hannah Park and along Kids Creek near Front Street are in the high-risk flood zone.
Old Towne and south Central
Old Towne runs south from Eighth Street around Union and Cass streets, with the southern Central blocks to its west down to Fourteenth Street. Two block groups cover the area. From Ninth Street to about Twelfth the typical home dates from 1938, almost nine in ten are detached and owner values run near $419,000. Toward Fourteenth every home the survey counted is a detached house, typically from 1943, with owner values near $350,000. Neither block group touched FEMA's high-risk zone in our sample of the map.
Kids Creek, Munson and the Commons
West of Division Street around Munson Medical Center on Sixth Street and the Village at Grand Traverse Commons on Cottageview and Silver drives. Close to half the homes in this block group are in buildings of five or more units, the typical home dates from 1971 and owner values run near $423,000 with a wide margin. Kids Creek runs through it, and nearly a quarter of its dry land is in FEMA's high-risk zone, much of it Zone A, mapped without a base flood elevation. About seven in ten of the block group's homes are in the city, the rest in Garfield Township.
Downtown and Boardman
The Front Street blocks of the Downtown Historic District, the Clinch Park marina, Hagerty's headquarters on Drivers Edge and the Boardman Neighborhood Historic District between Boardman and Railroad avenues. Newer buildings define this block group: its typical home dates from 2004, close to three in ten homes are in buildings of five or more units, and the Census counts about a third of all its homes as held for seasonal or occasional use, a larger share than any other block group in the city. Owner values run near $614,000 with a wide margin. Mailing addresses change from 49684 to 49686 around Boardman Avenue.
Midtown and Boardman Lake's west shore
Midtown Centre by Lake Avenue and the blocks along Cass Street down the west side of Boardman Lake, south past Fourteenth Street. Renters outnumber owners about three to two, homes typically date from 1978 and owner values run near $396,000. The block group crosses into Garfield Township, which holds a little under half its homes, and the lake shore carries a thin band of high-risk flood zone.
Oak Park
Between East Front and East Eighth streets from Railroad Avenue to Garfield Avenue, with F&M Park inside the neighborhood and Sunset Park across Front Street on the bay. In the eastern block group, toward Garfield, the typical home dates from 1938, about nine in ten are detached and owner values run near $422,000. The western blocks around Washington Street have a typical home from 1952, but the survey margin on their values is too wide to quote. None of Oak Park fell in FEMA's high-risk zone in our sample.
Traverse Heights
South of Eighth Street between Boardman Lake and Garfield Avenue, around Rose Street, Hannah Avenue, Barlow Street and Hull Park. Renter and owner households are close to even here, 477 and 437 in the survey, homes typically date from 1981 and owner values run near $308,000. The block group runs south past Boon Street into Garfield Township, which holds about four in ten of its homes.
Base of Old Mission Peninsula and the college
The neighborhood association the city calls BOOM, along Peninsula Drive, Center Road and Eastern Avenue, with Northwestern Michigan College's main campus on East Front Street to its south. In the northern block group about 96% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, about one in five is attached, homes typically date from 1981 and owner values run near $456,000 with a narrow margin. That group continues north into Peninsula Township, which holds a little under half its homes. By the college, renters slightly outnumber owners and about a third of homes are in larger apartment buildings.
Triangle and Indian Woods
East of Fair Street between Front Street and the East Bay shore, along Munson Avenue and East Bay Boulevard, with East Bay Park at the water. The typical home dates from 1970, about seven in ten are detached and owner values run near $380,000, a figure with a wide margin. The bay edge is mapped as a coastal high-risk zone, about a fifteenth of the block group's dry land.
Hastings Street to Cherry Capital Airport
South of Eighth Street and east of Garfield Avenue, from Steele and Hastings streets out to Woodland and Belmont drives, then south along Garfield to Cherry Capital Airport and the Aero Park business area. In the blocks just south of Eighth the typical home dates from 1957, about nine in ten are owner-occupied and owner values run near $326,000. More than half the homes in both block groups here sit across the line in East Bay Township, so read the parcel record, not the street sign.
Morgan Farms, Leelanau County
The city's piece of Leelanau County, north of M-72 on the west side, about 4% of the city's land. The Census estimates about 150 homes there, every occupied one owner-occupied, half of them built since 2010, with an owner median near $625,000 and a wide margin. The 2025 homestead rate here is 32.94 mills, about 4.1 below the Grand Traverse side, and deeds go to the Leelanau County Register of Deeds. The surrounding block group is mostly Elmwood Charter Township.
