Bass River and the northwest river land
The northwest corner: north of M-45 west of 84th Avenue, widening north of Warner Street to 68th Avenue, out to the Grand River, on roads such as 88th, 92nd and 96th avenues, Warner and Lincoln streets, River Road and Meadows Pointe. The 1,665-acre Bass River State Recreation Area, much of it old gravel pits around Max Lake, holds about three miles of Grand River frontage. The Census owner median here is about $357,600 and the typical home dates from 1986. About a quarter of its land lies in FEMA's high-risk flood zone along the Grand and Bass rivers.
Kennedy Lake, Traders View and the east river bend
The northeast: north of M-45 from 60th Avenue toward the river, apart from the blocks nearest campus, and north of Warner Street east of 68th Avenue, on streets such as Rosewood Avenue, Prairie Avenue, Molli Drive and Ravines Drive. In the assessor's 2023 to 2025 sales study, houses sold near $480,000 in Kennedy Lake, $580,000 in Traders View and $340,000 in Brookland-Dewpointe Acres. The Census owner median is lower, about $289,500 with a wide margin, nearly every one of its 497 homes is owner-occupied, and about a fifth of the land is Grand River flood zone.
Dewpointe West, the library and Placid Waters
North of M-45 between about 84th and 60th avenues, up to Warner Street, the side of Allendale's center with the township library on Library Lane. Assessor neighborhoods here include the 68th Avenue North plats, Dewpointe West and Wood View, near $400,000 a house in the sales study, the Village Condo and The Dales condominiums, and Placid Waters by 84th Avenue, where houses sold near $580,000 and what appear to be building lots near $95,000. Census owner median about $338,200, typical home from 1998, and our flood sample found none here.
Township hall, Learning Lane and Hidden Shores
South of M-45 between about 78th and 64th avenues, down to Pierce Street: the township offices and the 40-acre Community Park at 6676 Lake Michigan Drive, and Evergreen Elementary and Oakwood Intermediate on Learning Lane. Hidden Shores and View Pond Condominium were still selling lots in the study, while Bittersweet Estates and Oakview-Brookside sold almost only finished homes. Houses sold near $525,000 in Hidden Shores and $385,000 in Bittersweet in the sales study. Census owner median about $322,300, typical home from 1998.
Pierce Street farms, Arcadia Woods and Little Bass Creek
The southwest: south of M-45 west of about 78th Avenue and south of Pierce Street west of 64th Avenue, down to Fillmore Street and out to 96th Avenue, with farm parcels along Pierce Street and newer streets such as Dakota Drive, Jane Drive, Chinook Drive and Little Bass Lane. Its Census owner median, about $414,900, is the highest among the township's block groups, the typical home is from 2009, and the Census counts all 645 occupied homes as owner-occupied. In 2024, lots of about an acre and a half split from a Pierce Street farm near 88th Avenue sold for about $134,000 to $149,000.
Traders Creek Landing to the Fillmore Street line
South of Pierce Street from 64th to 48th Avenue, down to Fillmore Street, plus a strip between 64th and 60th avenues up to M-45 that holds Traders Creek Landing on Timber Drive. Groen Court, Alger and Winans streets and apartment buildings near Pierce Street and 48th Avenue fill out the rest. Houses in Traders Creek Landing sold near $350,000 in the sales study. Census owner median about $287,700, typical home from 2003, with renters in about 43% of occupied homes. A township sewer lift station at Pierce Street and 56th Avenue, due in 2027, extends utilities and paves a gravel stretch of road.
Pearline and the plats off 56th Avenue
Between M-45 and Pierce Street from about 60th to 52nd Avenue, around Pearline, the M-45 crossroads also called East Allendale that had its own post office from 1891 to 1908. Assessor neighborhoods here include Countryside Estates, Dewpointe East, Springfields, Winding Creek and the newer Pearline Estates, with house sales from about $330,000 in Countryside to about $395,000 in Springfields. Census owner median about $318,800, typical home from 2002, and about 110 homes in five-plus-unit buildings.
Ski-resort streets north of M-45 by 48th Avenue
North of M-45 between 56th and 48th avenues and east of 48th above the campus-edge blocks, on streets named for ski hills such as Boyne Boulevard, Caberfae Avenue and Sugar Loaf Avenue, plus Commerce Drive, Chateau Circle and Sundrop Circle. The Census counts about 298 manufactured homes among its 689 homes and about 220 in five-plus-unit buildings, so the owner median, about $80,700 with a wide margin, says little about a typical house. The typical home dates from 2008, and owners and renters split the occupied homes about evenly.
48th Avenue and the campus edge
The land wrapped around Grand Valley's west and north sides: apartment complexes along 48th Avenue between Pierce Street and M-45, Grand Valley Estates on Radcliff Drive, and north of M-45 the streets off Kistler Avenue and Knollwood Drive out to College Condos on 40th Avenue. About 1,420 of its 2,274 homes stand in complexes of five units or more and renters hold nearly nine in ten occupied homes. Its 233 manufactured homes likely explain a Census owner median near $51,900. Houses in Grand Valley Estates sold near $330,000.
Grand Valley's Valley Campus
Grand Valley State University's main campus, which the university calls its Valley Campus, fills the land south of M-45 between 48th Avenue, Pierce Street and the ravines above the Grand River. The university counts 6,012 beds on campus, the Laker Line to downtown Grand Rapids starts here, and a 200,000-gallon township water tank stands on the grounds. Campus housing is not for sale, and the 2020 Census counted only about 470 housing units in the township's part of the block groups that cover it, one of which runs into Georgetown Township.
