Cascade.
Why people choose it
Cascade
Executive neighborhoods with quick reach to the airport and downtown.
- 01
Closest luxury township to Gerald R. Ford International Airport.
- 02
Thornapple River frontage and mature, wooded neighborhoods.
- 03
Established executive subdivisions alongside custom acreage.
- 04
Forest Hills schools across most of the township.
Things to do
Around Cascade.
Named places, not a mood board. Follow any of them through to the people who run it.
River
01
Thornapple River
Runs the length of the township, with pathways along both banks.
Nature preserve
02
Cascade Peace Park
About 198 acres of floodplain, meadow and old-growth forest on Grand River Drive.
Park
03
Cascade Township Recreation Park
Fifty-five acres on Thornapple River Drive with ball fields and a one-mile path.
Park
04
Wycliffe Trailhead Park
A 1.86-acre park with nature trails and a nature-based playground.
Park
05
Leslie E. Tassell Park
A 3.2-acre riverside park with an interactive fountain, shelters and fishing access.
Park
06
Burton Park
About 80 wooded acres on Burton Street with interior trails and two entrances.
Park
07
Michael McGraw Park
Sixty-eight acres of Grand River floodplain with a paved trail for walking and cycling.
Hours, seasons and access change. Everything above links to the organization that runs it — check there before you drive out to Cascade.
By the numbers
Cascade, measured.
Cascade is a charter township rather than a city, and the airport sits inside it. Both facts shape the figures below more than the mailing address suggests.
- Population
19,864
Cascade Charter Township
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
- Median home value
$472,500
Owner-occupied. Kent County is $289,900.
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
- Median household income
$135,896
Michigan is $72,875.
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
- Bachelor's degree or higher
67.7%
Adults 25 and over
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
- Land area
33.9 sq mi
586 people per square mile
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
- Pedestrian pathways
~17 miles
Township-maintained, both sides of the Thornapple
Township, 2026 · Cascade Charter Township
- Airport height zoning
10-mile radius
Permits required for structures, towers and trees within it
Airport authority ordinance · Gerald R. Ford International
Median household income
Cascade against its county and its state.
- Cascade Charter Twp$136K
- Kent County$83K
- Michigan$73K
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
Owner-occupied homes by value
Where the township's housing stock actually sits, in number of homes.
- 636
- 459
- 929
- 1,641
- 1,793
- 509
- 460
- <$200k
- $200–299k
- $300–399k
- $400–499k
- $500–749k
- $750–999k
- $1M+
ACS 2020–2024 5-year · Census Reporter
On the map
Between river and runway.
Cascade is where convenience stops being a compromise. Executive neighborhoods and river-adjacent estates sit within minutes of the airport and the expressway, which is why it draws buyers whose work takes them out of town regularly.
Water · Thornapple River
- County
- Kent
- Water
- Thornapple River
- Governed by
- Cascade Charter Township
- Airport
- Gerald R. Ford International, inside the township
Map unavailable
Interactive mapping is not configured on this build.
Open Cascade Township, Michigan in Google MapsPins mark the center of Cascade and any sample properties nearby. Approximate positions, not surveyed locations.
Nearby
Closest to Cascade.
SampleThe MLS feed is not connected yet. Everything below is demonstration data used to build the search, and none of it is a real property. None of it sits inside Cascade either — these are the closest sample records on the map.
Before you buy
What to lookinto first.
Local conditions that change what a parcel is worth or what may be built on it. None of this is legal advice and none of it answers for a specific address — it is what to raise with the municipality, your attorney and your inspector before the offer, not after.
- 01Sewer district or private septic
The City of Grand Rapids supplies water and sanitary sewer to industrial, commercial and some residential parts of the township. Everyone else is on a private well and an on-site septic system. Confirm which applies to the parcel, and order a Kent County Health Department evaluation of the well and septic before closing.
Cascade Charter Township- 02Airport noise and height zoning
Gerald R. Ford International sits in the southwestern part of the township and publishes noise exposure maps showing day-night average sound level contours. The airport authority's zoning ordinance also limits structure height and requires permits for buildings, towers and even trees within a ten-mile radius. Check where the property falls against both.
Gerald R. Ford International- 03Thornapple River floodplain
The Thornapple runs the length of the township and much of the desirable frontage is low-lying. Pull the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map for the address before making an offer, and ask whether any Letter of Map Change has been issued for the parcel. Flood damage is not covered by a standard homeowners policy.
FEMA Flood Map Service- 04A Cascade address is not automatically Forest Hills
Forest Hills Public Schools covers only part of Cascade Township, and the district states plainly that its own attendance-area map is an unofficial reference. Verify the district through Kent County property search, or by calling the district office. Do the same for the attendance area, which decides the middle and high school.
Forest Hills Public Schools- 05Well testing on rural parcels
Homes outside the served area draw from private wells permitted by the Kent County Health Department. County permits and site evaluations are valid for two years and are non-transferable. Budget for current testing rather than relying on a previous owner's paperwork.
Kent County
Check it at the source
Zoning, permitted uses, shoreline rules and school boundaries are set by the governing bodies below and can change. These are the offices that answer for Cascade.