The Allen School area has four parts: the immediate neighborhood that was planned around the school; the area bounded by Washtenaw, Huron Parkway, the Huron River, and US-23; University Townhouses off Ellsworth; and the condominium communities to the southeast in Pittsfield Township, south of I-94. Middle school assignments vary, but all Allen students go on to Huron High except for residents of the Hikone public housing complex, south of Packard, who attend Pioneer. Once the new high school is built, however, everyone south of Washtenaw will go to Pioneer, and the rest of the area’s students will attend Huron.

Near the school, families live in houses ranging from cozy brick-trimmed frame ranches on Easy Street and its environs to 1960s-era colonials and tri-levels. Buhr Park, with its much-used swimming pool, ice rink, and ball fields, and the city’s historic Cobblestone Farm are within walking distance. Families in this neighborhood can choose to have their children go to Tappan or Scarlett for middle school.

For decades, conflicts between the city and Ann Arbor Township kept the area north of Washtenaw’s commercial strip and east of Huron Parkway largely undeveloped. In recent years, however, it has undergone a complete transformation with the building of the large, expensive homes of the Woodcreek development. Nearby, Chalmers and Woodland roads still are unpaved and have older single-family homes on large lots. North along the river is the little Thornoaks subdivision, consisting of smaller custom-built homes constructed in the 1950s and 1960s. This neighborhood belongs to Clague Middle School, except for a few addresses south of a line parallel with Clark Road that are in the Scarlett area.

University Townhouses off Ellsworth is a cooperative offering low-cost townhouses with large interconnected yards. The children there attend Scarlett.

South of I-94 and east of US-23 in Pittsfield Township, a mix of young couples, families, and singles live in the Pines of Cloverlane and Hunt Club apartments north of Michigan Avenue. South of Michigan Avenue is Hickory Pointe subdivision with its five parks and swim club. Now in its final construction phase, the community will have sixty-five more homes when finished. Children from these neighborhoods go on to Scarlett.