Farmed until the early 1900s, the area around Dicken Elementary is dominated by single-family ranches and two-story homes built in the 1960s. This family-friendly neighborhood is bounded on the northeast by Stadium, on the south by Scio Church, and on the west by I-94. The homes in the cluster of small residential streets surrounding the school are older brick houses, simple and unassuming, with tidy lawns on quiet, shaded streets.

Small parks are sprinkled throughout the area. Mushroom Park is known for its comical ceramic fungi, Las Vegas Park for its soccer field and playground. Greenview Park, on the west side of Seventh Street, provides a natural retreat for dog walkers and picnickers. And Dicken Woods became a city park after neighborhood residents beat back a housing development at Pauline and Maple.

Hundreds of condominiums, townhouses, and apartment units are stashed near South Maple and Pauline, including Surrey Park, Walden Hills, Country Village, Park Place, and Maple Meadows. Residents are close to several shopping centers and to restaurants, gas stations, video stores, an animal clinic, banks, a pharmacy, a grocery store, and hair salons, as well as two hardware stores, a garden and produce center, and the West Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library.

On former croplands to the southwest of I-94 and north of Scio Church can be found the Ravines and Meadowinds developments, with homes from the mid-$200,000s and up and amenities like tennis courts and playgrounds. West of Upland Drive, the 1990s-era Uplands subdivision offers slightly larger brick and wood residences, often with decks, and more housing variety, with a mix of modern and traditional styles. Between the Uplands and Wagner Road are the upscale cul-de-sac home sites of Tuscany Ridge.

Also attending Dicken are residents of the subdivisions along Scio Ridge Rd. south of Liberty and the Woodchase Apartments.

Dicken students go on to attend Slauson Middle School and Pioneer High School.