Parkview Hills [1] is the youngest neighborhood in the city of Kalamazoo, with development beginning in 1970. It's also one of the most unusual, given its strong conservation ethic and history.
Situated at the intersection of Parkview Avenue and Greenleaf Boulevard between Oakland Drive and Drake Road, the neighborhood offers diverse housing options — apartments, condominiums and single-family homes — set amidst rolling hills, woodlands, streams and lakes.
The natural features also mark the surrounding area, including Asylum Lake Preserve,which is within walking distance from the neighborhood. Water from the preserve flows under Parkview Avenue into Cherry Creek and other waterways in Parkview Hills, including the West Fork of Portage Creek, which ultimately flows into Lake Michigan.
Years ago, the area was open countryside, and streetcars brought folks from busy Kalamazoo to the amusement park at Woods Lake, near the intersection of Parkview Avenue (which got its name from the park) and Oakland Dr. However, with the invention of automobiles, people chose other places to travel.
Near the present entrance to Parkview Hills is a large, white Greek Revival farmhouse built in the 1850s by Stephen Love, a young man from New York and one of the early settlers in this area. He owned 220 acres and farmed 130.
† City of Kalamazoo, Neighborhood Associate of Parkview Hills, Parkview Hills Neighborhood Plan, 2020, accessed July 2022.
Nearby Neighborhoods
Street Names
Blackberry Lane • Cedaridge Road • Cricket Lane • Greenleaf Circle • Katydid Lane • Lake Terrace Drive • Old Field Lane • Old Field Trail • Pine Bluff Lane • Shadyridge Lane • Songbird Lane • Woodcliff Drive • Woodstone Drive