Blair offers suburban and rural living near Traverse City
Blair Township borders between suburban and rural living on the far south side of the Grand Traverse Bay Area. The community has plenty of stores and restaurants, along with a range of outdoor activities that immerse locals in the allure of Northern Michigan. “The whole area of Blair is jaw-droppingly beautiful,” says Ree Zerafa, a Realtor with Wolff Properties who grew up in the area. “It’s very green with rolling hills, woods and farms. You can stand in any rural area, and every time you turn your head, you see another vista.” Despite the community being more than 10 miles from Traverse City, its collegiate-level baseball team and an annual fair draw tens of thousands of people to Blair every summer.
Median home price lower than Traverse City
The median home price in Blair is around $375,000 compared to the Traverse City median of $450,000. “I suggest Blair to most of my entry homebuyers because it tends to be more affordable,” Zerafa says. “Most people want to live in or near Traverse City, which is why it’s cheaper to live here. It’s only about 20 minutes away, but to people here, that’s a drive.” Many Blair homes are in or near the Grawn community, a suburban pocket with a mix of manufactured, ranch-style and split-level houses on quarter- to half-acre lots. Other parts are more rural with houses in the woods or among sprawling farmlands. Silver Lake has some waterfront homes with boat docks and private beaches that rarely come on the market. In recent years, only three have sold: a small one-bedroom for $420,000 and two larger upscale properties for $2.3 million and $2.5 million.
Stores and restaurants in Chums Corner
In the 1930s, the intersection of U.S. 31 and M-37 was home to a local gas station and grocery store opened by Deronda “Chum” Crandall. The area is now known as Chums Corner and has several stores and restaurants right by Turtle Creek Stadium. Shoppers can grab groceries and other essentials at Family Fare Supermarket, purchase tools and housing supplies from Menards and shop for discounted products at Blain’s Farm & Fleet. Restaurants include fast-food chains and local establishments, including Bergstrom’s Burgers, where the milkshakes are just as famous as the burgers. There's also Samsara Southeast Asian Cuisine and local staple Rico’s Café and Pizzeria, which has been mixing Italian, Mexican and American food since 1978.
A community park, TART trails and riding on old railroads
Blair Township Community Park has a picnic pavilion, a playground and a splash pad. Little Leagues play on the four ballfields, and a nine-hole disc golf course runs the park’s open space and woods. At Wheels on Rails, visitors pedal a four-seater bike connected to a train track that winds through the woods. Several trailheads along the Boardman River link to the TART Trails network, which leads to downtown and other parts of Traverse City. The southern half of Silver Lake flows into Blair with a campground that attracts tourists. The northern half of the lake, in Garfield Township, has a public beach.
Pit Spitters baseball and the Northwestern Michigan Fair
During baseball season, fans fill Turtle Creek Stadium to cheer on the Traverse City Pit Spitters. The team competes in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer league with a total of 26 teams in the Midwest and Canada.
The Northwestern Michigan Fair has been going strong since 1908. The fair in Blair attracts about 50,000 people every August, featuring rides and grandstand events such as tractor pulls, rodeos and demolition derbies. The fairgrounds host other off-season events, including several horse shows and a cattle show called the Cherry Capital Beef Classic.
Two public school routes within the same district
Students may attend Blair Elementary School, which receives a B grade from Niche. Most go on to B-plus graded Traverse City East Middle School before heading to Traverse City Central High School, graded an A-minus. The high school expanded its STEM program by opening its Manufacturing and Innovation Center in 2025.
Students who live on the far west side of the township attend Traverse City West Middle School and Traverse City West Senior High School, both rated B-plus. High schoolers have the opportunity to earn college credit from Northwestern Michigan College through the school’s dual-enrollment program.
Short drives around the region and access to BATA City Loop buses
The BATA City Loop bus system operates at 30- to 60-minute intervals with routes running to downtown Traverse City. It's about a 20-minute drive to downtown and to Cherry Capital Airport. “We actually never tell people how far something is in miles,” says Zerafa. “It’s almost always 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 20 minutes away.”
Written By
Nicolas Stuart
Photography Contributed By
Jonathan Fairfield
