Saugatuck is a city in Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 925 at the 2010 census. The city is within Saugatuck Township, but is administratively autonomous. Originally a lumber town and port, Saugatuck, along with the adjacent city of Douglas, became a noted art colony and tourist destination in the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, Saugatuck was home to the famous Big Pavilion, a large dance hall that attracted bands and visitors from across the Midwest. The building was a popular destination on Lake Michigan from its construction in 1909 until it burned down on May 6, 1960.Today, tourists are drawn to the art galleries, harbor, marinas, scenery, unusual stores, the view from atop Mount Baldhead, and tourist attractions as well as Oval Beach on Lake Michigan, which enjoys a worldwide reputation. Nearby are Saugatuck Dunes State Park and Allegan State Game Area as is the city of Holland. Saugatuck is known as a popular vacation destination for the LGBT+ community with similar cultural similarities as Fire Island Pines and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Grand Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Haven had a population of 10,412. It is part of the Grand Rapids Metropolitan Area, which had a population of 1,027,703 in 2014. The city is home to the Grand Haven Memorial Airpark (3GM) and is located just north of Grand Haven Charter Township.

Allegan is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 4,998 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Allegan County. It lies within Allegan Township but is administratively autonomous. Allegan was named in a neologism by Michigan historian Henry Rowe Schoolcraft in 1837 to sound like a Native American word. Land was purchased from government to form the downtown business district; village organization came in 1838 with city incorporation authorized in 1907.Allegan is in the south-central portion of the county. To the west and northwest is the nearly 50,000 acre forest Allegan State Game Area for which the city is considered a gateway. Lake Allegan in Valley Township is also a tourist destination for boating, fishing, and swimming. Allegan's dense forests, lakes, and river geography served as a source of water power, trade routes for steamboats, and timber production. Once cleared, it became a center for business, industry and expansive farmland.

Grand Rapids is the second-largest city in Michigan and the county seat of Kent County. Situated along the Grand River approximately 30 miles (48 km) east of Lake Michigan, it is the economic and cultural hub of West Michigan, and one of the fastest growing cities in the Midwest. According to the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 198,917. The 2020 decennial census indicated that the greater metropolitan area had a population of 1,087,592, and a combined statistical area population of 1,383,918.A historic furniture manufacturing center, Grand Rapids is home to five of the world's leading office furniture companies and is nicknamed "Furniture City." Other nicknames include "River City" and more recently, "Beer City" (the latter given by USA Today and adopted by the city as a brand). The city and surrounding communities are economically diverse, based in the health care, information technology, automotive, aviation, and consumer goods manufacturing industries, among others. Grand Rapids is the childhood home of U.S. President Gerald Ford, who is buried with his wife Betty on the grounds of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in the city. The city's main airport and one of its freeways are named after him.