Kalamazoo’s name is so distinctive strangers around the world have been known to break into song at hearing the name. With such a recognizable moniker you’d think Kalamazoo wouldn’t need nicknames, but through the years changing names have reflected the city’s refusal to stand still. The Zoo, Celery City and the Mall City are a few. The innovative thinking that brought downtown K’zoo the nation’s first pedestrian mall in 1959 continues to work today. Innovators have developed thriving life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms. They build on the expertise of Kalamazoo’s universities. Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Davenport College all are centers of research, development and technology. They surround a downtown vibrating with condos, apartments and homegrown, top-notch restaurants. The universities are woven into the city’s social fabric and contribute to a cultural scene that Kalamazooans love to boast about. The Kalamazoo Symphony, Kalamazoo Institute of Art and a vibrant local theater community are a few of the offerings. Locals also love their festivals that fill the air with music and the scents of ethnic foods wafting over the Arcadia Festival grounds and the Kalamazoo River. Outdoor activities from biking on the Kal-Haven trail to disc golf and standard golf on a nationally-acclaimed course in Milham Park are the start of the city’s leisure side. Sports fans have competitive college teams, minor league baseball and hockey to follow. And it all comes with a Promise. All high school graduates who live in Kalamazoo qualify for a scholarship that pays 100 percent of their tuition at any public university or community college.
Is trying mead on your bucket list? The world's oldest known alcoholic beverage (not a beer, not a wine) made with honey and yeast is available at Kalamzoo meadery Valhalla, a BYOF, open hall with all the Viking feels – longtables, Runes, and Valkyries serving flights of artisan mead. When you visit Valhalla, Hunter Dodge, CEO of Norse Nector Meadery, says "time stands still." Just ask Second Wave's Mark Wedel.
The second Kalamazoo Lyceum focused on the city's culture and whether our community has a shared story. Panelists Kama Tai Mitchell of Rootead, Daniel May of Dabney & Co., and Jennifer Hudson-Prenkert of Sounds of the Zoo, spoke about what culture means to them in Kalamazoo where they all agree race has divided a sense of a common story. "Culture is safety," says May. "It's being able to be yourself."
As the City of Kalamazoo begins its historic conversion of downtown streets from one-way to two-way, the Stuart Historic Neighborhood has submitted its neighborhood plan to work closely with the city and for the neighborhood's own placemaking and wellbeing. As part of Imagine Kalamazoo 2025, Stuart is the eighth of the City's 22 neighborhoods to submit its plan, which will be reviewed by the Kalamazoo Planning Commission on May 4.
Street changes are coming to Kalamazoo, even if some of us are still in denial. Second Wave's streetwise Mark Wedel helps unpack what to expect. Downtown streets aren't the cause of every problem, says Dennis Randolph, City of Kalamazoo Traffic Engineer, but "they are the backbone, the framework of the community. So you need to do something with the transportation network if you're going to help the community as a whole."
When making ramen, the noodle is an essential ingredient. A serendipitous meeting of a West Michigan ramen soup restaurateur and a Mattawan pasta maker has created a premier ramen that is gathering rave reviews online. Second Wave's Food Writer Channon Mondoux brings you the story along with her mouth-watering accounts of both pasta and soup.
On the Ground Project Editor Al Jones shares what's moving and shaking in Kalamazoo: After a nine-month search, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation announced its new president and chief executive officer -- and it's a name many will recognize as a person who has had positive, long-reaching impacts on our community. And a vital community center on the Northside is getting a makeover, thanks to sponsors and a nonprofit partner whose middle name is 'for' -- and that's your only clue!
As part of our series, Faith in Action, sponsored by the Fetzer Institute, Southwest Michigan Second Wave speaks with local religious leaders and OutFront Program Manager Dell Darnell about the 15-year-old Faith Alliance, a group comprised of 14 local religious leaders devoted to allyship. Faith Alliance is currently focused on OutFront's upcoming celebration, Trans Day of Visibility, and Host Homes, a volunteer-based housing program for LGBTQ+ youth aged 13 to 18.
What better way to celebrate spring than planting flowers and trees with your neighbors? The first truly post-pandemic Kalamazoo Earth Day may be the biggest yet. In a move to bring together the environmental and beautification efforts of three Kalamazoo neighborhood (Vine, Edison, and Oakwood), the Kalamazoo Earth Day Festival takes place April 22, 2023.
Falling in line is both an art and an avoidance for these 25-54-year-old synchronized figure skaters from Kalamazoo. Their passion has propelled them to pursue adult synchronized skating at a competitive level as part of the Kinetic Masters Team, which recently placed an impressive tenth in the 2023 U.S. Synchronized Skating Competition this March.
Patsy Cline, the Muppets, Hamilton, the Spice Girls: You never know what might come up during the Darcy Wilkin Whatzit Hour at Edison's Dormouse Theatre, but you can count on bluegrass, folk, and a host who "Keep(s) on the Sunny Side," even if some tunes move a few to tears.
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