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.
Reconstruction and renovation work on the second- through fourth-floors of the 266 E. Michigan Ave. building, best known for the Coney Island Kalamazoo hot dog restaurant on its street level, is set to begin soon. The space, which has been unused for many years, will house 12 new loft-style apartments, including four affordable units.
“I think the making money part is a great incentive for youth entrepreneurs," says Dr. Kandace Lavender, Read and Write Kalamazoo Executive Director. "However, I also believe that the greater piece is giving them a real-life experience of what it means to put effort behind your vision, and the positive outcomes it can have on their life."
“Westernized culture increases the fear of death,” says Debbie Eisenbise, a Kalamazoo death doula. “We outsource death. Doulas are trying to make a change in that culture by bringing about an acceptance of death. Death is natural. My goal is to keep people living until they die. This is about quality of life.”
AllyKat Studios, LLC, is a new lash, brow, micro-blading, and tattoo studio that caters to the Queer community. For clients who are currently transitioning genders, a new set of eyelashes, the right brow shape, or even gender-affirming tattoos, AllyKat owners say, can help lessen the dysphoria that oftentimes accompanies a transition.
Western Michigan University's College of Aviation announced a new partnership with Allegiant Travel Company. The Accelerate Pilot Pathway program will streamline the career trajectory for graduates in an industry that is experiencing pilot shortages.
In this radio story, Voices of Youth Kalamazoo's Harper Horvath speaks with State Representative Julie Rogers about an important environmental literacy bill proposed by Rogers and 30 fellow representatives that could change the way climate is taught in the state.
“Music feeds the soul, feeds the brain, and it can be a wonderful way to commune with people,” says Joanna Steinhauser, concertmaster of the 'K Phil,' a multi-generational, Kalamazoo College community orchestra. “Students can sometimes live inside a bubble in college, but this gets them out of that bubble and to share something beautiful with the community.”
Philanthropy doesn't mean you have to have a lot of money, says Dr. Grace Lubwama, new CEO and President of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation. Every person can leave a legacy. "But if you have a heart of charity, and care about this community, and want to see this community thrive," she says, "the community foundation is your partner on that journey."
En los últimos 18 meses, la Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative -un grupo de 12 medios de comunicación locales y comunitarios- ha intensificado el debate publicando 70 reportajes sobre problemas de salud mental que afectan a residentes y organizaciones locales en el marco de su Proyecto de Bienestar Mental.
It often takes months of experimentation to find an effective psychotropic drug. Up to half of patients with major depressive disorder do not respond to the first antidepressant prescribed. Kalamazoo's Genemarkers is among those offering a promising tool to address that issue: a test that can result in prescribing drugs with greater accuracy.
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