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.
The average age of a caregiver is 49, but about 24% of adult unpaid caregivers — almost 13 million Americans — are 18 to 34, according to a 2020 report issued by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. And that doesn’t include another 5.4 million adolescents who are unpaid caregivers. They say caregiving has taken a toll on their mental or physical health, or both.
The Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra is world-premiering Paths to Dignity, a violin concerto for the unhoused by composer and Grammy-award winning conductor Lucas Richman and featuring well-regarded violinist Mitchell Newman on Sunday, Feb. 19.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Al Jones visits Confections with Convictions to catch up with owner Dale Anderson. The local sweet shop launched in 2010 with a mission to employ youth with criminal convictions. Thirteen years later, Anderson, 70, is preparing to hand over the reins to an employee, Jennifer Fakkety, who wants to expand the shop’s employment to include those of any age who are experiencing substance use disorder and are in recovery or 12-step programs.
To bring back a tradition of neighbors gathering face-to-face, to discuss without the divisiveness that seems to have been born, in part, out of social media, a new Lyceum Movement has begun. Also called “A School for Community Life,” lyceums are happening in various towns in Iowa and Minnesota, and now Kalamazoo is a chapter affiliate. The topic of the inaugural Kalamazoo Lyceum was titled, “How is media changing the way we think?” Read on to hear what panel members and attendees had to say.
A single gunshot that results in a homicide costs $1.2 million, robs feelings of safety, and rips a gaping hole into a family and community. Ahead of the national curve, both Kalamazoo County and City have declared gun violence a public health issue which moves the emphasis from penalty to prevention. Gun violence prevention expert, Reggie Moore, spoke to a large audience of invested community members last week at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, calling on Kalamazoo to become a "healing-informed" city.
In a move to consolidate housing funding requests for housing, the Kalamazoo County Housing's AmpliFund Portal is seeking to become a one-stop funding source for ARPA and county resources.
As the affordable housing crisis continues, some Kalamazoo organizations are finding new ways to provide downpayment assistance to help first-time home buyers purchase a new home.
Southwest Michigan Second Wave announces a change in editorial leadership as longtime Managing Editor Kathy Jennings expands her role with parent company Issue Media Group.
Mastodon has arrived in Kalamazoo! Is it a large extinct mammal or a local ‘instance’ that’s part of the fediverse? Correspondent Mark Wedel will help you decide.
Kalamazoo Youth Literacy Program SLD Read Seeks Tutors to help new young readers feel like school belongs to them, too. “Working with kids, you get more back than you give them,” says one tutor, calling it “a feel-good hour.”
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