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.
A boxing academy, a guitar shop, a visual artist, a lawn care/landscaping service, a coffee shop, a chiropractor, and a carpentry shop were among the 90 small businesses in 16 Kalamazoo neighborhoods to receive shares of $450,000 made available in the second annual Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grant program.
Affordable housing is being built, but the progress is slow. Two agency executive directors talk about possibilities for getting work done as Second Wave explores common concerns and solutions to those issues in rural and urban Kalamazoo county.
The 2-year-old nonprofit organization of attorneys in Kalamazoo takes a holistic approach to criminal defense to help defendants in the criminal justice system. It hopes the work is the start of a process to get people who are accused of crimes get on a track out of the system.
Regulars at Fairmount Dog Park in Kalamazoo say it's a place where you become friends – just by having a common ground, which is the park.
When it came to evaluating Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety's response to civil unrest in 2020, consultants say they tried to "find where that truth is in the spectrum. But it’s not all one way or another."
How can we recognize Asian accomplishments in Kalamazoo? Here is a handful of women who can help in that regard.
Plans to try to assure Latino students keep up with their lessons and succeed academically have been put in place in the Kalamazoo Public Schools.
En las Escuelas Públicas de Kalamazoo se han implementado planes para tratar de asegurar que los estudiantes latinos se mantengan al día con sus lecciones y triunfen académicamente.
A night to get to know your local public safety officers has grown to so much more. This year opportunities to learn how to train for good-paying jobs were part of the celebration in the Northside Neighborhood.
Anonymous donors have once again presented a gift that has the potential to transform the City of Kalamazoo.
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