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 conversion of a former hotel on Kilgore Road into an 80-unit shelter where unhoused families can receive support as they transition back to permanent housing is urgent, local housing officials say. And work is expected to get underway soon to move the project forward in hopes of housing some families by the end of the year.
The City of Kalamazoo has put together conceptual plans that would encourage143 to 200 homes on the nearly 15-acre lot that was once home to the former Health and Human Services building. Soon, the Edison Neighborhood will be weighing in on the idea.
“We need to start thinking of wildlife, particularly urban wildlife, as native, indigenous to the land that we developed. As such, we need to learn how to coexist in a way that we don’t feel like they’re encroaching on us, but rather that we’re encroaching on their habitat."
Poet's Press, a Second Wave quarterly series presented in partnership with the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival, launches with our first installment by poet Markeva Love and collaborating artist Taylor Scamehorn. This series features news poems — an experimental form that examines local people, places, and events through a personal, poetic lens.
In a sweltering Kalamazoo garage known as The RunOff, a tight-knit DIY music community gathers for a night of blistering metal, haunting sax solos, and family-style chaos — raising the volume, and funds, in equal measure.
“A community the size of Kalamazoo... has an excellent, robust public transit system, and we have a group of employees here that care about being community servants and taking care of people’s needs to get them where they need to go.”
Karen Wosje helps respond to local disasters as FEMA’s future remains uncertain. The Red Cross urges more volunteers amid rising climate-related emergencies.
La Corporación de Desarrollo Económico de Michigan otorgó a la Cámara de Comercio Hispana del Oeste de Michigan 2.5 millones de dólares. Ese dinero se destinó a cuatro organizaciones, entre ellas El Concilio en Kalamazoo. Ahora proporciona acceso a recursos de desarrollo económico en español a negocios como Tacos El Jefe.
Kalamazoo’s Youth Football Camp brought together local high schools, the Police Athletic League, and families for a free, skills-based event aimed at teaching kids the fundamentals of football, building community unity, and keeping youth active and engaged.
As Brandon Mion works with those facing housing insecurity or who are already homeless he doesn't often bring up his story, but he will if he needs to tell a youth in crisis, "Hey, I've been there. You've got to fight through it because you can get through it."
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