As part of the city’s inclusive Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 plan, the Edison Neighborhood Association and the City of Kalamazoo want to know what improvements are important to residents, and they’re seeking input.

Tammy Taylor, Director of the Edison Neighborhood Association, has created a survey that asks residents to rank their priorities for neighborhood improvements.

Among the list of suggestions are reconstruction and beautification of Portage Street; greater disability access; rehabilitation of existing housing to increase home ownership; better signage and lighting at significant intersections; safety for children; free neighborhood Wifi; and more family-friendly shopping options and services, among others. 

“The Edison Neighborhood Plan, when finished, will be partially adopted by the City of Kalamazoo and added to the Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 Plan,” says Taylor, adding that the ENA’s goal is to get input from every resident and business owner in the Edison Neighborhood and have a huge plan reveal at the neighborhood's National Night Out event  at 5:30 p.m.,  Aug. 7, 2018.

Each resident in a household can complete the survey, regardless of age, and they are encouraged to do so, so that their preferences are heard.

“Neighborhoods do not become great by accident,” said Rebekah Kik, Community Planning and Economic Director of the City of Kalamazoo. “It is the hard work of visioning and planning from the community that moves a plan from idea to action. 

“We look to the residents of the Edison neighborhood to be sure we are doing the right projects, in the right places, at the right time. It is important that we hear from as many residents as possible to ensure the plan is informed with the collective ideas of everyone.”

If there are other improvements you would like to see in the Imagine Edison plan that are not on the list, please call Taylor at 269-382-0916 or email Edison@chartermi.net.

Theresa Coty O'Neil is a Kalamazoo area freelance writer. Her articles have appeared in many local publications and her short stories have been published in Alaska Quarterly Review and West Branch, among others. She is the Project Editor for On the Ground Edison.

Southwest Michigan Second Wave's "On the Ground Edison" series amplifies the voices of Edison Neighborhood residents. Over three months, Second Wave journalists will be embedded in the Edison Neighborhood to explore topics of importance to residents, business owners, and other members of the community. To reach the editor of this series, Theresa Coty-O'Neil, please email her here or contact Second Wave managing editor Kathy Jennings here. 

The On the Ground program is made possible by funding from the City of Kalamazoo, LISC, the Fetzer Institute, the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, Michigan WORKS!, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.