Kalamazoo has its ups and downs
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7/10/2016
I moved to Kalamazoo 20 years ago from Chicago. Coming from a large city, this is a nice change once you get use to the small things like lack of ethnic culture, any food other than college pizza and craft beer and any store-outside of a chain store will be closed on Sunday.
The upside is, the ability to own a home is very real. Many neighborhoods offer an affordable option to own. The cost to rent is high due to the college student population and families moving in for 4 year, so their kids can attend high school in Kalamazoo and still be able to take advantage of 65% college tuition due to the Kalamazoo Promise. The Kalamazoo Promise will award students who have completed K-12 in the Kalamzoo school district and who live in Kalamazoo a 100%, 4 year college tuition...lots of smaller details to the program but that's the basis of the plan.
The Kalamazoo Promise is the reason I stayed in Kalamazoo, as a single parent with no child support, I could not offer a full college ride to my child. So all I had to do was stay in my home and send her off to school every morning..
The downside to staying in Kalamazookk is the lack of jobs and the below average pay for your career. Unless you work for the hospital or one of the colleges, the struggle to grow a career is a reality. It has taken me 20 years to finally land a decent job in my career. I don't know a single person who has managed to keep there job for a long period of time. Living in an "at will" state means you can be let go for any reason and this is the history of this area. Plan on periods of unemployment and under-employment.
The winters here are brutal, snow from November to March so plan on living close to your place of employment and having a snow day plan in place for your kids... Stay off the highways!!
Cat | Kalamazoo, MI