Downtown Kalamazoo may be a place for dining and cultural attractions. But more people are thinking it’s also a place to live.
Encore Magazine features two articles in its December issue about the increase in people calling downtown Kalamazoo “home.” Andrew Domino wrote the Place to Be about developers’ efforts to attract more residents, along with businesses. Brian Lam wrote about his family’s decision to move downtown in City Dwellers. They joined WMUK’s Gordon Evans.
Domino says Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated is trying to bring more businesses and residents downtown. He says the two things are connected because developers want the right types of places that support people living downtown.
Lam grew up in Kalamazoo, and says he never thought about living downtown. He lived in downtown Denver with his wife. But when the family moved to Kalamazoo, they bought a house in the Winchell neighborhood. After a while they missed living downtown. Lam says his young daughter’s interests are in dance and gymnastics and music. And there are plenty of opportunities for those activities in downtown Kalamazoo.
The trend in people moving downtown matches what is seen nationally. Domino says there’s more demand for housing. He says another major issue is parking. Lam says he finds that the parking is sufficient, but asked what he misses from his home in a more suburban setting, Lam says “connected covered parking.”
Lam says it’s still unusual to find another family with school age children living in downtown Kalamazoo. He says they are more likely to find “empty nesters” or younger people without children. Lam says “people either say that we are nuts or that we are awesome.”
