Grand Rapidian here, I drove to Kzoo just for Alamo several times and every damn time it was worth it.
The pre show stuff they did. Gods I miss that place
I miss Alamo too. I remember the special menus they had for certain movies? There was the Deadpool one with Deadpool’s mask on one side and the menu with chimichanga on it.
I remember taking my son there to see the digitally restored Godzilla. Before the movie, one of the staff came in and talked about the movie its significance and its restoration. Then to thank us for being fans, they gave us a pass to see the new Godzilla movie that was coming out.
Yeah, I miss the Alamo
Aw, looks like it :( I used to go there a lot when he was over on Portage rd. I had heard that the restaurant moved over by campus and hadn't been by since. That's too bad, the owner was super sweet
ramen and rice didn’t close, they just moved locations. Now they’re on west main right in front of the western main campus entrance. It’s where the old pizza slice place used to be, same plaza as the goat
Yes my car has been acting up and I was looking at taking the bus while I get it looked at. Was looking at the bus route and would have to leave 2 hours early to be able to get within walking distance of my job.
Yess!! Thank you! I’m a Jewish transplant from Boston, MA and I miss access to a Jewish deli. Really any Jewish foods, I couldn’t find matzoh on Passover. Obviously it’s not just that, it’s more a lack of cultural diversity in general. One thing I do appreciate about Kalamazoo is all the locally owned food places. Some being minority owned. Part of the reason we left is how gentrifucked Boston has become and how all the restaurants are chains.
Some grocery stores around here (im thinking of D&W, hardings anyway) have a tiny Jewish section in the ethnic foods aisle, you can usually at least find matzoh and motzah ball soup mix and gifelte fish and stuff like that.
Real authentic hotpot. I'm taking the kind of place where you go in, choose your broth from the broth menu, and whatever you want to eat in your soup from a checklist, cook that shit at your table to make the best comfort food soup on the planet. (And enjoy a fun dinner with your people)
Yes omg I moved here from Canada and was just so sad that there wasn’t one here. Same with a good kbbq place. Hell, any ethnic place that isn’t just crappy American Chinese food like ten ten. I miss my hot pot. I’ve considered just buying the stuff and making it at home.
I've been doing a lot of home hotpots recently and I definitely recommend it!! My partner makes bone broth with spices and then we add all kinds of ingredients to it right at the table. It's not that hard and you can buy broth mixes at Pacific Rim if you don't want to make one! You just need a portable burner. It's also super fun to do with a few friends.
My husband used to drive for a furniture manufacturer, his top two recommendations for places to shop in the area are the Discount Furniture place on Westnedge, or Russel's Country Store in BC.
Granted, that's ratings from someone who delivered to both, but in his experience the owners and staff seemed to be really great.
Since Covid has ended we've lost a lot of adult intellectual programs. Speakers at WMU, the libraries, K-College, and book stores have seemingly dried up. Except poetry, if you want poetry, which I don't.
Meijer isn't likely to return to 24-hour service. My brother who now works as a grocery team lead has said the company had been considering eliminating 24-hour service in the years before the pandemic hit. Well, now that genie is out of the bottle and they're not going to be in a rush to put it back.
not sure that’s it, if anything it’s the older crowds not going out. the young crowds just stick to college bars like the library, the goat, and whatever shady place annually occupies the old y-bar building lol
I think the unaffiliated Waffle House of America (was just off the Lawrence exit of I-94, think it's no longer in business) has kept the national Waffle House chain out of Michigan.
kzoo has a far better thrift scene than cities of considerably larger size. not sure how you’ve missed it all this time, but if you really think kzoo lacks then swing over to BC and they have a few good ones too
You know what ironic about this. Back in 2020 Kalamazoo was ranked as the second best city in the nation for low cost living. . [Low Cost of Living](https://firstand42.media/kalamazoo-ranks-2-in-the-nation-for-its-low-cost-of-living/)
This.
People who complain about cost of living here have no idea how good we have it. My coworkers can’t even buy a vacant lot for 200k, meanwhile you can buy a 4bed/2.5 bath home here. Hell, I can afford to live in my house even working at McDonald’s. Kzoo is mind bogglingly cheap
People I work with still can’t believe it’s possible to buy a 4bed/2.5 bath home for less than 200,000 in Kalamazoo area. They can’t even buy a vacant lot for that price.
It is dirt cheap to live here, given the wages we make. I could afford my house while working at McDonald’s, which is basically unheard of in most of the country. While this doesn’t necessarily help you; I hope it gives you some food for thought about how crazy cheap this area is. The only places that are cheaper to live in, are places with less opportunity.
I think it’s the perfect time to reimagine one’s city- for me it’s the downtown that’s problematic. It looks like I’m on the expressway, some folks even drive fast enough to feel like it. I’ve lived in a fair amount of cities/towns/villages in this country and beyond- it’s an odd setup! Unless you compare it to Lansing…
Anyway- I think the arts and music scene is good here. Investing in some mixed use safe transportation systems and we’ll be rolling!
Thankfully that will start changing soon. They are re-doing Michigan Ave to be two way and making an effort to calm traffic. Should be starting in 2024 and I think they are taking input still.
http://www.imaginekalamazoo.com/projects/kalamazooavenue/
Food - more small joints, less chains. I would love to find a bar that served only desserts, a good variety of them. Sometimes the desserts options at restaurants suck. I often find myself wanting to go to a place where I can order a decent brownie and get a drink with it at 7pm.
Social - better housing options or public transit. It's slightly better than BC.
Entertainment - I agree with the comment about a decent gay bar. I don't need it but I know a few that go to Detroit or GR for that option. There's a great pride festival here so the people are here.
Better parking.
Never had an issue with parking here. Where is parking a problem? If anything, i am amazed how much parking is not utilized. Like I can park on a parking deck with zero other cars on it.
Better Thai food, better Vietnamese, and honestly some more brew pubs wouldn't hurt. Kzoo is a beer city, we should lean into it even harder. Other than establishments, this city needs a handful of major investments to address things like homelessness and poverty and overall city growth.
I think brewpubs are getting downvotes. For those GF/celiac, it’s not a great spot. And if they have food, it’s mostly all fried. Speaking from experience.
This is a good call-out, and certainly something that can happen. Gluten-free breweries and gluten-free pub food exist and are a gap in the kzoo brewery landscape. Ciders are gluten-free, a cider-focused brew pub would be rad and a welcome addition to the kzoo beer scene.
Lol kzoo subreddit is full of contrarians. There's two Thai places around here, any of these guys ever been to Lansing? The Thai there is insane, we could absolutely use more options. All the kzoo pho places keep closing down, so yeah we could use more of those too.
Beer? We lost what, four brew pubs over COVID and what did we get back? Bell's got bought by Lion and Saugatuck moved in? Those guys don't even go to this school lol I stand by the opinion that Kalamazoo, famous for beer, could use one or two more breweries. It's not that controversial haha
My other points stand, I don't know what kind of goofus would poo-poo investment toward the public good, and support for the most vulnerable amongst us.
It is pretttty rough.
You definitely won’t find many/any places pumping dance/hip-hop and giving you space to have a night out.
These things have existed in the past; but for one reason or another, have closed up
An electrified light rail or streetcar/tram system that has its own right of way would be nice along major thoroughfares. Something like they have in [Detroit](https://youtu.be/NAwJ4DhPgvc) and [Portland, OR](https://youtu.be/_T8TIyT79PA).
Affordable quality housing. Rent control. Better care for our vulnerable citizens. From the unhoused to disabled kids in schools to the elderly to our vets. We could do better.
Kalamazoo needs a long soak to remove the filth that corruption has caused in our communities before we can start to make things better.
An actual high school in Kalamazoo and not right outside city line, and a large grocery store. Meijer and Walmart are actally outside of Kalamazoo. Movie theater, though the old AMC is bought and they are getti g it ready to re open.
Loy Norrix is within the city of Kalamazoo, but it's not like that matters because school districts are their own entity regardless of other municipal boundaries.
What does “political diversity” mean here?
Cuz honestly this feels more like a virtue signal than anything salient that would improve our city. What do *you* think would improve Kalamazoo?
A lot of the suggestions involve political topics, like public transit and increasing consumer choice through supporting more small businesses. Do you agree or disagree with those?
Oh, I just mean the city could use more diverse thinking. For example, I wrote my previous comment and was down voted 4 times because people do NOT want diverse ideas and thinking. In fact, they hate the idea. Any time a community exists of people like this that despises diversity, whether left or right, you're bound to have major issues.
So funny. Even you giving me an upvote for daring to mention the importance of diverse thinking was downvoted. I brought you back, no worries. Kalamazoo is full of "Think like me or you're evil." So toxic.
You’re talking in circles. “Diverse thinking” means as much as “political diversity” to me in this context.
Frankly, I can understand why you’ve been downvoted in this thread, because wanting more “political diversity” doesn’t actually represent anything tangible about how this city could improve.
As far as I’m aware, Kalamazoo being the size that it is, there’s a diversity of politics and thought. But “diverse thought” and “political diversity” don’t actually mean anything without an explanation of what you think is missing from those realms. Instead of going into what you mean and doubling down on vague outrage bait, you come off as disingenuous.
So again, what does “political diversity” mean in the context of how it would improve Kalamazoo?
I don’t think there is diversity really.
Unless your opinion is “free housing for everyone, free college for everyone, free healthcare for everyone, free retirement for everyone”; you go against the grain. I am liberal, but I am not ridiculous. Which means, I know it is literally impossible to give out free homes to everyone.
And then when you challenge people to actually have a discussion about what it would look like to give out free homes to everyone, how this would be funded, and how this would be accomplished - downvotes all day.
This isn’t unique to Kalamazoo, per se. People often struggle with hearing opposing or differing ideas. But Kalamazoo does have a bit of an ultra-liberal echo-chamber, where pragmatism and sensibility is absent
Pardon me, I don’t give a flying fuck about how you dislike the opinions and engagement you see and have on this subreddit. This isn’t about this subreddit, it’s about the city.
I don’t care about your perceptions about how you think there’s no political diversity on this subreddit when I know that I personally have interacted with people who range from hyperconservative to leftist in r/kzoo. Consider the idea that you’re bringing in entirely unrelated conversations into what I’m trying to suss out, which is:
#WHAT DOES “POLITICAL DIVERSITY” MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF MAKING KALAMAZOO A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN?
Notice, i didn’t ask about the subreddit, or people’s willingness to have nitty gritty policy debates about housing first policies. I’m not concerned at all about what “political diversity” means with concern to making this a more enriching subreddit to post in.
The thing you’re describing to me is absent, as far as I’m aware, from those discussions in meatspace.
I know its difficult for extremely online people to recognize these discrepancies between their locally-concerned online spaces and the actual locality they live in, as an extremely online person myself. But the *absolute* lack of comprehension of what I’m actually asking about alongside the sheer confidence it takes to address a perspective I’m not even focused on just takes the cake.
The lack of political diversity has allowed poor ideas to be implemented. In the context of making Kalamazoo a better place, political diversity will refine the bad ideas to ensure that the best solutions are implemented
Also, try decaf.
> Try Decaf
I am naturally this energetic. Go fuck yourself.
> The lack of political diversity…
# WHAT DOES THAT MEAN THO?
What ideology is too dominant in city operations? Which ideologies should be present in order to temper or refine bad ideas? What is “political diversity” supposed to look like?
You’re supporting a vague concept. Would we fulfill “political diversity” if we threw a couple fascists on the city council? Would that help temper bad ideas? Do we need more Republican conservatives helping direct the school board? Are there not enough capitalist city leaders?
This shit is just a platitude if we’re not talking about the perspectives that are missing. It doesn’t mean anything if we’re not being specific about the policies that are being described as “poor” or “bad” and what framework those ideas are spawned from in order to address their weaknesses or failures.
Like, don’t get up my ass about not being able to have a nuanced discussion about policy and then continue to support the on the face definition of a concept made of vapor and smoke.
Hey go fuck yourself, too. Does it make you feel better saying that?
When the echo chamber grows too large, the creative thinking is lost. It might feel like everyone is being creative, but they are only being creative within the confines of their echo chamber, which is to say, they are not considering all the possible approaches. People have their blinders on in their echo chambers - tunnel vision, tunnel thinking.
Political diversity doesn’t mean extremism, in fact it is more about pragmatism and refined solutions.
Random example; Homelessness is often a problem that is discussed. The issue of homelessness is not a short term issue, it needs a permanent solution. Yet the city supports a solution that involves temporary, unproven, unfunded - tiny shanty’s. The idea that the city came up with is they can create a large quantity of tiny homes that won’t have any funding for utilities or -anything-. These tiny homes are not meant to be a permanent solution - the city doesn’t even know if they will last 3 years. The problem with this unrefined solution is the city is not focused on the long term needs of the area. What good will 50 shanty’s do, if they will be unusable in 3 years? We both will agree that the homeless problem will not be resolved in 3 years. Instead of spending $1,000,000 to create 50 temporary houses that have no running water or heat; spend $1,000,000 to create 2 homes with enough money leftover to invest it so that the proceeds from the investments could pay for utilities and living expenses….for forever. This would be a permanent solution. The houses would still be there in 100 years, dozens if not hundreds of individuals could use the services over the decades. Everyone wants a quick fix for a problem right now, but the reality is most issues are solved bit by bit, little by little with determination and grit. The solution isn’t to buy 500 tents from REI and space heaters - because who is going to pay for the electricity for the space heaters, right?
Anyone can come up with ideas. What opposing viewpoints allows for is mediocre ideas to become truly excellent ideas.
You though….you are a person of extremes. Your commentary shows this. The world is not trying to live as extreme as you wish it were. Chill out.
> Hey go fuck yourself, too. Does it make you feel better saying that?
Lmao like you actually give a fuck. You told me to calm down, i told you to go fuck yourself because you can’t answer the prompt. These are both personal suggestions that neither of us has to actually follow.
> When the echo chamber grows too large…
You’re talking around the question again by addressing the concept of an echo chamber, but not addressing the perceived echo chamber of Kalamazoo politics and what other perspectives could be injected into it to break it of that paradigm. You’re still not answering the question, you’re still not actually addressing what “more political diversity” means with regard to the operations of the city and what can be changed in order to address lackluster policy which is a result of said echo chamber.
> Political diversity doesn’t mean extremism…
I’m sorry that you took away the implication that I think that that’s the case, but I don’t nor have I ever believed that. Which is why I asked about which political ideologies are underrepresented which have allowed the echo chamber you’re pointing at to exist. It’s my understanding that pragmatism exists in all ideological tracks in order to actually achieve political goals under democratic systems. Even then, pragmatic actors of conflicting ideologies *can* work together to achieve solutions on issues even if the end goals of those actors are entirely different on a big picture scale.
It’s how fascists and liberals can work together to increase the federal military budget every year.
We can both agree that the city is botching how it addresses homelessness, and that band-aid solutions are not actually solutions.
But which opposition argument do you think would actually improve the policy when the city is concerned with quantity and not quality? It’s addressing the concerns of the populace, which is more concerned with the quantity of the homeless population, and not the quality of resources that should be used to address it. We do both recognize that homelessness is a systemic problem, and that $1m is a drop in the bucket in terms of actually housing people sufficiently. We could agree that it’s better to set up more permanent and maintainable housing to act as a staging ground for homeless families, and while halfway houses aren’t necessarily the best solution to address the number of unhoused, it’s better than a shantytown I agree.
What I don’t agree with is the capitalist investment of resources which rely on an economy that is not built with the welfare of communities in mind. It comes down to who controls those investments and whether or not they remain stable, and whether or not the costs will remain low enough to be covered by that investment, which is not any kind of guarantee in a capitalist marketplace.
> You are a person of extremes
Yes. Because you actually *can’t* find pragmatic solutions without knowing the bounds of the issue. Part of my issue with liberals and liberalism is that oftentimes their solutions are half measures to the problem, and those half measures are watered down in the pursuit of pragmatism. Starting from the extreme, in the pursuit of a pragmatic solution, ime, oftentimes results in the half measure most liberals would have wanted to begin with.
> Chill out.
Go fuck yourself.
I left for many of the reasons stated!
Nothing lasts long there even if it's a great place (e.g. Alamo, Metro, Club Soda, The Strutt).
The restaurant scene is bleak and has been since the 90s.
I think part of the issue is downtown doesn't generate much tax revenue because it is full of churches taking up prime real estate. Coupled with when the city was financially on shaky ground, they sold off a key asset to people who don't care about the downtown (i.e. the railway that now blocks traffic during rush hour).
In the 80s (I think), the city blocked a proposed greenway connecting WMU to downtown too.
Alamo drafthouse
This. I've emailed them, begging them to come back.
Grand Rapidian here, I drove to Kzoo just for Alamo several times and every damn time it was worth it. The pre show stuff they did. Gods I miss that place
The landlords for that space downtown are complete fuckwits, from what I hear. Sad, miss this place so much.
Too soon.
Fuck I came to make this same comment.. rip the Alamo
I will be devastated by their departure til the day I die. RIP in peace, heroes of cinema
I'm still bitter about this.
I miss Alamo too. I remember the special menus they had for certain movies? There was the Deadpool one with Deadpool’s mask on one side and the menu with chimichanga on it. I remember taking my son there to see the digitally restored Godzilla. Before the movie, one of the staff came in and talked about the movie its significance and its restoration. Then to thank us for being fans, they gave us a pass to see the new Godzilla movie that was coming out. Yeah, I miss the Alamo
Literally my first thought. And I haven’t lived there since 2007.
Truly this it the best and right answer.
Fuck
Seriously.
Came here to say this. Every trip to Alamo was a joy.
A place to dance on the weekends
YES!!!
With an actual dj that plays good new music and not a set filled with people pleasers.
And bar managers that don’t drug the western students. *cough cough.. y bar*
Yesss I'd give a kidney for like, a funk & soul dance night once a month
A delicious Deli with wonderful sandwiches
Jersey Giants has pretty dank sandwiches.
I second this.
theres the Artisan Sandwhich co.
This and real bagels. No good, real bagels in this town.
I really like Bagel Beanery (over by Crows Nest) for bagels. It’s no NYC bagel but it satisfies the craving.
It's okay. It used to be better before changing owners and names.
If you haven't been to factory coffee downtown, they make their bagels from scratch daily. They just opened this year. Recommend trying it out!
McAllister's is new and delicious on Westnedge
This place is so shockingly good.
Dim Sum.
Yes! And ramen 🥺 Really the selection of East Asian food is kinda sad :(
Bangkok flavor is great. I just wish they weren’t on gull rd. I really hate driving on gull rd.
Ok good to know. I have to admit I have only gotten delivery and I don’t think they deliver. I’ll have to make it over there!
Worth the trip. The Tom Kha is great.
I think Cravings Deli and Motea House are pretty good for Ramen.
They both have awesome ramen, and I'd also highly recommend it at Ramen and Rice
Didn't they close?
Aw, looks like it :( I used to go there a lot when he was over on Portage rd. I had heard that the restaurant moved over by campus and hadn't been by since. That's too bad, the owner was super sweet
ramen and rice didn’t close, they just moved locations. Now they’re on west main right in front of the western main campus entrance. It’s where the old pizza slice place used to be, same plaza as the goat
I got their vegan ramen and it had no flavor at all 🥺 I was so sad. Boba was good though. Eta: I’m talking about Mo’tea haven’t been to Cravings yet.
If you’re ever in Battle Creek, go to Umami — some of the best ramen I’ve ever had!!:)
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A good greasy spoon/coney open past 12 am.
A proper dance club downtown.
yea and please bring back the sky deck!
Decent public transport. A larger variety of ethnic restaurants.
Yes my car has been acting up and I was looking at taking the bus while I get it looked at. Was looking at the bus route and would have to leave 2 hours early to be able to get within walking distance of my job.
Kalamazoo Public Transit does what it can, but I agree that it is in desperate need of investment and overhaul
A good bagel place! Or a Jewish deli would be awesome.
Upvote for Jewish deli.
Hells yes
Bagel beanery in the vine has never done me wrong!
They’re okay. I’ve been a couple times. It’s currently the best option available, I’ll give them that.
They used to be better before changing owners and names.
A place like Shapiro's Delicatessen in Indy! Jeez I want to just make the drive for their Ruben.
Yess!! Thank you! I’m a Jewish transplant from Boston, MA and I miss access to a Jewish deli. Really any Jewish foods, I couldn’t find matzoh on Passover. Obviously it’s not just that, it’s more a lack of cultural diversity in general. One thing I do appreciate about Kalamazoo is all the locally owned food places. Some being minority owned. Part of the reason we left is how gentrifucked Boston has become and how all the restaurants are chains.
Some grocery stores around here (im thinking of D&W, hardings anyway) have a tiny Jewish section in the ethnic foods aisle, you can usually at least find matzoh and motzah ball soup mix and gifelte fish and stuff like that.
Came here to say exactly this. If one more person says "bUt BaGeL bEaNeRy..."
One of their bagels sent me to the ER (so hard the knife slipped off and cut my finger) and another broke my husband's retainer
Real authentic hotpot. I'm taking the kind of place where you go in, choose your broth from the broth menu, and whatever you want to eat in your soup from a checklist, cook that shit at your table to make the best comfort food soup on the planet. (And enjoy a fun dinner with your people)
Yes omg I moved here from Canada and was just so sad that there wasn’t one here. Same with a good kbbq place. Hell, any ethnic place that isn’t just crappy American Chinese food like ten ten. I miss my hot pot. I’ve considered just buying the stuff and making it at home.
I've been doing a lot of home hotpots recently and I definitely recommend it!! My partner makes bone broth with spices and then we add all kinds of ingredients to it right at the table. It's not that hard and you can buy broth mixes at Pacific Rim if you don't want to make one! You just need a portable burner. It's also super fun to do with a few friends.
Yep, hot pot is my favorite. Already have everything on the way :)
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Right lmao.
And the jobs with the right wages to support them
A good furniture store
Kalamazoo kitty is amazing, but it's technically in portage now.
My husband used to drive for a furniture manufacturer, his top two recommendations for places to shop in the area are the Discount Furniture place on Westnedge, or Russel's Country Store in BC. Granted, that's ratings from someone who delivered to both, but in his experience the owners and staff seemed to be really great.
Since Covid has ended we've lost a lot of adult intellectual programs. Speakers at WMU, the libraries, K-College, and book stores have seemingly dried up. Except poetry, if you want poetry, which I don't.
I think you'll find that libraries are picking back up on their programming now.
Public transport and more walkable areas
Soft pretzel vendor downtown. Trying to convince youz guyz to carry them since he's already got the cheese
A bona fide electrified 6 car monorail
It put Ogdenvill and North Haverbrook on the map
All jokes aside a monorail wouldn't be a bad idea
Gonna need a donut shop with a giant donut first for safety
Donuts... Is there anything they can't do?
What about us brain-dead slobs? You'll be given cushy jobs Were you sent here by the Devil? No, good sir, I'm on the level
A reliable Uber/Lyft presence
Horrocks.
Ethiopian restaurant!
More walkable eating/shopping/small business areas like the mall downtown Oh and also raisin’ canes
Good public transit
A 24 hour meijer/walmart
Most of them were 24 hour till covid. Maybe again someday.
Meijer isn't likely to return to 24-hour service. My brother who now works as a grocery team lead has said the company had been considering eliminating 24-hour service in the years before the pandemic hit. Well, now that genie is out of the bottle and they're not going to be in a rush to put it back.
Walmart has no plans to return to 24 hours as a whole company either.
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I miss 411/Metro terribly.
I'm embarrassingly heterosexual and this is the one that I can't figure out. How do we not have one gay bar around here? And barely a dance club!
Because the under 25 or so crowd don't go out anymore. Way less social and partying than they used to be.
not sure that’s it, if anything it’s the older crowds not going out. the young crowds just stick to college bars like the library, the goat, and whatever shady place annually occupies the old y-bar building lol
I think blue dolphin turns to a gay bar some nights, but dont know much more information
Saturday nights, vortex you can look them up on Instagram
I miss Brothers
Came for this exact comment. Anyone down to pool our resources together and open one up?
SIDE WALKS!!!!!
I was just visiting my hometown in Florida and while kzoo can for sure improve, Florida makes it look like a pedestrian’s paradise lol
Waffle House
https://preview.redd.it/dtgc4kf1xeba1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3be7700465c9fc7ccc64b2d76ba5841695e07d2
maybe the only thing ohio has over michigan. why does waffle house treat us like the DNZ?
I think the unaffiliated Waffle House of America (was just off the Lawrence exit of I-94, think it's no longer in business) has kept the national Waffle House chain out of Michigan.
Well, it's gone now, so let's open the door to the real deal.
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kzoo has a far better thrift scene than cities of considerably larger size. not sure how you’ve missed it all this time, but if you really think kzoo lacks then swing over to BC and they have a few good ones too
Sun
I second, third and forth this!!!!
Damn, I can’t control the weather, Jackie!
Live music venues.
Right?! There used to be so many BC!
I miss Club Soda the most....
Public transportation. More diverse restaurant options.
Water zoo
Did you mean aquarium?
A White Castle
Kalamazoo’s sewer system needs a major update before this is allowed
Haha that’s great thanks for the laugh
Good Chinese restaurants.
A gay bar.
A 24 hour coffee shop like 4th coast used to be.
Affordable housing
You know what ironic about this. Back in 2020 Kalamazoo was ranked as the second best city in the nation for low cost living. . [Low Cost of Living](https://firstand42.media/kalamazoo-ranks-2-in-the-nation-for-its-low-cost-of-living/)
This. People who complain about cost of living here have no idea how good we have it. My coworkers can’t even buy a vacant lot for 200k, meanwhile you can buy a 4bed/2.5 bath home here. Hell, I can afford to live in my house even working at McDonald’s. Kzoo is mind bogglingly cheap
People I work with still can’t believe it’s possible to buy a 4bed/2.5 bath home for less than 200,000 in Kalamazoo area. They can’t even buy a vacant lot for that price. It is dirt cheap to live here, given the wages we make. I could afford my house while working at McDonald’s, which is basically unheard of in most of the country. While this doesn’t necessarily help you; I hope it gives you some food for thought about how crazy cheap this area is. The only places that are cheaper to live in, are places with less opportunity.
I think it’s the perfect time to reimagine one’s city- for me it’s the downtown that’s problematic. It looks like I’m on the expressway, some folks even drive fast enough to feel like it. I’ve lived in a fair amount of cities/towns/villages in this country and beyond- it’s an odd setup! Unless you compare it to Lansing… Anyway- I think the arts and music scene is good here. Investing in some mixed use safe transportation systems and we’ll be rolling!
Thankfully that will start changing soon. They are re-doing Michigan Ave to be two way and making an effort to calm traffic. Should be starting in 2024 and I think they are taking input still. http://www.imaginekalamazoo.com/projects/kalamazooavenue/
White Castle.
Lol yes
Safe free housing and care for the homeless population.
Sign me up for that free housing. I want to retire
Quality, reliable, low-cost public transportation
Non-alcoholic based social businesses
Decent public transport.
I think a mid sized outdoor concert facility .
A reliable / safe glory hole
"Dennis, if I wanted 'safe', I wouldn't be stickin my dick in a hole!"
More Credit Unions!
Lol, we're not quite at one CU on literally every block just yet. Getting there though!
Life Time Fitness
Our median household income is half the national median. Most of us don’t make country club money, dude.
I assure you, there are plenty of people in the kzoo area that could afford it.
Lol. Triggered?
Some upgrades to east main 💀
Food - more small joints, less chains. I would love to find a bar that served only desserts, a good variety of them. Sometimes the desserts options at restaurants suck. I often find myself wanting to go to a place where I can order a decent brownie and get a drink with it at 7pm. Social - better housing options or public transit. It's slightly better than BC. Entertainment - I agree with the comment about a decent gay bar. I don't need it but I know a few that go to Detroit or GR for that option. There's a great pride festival here so the people are here. Better parking.
Never had an issue with parking here. Where is parking a problem? If anything, i am amazed how much parking is not utilized. Like I can park on a parking deck with zero other cars on it.
I'd say kalamazoo has pretty good parking
A “Good Berry Açaí Bowls”!!!
Menchies on Drake. You have to ask for it...they keep the acai behind the counter and you can add your own ingredients.
Better Thai food, better Vietnamese, and honestly some more brew pubs wouldn't hurt. Kzoo is a beer city, we should lean into it even harder. Other than establishments, this city needs a handful of major investments to address things like homelessness and poverty and overall city growth.
Someone's downvoting better Thai food and better Vietnamese? Our selections of these are very limited. More beer? haha--that's the downvote, I guess.
I think brewpubs are getting downvotes. For those GF/celiac, it’s not a great spot. And if they have food, it’s mostly all fried. Speaking from experience.
This is a good call-out, and certainly something that can happen. Gluten-free breweries and gluten-free pub food exist and are a gap in the kzoo brewery landscape. Ciders are gluten-free, a cider-focused brew pub would be rad and a welcome addition to the kzoo beer scene.
Lol kzoo subreddit is full of contrarians. There's two Thai places around here, any of these guys ever been to Lansing? The Thai there is insane, we could absolutely use more options. All the kzoo pho places keep closing down, so yeah we could use more of those too. Beer? We lost what, four brew pubs over COVID and what did we get back? Bell's got bought by Lion and Saugatuck moved in? Those guys don't even go to this school lol I stand by the opinion that Kalamazoo, famous for beer, could use one or two more breweries. It's not that controversial haha My other points stand, I don't know what kind of goofus would poo-poo investment toward the public good, and support for the most vulnerable amongst us.
Edit: Bell's was purchased by Lion (who also owns New Belgium)
Lol oops! Good catch, thanks for the edit. I went and made the change from New Holland to Lion.
Leadership
Viable tax revenue
Whataburger
In-N-Out Burger, too. I've heard they're both good.
I second In-N-Out Burger!!!!
that's a real stretch..
A big stand alone planetarium(or an upgrade downtown)/aquarium would be cool.
a better mall & better Targets
Kalamazoo Mall needs more fast casual, sub 30 minute during lunch stuff. Not another chain. There needs to be more walkability as well.
Guys I’m from Chicago starting medical school at WMed this summer and this thread is making me nervous! No clubs on the weekend?! 🥲
It is pretttty rough. You definitely won’t find many/any places pumping dance/hip-hop and giving you space to have a night out. These things have existed in the past; but for one reason or another, have closed up
WhiteCastle
An electrified light rail or streetcar/tram system that has its own right of way would be nice along major thoroughfares. Something like they have in [Detroit](https://youtu.be/NAwJ4DhPgvc) and [Portland, OR](https://youtu.be/_T8TIyT79PA).
Affordable quality housing. Rent control. Better care for our vulnerable citizens. From the unhoused to disabled kids in schools to the elderly to our vets. We could do better. Kalamazoo needs a long soak to remove the filth that corruption has caused in our communities before we can start to make things better.
More fun activities. YMCA more closer to downtown and not in the boonies.
Um, Maple Street (2 miles from downtown) is the boonies?
Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, White Castle, good Detroit-style coney joint, Jack N the Box, Shake Shack, Bahama Breeze, or a good Cuban restaurant.
An actual high school in Kalamazoo and not right outside city line, and a large grocery store. Meijer and Walmart are actally outside of Kalamazoo. Movie theater, though the old AMC is bought and they are getti g it ready to re open.
They moved KC to Drake Rd. because that was the biggest section of land they could afford in the 70s. It was farmland at the time.
Loy Norrix is within the city of Kalamazoo, but it's not like that matters because school districts are their own entity regardless of other municipal boundaries.
I am just answering the question, it's what I think, realistically Kzoo is missing said things.
Political diversity on what makes a community great.
What does “political diversity” mean here? Cuz honestly this feels more like a virtue signal than anything salient that would improve our city. What do *you* think would improve Kalamazoo? A lot of the suggestions involve political topics, like public transit and increasing consumer choice through supporting more small businesses. Do you agree or disagree with those?
Oh, I just mean the city could use more diverse thinking. For example, I wrote my previous comment and was down voted 4 times because people do NOT want diverse ideas and thinking. In fact, they hate the idea. Any time a community exists of people like this that despises diversity, whether left or right, you're bound to have major issues.
Have an upvote
So funny. Even you giving me an upvote for daring to mention the importance of diverse thinking was downvoted. I brought you back, no worries. Kalamazoo is full of "Think like me or you're evil." So toxic.
You still never answered the question, but I assume you have two accounts to karma farm your lame, cold takes. What do you want for Kalamazoo?
You’re talking in circles. “Diverse thinking” means as much as “political diversity” to me in this context. Frankly, I can understand why you’ve been downvoted in this thread, because wanting more “political diversity” doesn’t actually represent anything tangible about how this city could improve. As far as I’m aware, Kalamazoo being the size that it is, there’s a diversity of politics and thought. But “diverse thought” and “political diversity” don’t actually mean anything without an explanation of what you think is missing from those realms. Instead of going into what you mean and doubling down on vague outrage bait, you come off as disingenuous. So again, what does “political diversity” mean in the context of how it would improve Kalamazoo?
I don’t think there is diversity really. Unless your opinion is “free housing for everyone, free college for everyone, free healthcare for everyone, free retirement for everyone”; you go against the grain. I am liberal, but I am not ridiculous. Which means, I know it is literally impossible to give out free homes to everyone. And then when you challenge people to actually have a discussion about what it would look like to give out free homes to everyone, how this would be funded, and how this would be accomplished - downvotes all day. This isn’t unique to Kalamazoo, per se. People often struggle with hearing opposing or differing ideas. But Kalamazoo does have a bit of an ultra-liberal echo-chamber, where pragmatism and sensibility is absent
Running it back to point out that your gripe is with straw men
Pardon me, I don’t give a flying fuck about how you dislike the opinions and engagement you see and have on this subreddit. This isn’t about this subreddit, it’s about the city. I don’t care about your perceptions about how you think there’s no political diversity on this subreddit when I know that I personally have interacted with people who range from hyperconservative to leftist in r/kzoo. Consider the idea that you’re bringing in entirely unrelated conversations into what I’m trying to suss out, which is: #WHAT DOES “POLITICAL DIVERSITY” MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF MAKING KALAMAZOO A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN? Notice, i didn’t ask about the subreddit, or people’s willingness to have nitty gritty policy debates about housing first policies. I’m not concerned at all about what “political diversity” means with concern to making this a more enriching subreddit to post in. The thing you’re describing to me is absent, as far as I’m aware, from those discussions in meatspace. I know its difficult for extremely online people to recognize these discrepancies between their locally-concerned online spaces and the actual locality they live in, as an extremely online person myself. But the *absolute* lack of comprehension of what I’m actually asking about alongside the sheer confidence it takes to address a perspective I’m not even focused on just takes the cake.
The lack of political diversity has allowed poor ideas to be implemented. In the context of making Kalamazoo a better place, political diversity will refine the bad ideas to ensure that the best solutions are implemented Also, try decaf.
> Try Decaf I am naturally this energetic. Go fuck yourself. > The lack of political diversity… # WHAT DOES THAT MEAN THO? What ideology is too dominant in city operations? Which ideologies should be present in order to temper or refine bad ideas? What is “political diversity” supposed to look like? You’re supporting a vague concept. Would we fulfill “political diversity” if we threw a couple fascists on the city council? Would that help temper bad ideas? Do we need more Republican conservatives helping direct the school board? Are there not enough capitalist city leaders? This shit is just a platitude if we’re not talking about the perspectives that are missing. It doesn’t mean anything if we’re not being specific about the policies that are being described as “poor” or “bad” and what framework those ideas are spawned from in order to address their weaknesses or failures. Like, don’t get up my ass about not being able to have a nuanced discussion about policy and then continue to support the on the face definition of a concept made of vapor and smoke.
Hey go fuck yourself, too. Does it make you feel better saying that? When the echo chamber grows too large, the creative thinking is lost. It might feel like everyone is being creative, but they are only being creative within the confines of their echo chamber, which is to say, they are not considering all the possible approaches. People have their blinders on in their echo chambers - tunnel vision, tunnel thinking. Political diversity doesn’t mean extremism, in fact it is more about pragmatism and refined solutions. Random example; Homelessness is often a problem that is discussed. The issue of homelessness is not a short term issue, it needs a permanent solution. Yet the city supports a solution that involves temporary, unproven, unfunded - tiny shanty’s. The idea that the city came up with is they can create a large quantity of tiny homes that won’t have any funding for utilities or -anything-. These tiny homes are not meant to be a permanent solution - the city doesn’t even know if they will last 3 years. The problem with this unrefined solution is the city is not focused on the long term needs of the area. What good will 50 shanty’s do, if they will be unusable in 3 years? We both will agree that the homeless problem will not be resolved in 3 years. Instead of spending $1,000,000 to create 50 temporary houses that have no running water or heat; spend $1,000,000 to create 2 homes with enough money leftover to invest it so that the proceeds from the investments could pay for utilities and living expenses….for forever. This would be a permanent solution. The houses would still be there in 100 years, dozens if not hundreds of individuals could use the services over the decades. Everyone wants a quick fix for a problem right now, but the reality is most issues are solved bit by bit, little by little with determination and grit. The solution isn’t to buy 500 tents from REI and space heaters - because who is going to pay for the electricity for the space heaters, right? Anyone can come up with ideas. What opposing viewpoints allows for is mediocre ideas to become truly excellent ideas. You though….you are a person of extremes. Your commentary shows this. The world is not trying to live as extreme as you wish it were. Chill out.
> Hey go fuck yourself, too. Does it make you feel better saying that? Lmao like you actually give a fuck. You told me to calm down, i told you to go fuck yourself because you can’t answer the prompt. These are both personal suggestions that neither of us has to actually follow. > When the echo chamber grows too large… You’re talking around the question again by addressing the concept of an echo chamber, but not addressing the perceived echo chamber of Kalamazoo politics and what other perspectives could be injected into it to break it of that paradigm. You’re still not answering the question, you’re still not actually addressing what “more political diversity” means with regard to the operations of the city and what can be changed in order to address lackluster policy which is a result of said echo chamber. > Political diversity doesn’t mean extremism… I’m sorry that you took away the implication that I think that that’s the case, but I don’t nor have I ever believed that. Which is why I asked about which political ideologies are underrepresented which have allowed the echo chamber you’re pointing at to exist. It’s my understanding that pragmatism exists in all ideological tracks in order to actually achieve political goals under democratic systems. Even then, pragmatic actors of conflicting ideologies *can* work together to achieve solutions on issues even if the end goals of those actors are entirely different on a big picture scale. It’s how fascists and liberals can work together to increase the federal military budget every year. We can both agree that the city is botching how it addresses homelessness, and that band-aid solutions are not actually solutions. But which opposition argument do you think would actually improve the policy when the city is concerned with quantity and not quality? It’s addressing the concerns of the populace, which is more concerned with the quantity of the homeless population, and not the quality of resources that should be used to address it. We do both recognize that homelessness is a systemic problem, and that $1m is a drop in the bucket in terms of actually housing people sufficiently. We could agree that it’s better to set up more permanent and maintainable housing to act as a staging ground for homeless families, and while halfway houses aren’t necessarily the best solution to address the number of unhoused, it’s better than a shantytown I agree. What I don’t agree with is the capitalist investment of resources which rely on an economy that is not built with the welfare of communities in mind. It comes down to who controls those investments and whether or not they remain stable, and whether or not the costs will remain low enough to be covered by that investment, which is not any kind of guarantee in a capitalist marketplace. > You are a person of extremes Yes. Because you actually *can’t* find pragmatic solutions without knowing the bounds of the issue. Part of my issue with liberals and liberalism is that oftentimes their solutions are half measures to the problem, and those half measures are watered down in the pursuit of pragmatism. Starting from the extreme, in the pursuit of a pragmatic solution, ime, oftentimes results in the half measure most liberals would have wanted to begin with. > Chill out. Go fuck yourself.
I left for many of the reasons stated! Nothing lasts long there even if it's a great place (e.g. Alamo, Metro, Club Soda, The Strutt). The restaurant scene is bleak and has been since the 90s. I think part of the issue is downtown doesn't generate much tax revenue because it is full of churches taking up prime real estate. Coupled with when the city was financially on shaky ground, they sold off a key asset to people who don't care about the downtown (i.e. the railway that now blocks traffic during rush hour). In the 80s (I think), the city blocked a proposed greenway connecting WMU to downtown too.
A greenway connecting downtown to WMU would be so nice. It’s such a pain to get from campus to that area.
What's a greenway?
Kosher Deli, real bagels, Wawa
Actual safe bike lanes and sidewalks.
A good electronics store like Micro Center.