[Softballfan]

Those are the "bad" areas of Kalamazoo. Portage doesn't really have a bad area.

What are your prices for houses? That will determine what areas you can afford to live in.

Milwood is nice. It close to everything, including I-94 for your work commutes.

[hockeygal22]

Where ever you live do not live in Comstock! It is just outside of Kalamazoo and is a lower middle class area that has a poor school system and a lot of scandals in the local government. My brother lives in the Milwood area and it is a nice family friendly area but crime is always a problem anywhere you go...I would recommend to always lock your doors and such. By the way even though there is more to do in Kalamazoo there are nice parts of Battle Creek and areas just outside of Kalamazoo that would be closer to Battle Creek. Battle Creek has movie theaters, a mall, and such too and with gas prices you might want to ask which is more important...being close to a job you drive to 5 days a week? or drive to Kalamazoo every once in awhile to do something?

From Kalamazoo to Battle Creek it is about 20 min or so depending on where in the cities you are traveling from and to. The nice areas in Battle Creek are mainly Harper Creek and Lakeview (both have good schools so if you do eventually have children). Gull Lake is in between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek but will be more expensive.

[deslok]

Having lived in both areas, Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, I would say live where you work with gas prices. Living out in Kalamazoo or Portage is not that great so as to spend the money commuting back and forth just to say you live in either place. You can always visit you know. The people are about the same, crime is about the same in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo ( not so much Portage).
Depending on your income, you can find very nice places on Gull Lake that are well sought after, surrounded by folks from Kalamazoo, Portage, and even some minor celebrities. It would be 10-15 minutes to Battle Creek or Kalamazoo, so you'd have the best of both worlds and not have to worry about hardly any crime. I would definately look to the Gull Lake area first.
Depending on where you work in Battle Creek, a number of people working there do live in Kalamazoo. I have even heard of agreements in the good old boy system where people refer folks to live in Kzoo since in some cases they get a referral bonus for doing so.
If you are a younger person and set on the Kalamazoo portage area, I'd choose Kalamazoo downtown. Portage is just a vanilla suburb that is the typical, spread out faceless town. Kalamazoo at least has a downtown with some unique places to go. More practically though, if it were me, I'd find a nice house in Lakeview or Gull Lake and call it a day. Private message me if you would like more information on either area.

[suydam]

Richland/Gull Lake would be a fantastic place to live.

If I was working in Battle Creek, I would live somewhere within 15 minutes of Battle Creek. That really rules out Kalamazoo/Portage.

If you're getting the Kalamazoo Promise, then yeah, I'd possibly consider living there... if you have a kindergartner and your kid ends up at UofM some day you're going to be looking at $80k in college bills. Living in Kalamazoo makes that $0... plus your house'll be cheaper.

Now, that said, with $5/gal gas on the horizon you might find yourself wishing you lived closer to work. If the expensive gas sticks around, you can bet one of two things will happen: Jobs will leave the urban core to be in the 'burbs closer to the workers... or (more likely, I think) workers will return to the urban core and you'll find that living "in town" is all of a sudden the fashionable thing to do.

Look what 6 months of $4/gal gas has done to automobile prefrences. The Ford F-Series goes from the #1 vehicle in America in January to a distant #4. If the high prices stick around, housing trends and preferences will change too.

[Softballfan]

There's nothing wrong with Comstock.....LOWER middle class, I don't think so.

The only pocket of crappy houses is around the River st. area.,

Yeah, the township govt. meetings are a circus, but it doesn't really effect anybody. Its just a clown suing the board he is on. Its a nice area,

[JessicaGM08]

I grew up in Pennfield township of Battle Creek. The downtown area is surprisingly improving with little pubs and bars. Kalamazoo is only a half hour from there, also, if you like better shopping and more restaurant choices.
If you are looking for a closer commute and closer community- stick with B.C.
Oh- and don't be shocked if you smell corn flakes in the morning Honestly.
The only Kalamazoo info. I have is based on WMU- a lot of my friends went there.......so I won't say anything about that.
I worked at Borgess Hospital right on Gull road in Kzoo- great place... My stepsister lives in Portage and has no complaints.

Best wishes,
Jess

[JessicaGM08]

oh- I agree with the above- Gull Lake/ Richland is very nice.

[spiffychick]

Hi~
My son and I are moving to Kalamazoo area in August. He is 13.
How are the Kalamazoo public schools? The Promise sounds great. That's for sure. But looking online the KPS are not well-rated (fairly poorly, in fact) and having him in good schools is important to me. Ratings can be very misleading, but without some input from real people I'm tempted to move to Portage for the schools, though Kalamazoo appears to have more personality ;-)
I'd love some input!
Thanks for the discussion thus far - very helpful!

[JessicaGM08]

If you are interested in diversity and an "up and coming" school (aka not quite stellar yet), go to Kzoo schools It is all in what the student puts into it and all about who his friends are. If he has a tendancy to hang out with the wrong crowd, stay clear- because there are opportunities- more so than other public schools I would say. My friends, however, are taking avantage of the promise and plan to put their kids through kzoo schools- she is a teacher/ daycare manager, he is a college grad as well.
I would definately visit, look at stats, and talk to community members if possible.
Good luck and let me know if you need help getting ahold of kzoo people with kids I know one whose children are in Climax-Scotts. I think that's portage, and I THINK that's more rural.

Best wishes,

Jessica
7th grade language arts teacher

[deslok]

Climax is not Portage by location, it isn't even near there. Portage also does not have anything to do with the Kalamazoo promise, that is only Kalamazoo public schools and that district area. Basically try Kalamazoo if you want a more diverse atmosphere for your children, they won't be as sheltered as say going to a Gull Lake ( good school) or a Climax-Scotts. (small town america)
Why rely on a promise when if someone puts effort into their studies they can get a scholarship anyways? Just my opinion. You have to have the child I believe go from K -12 to take a full 100% hold of the promise. Research, talk to teachers that work there, and figure out what matters most to you as far as what experience you want your child to have.