Moving to Kalamazoo what are the bad sides to live (Portage: apartment complex, condos)

[kuzivazack]

We are planning on moving to the kalamazoo area in the next few months. We will be attending college at kvcc. Does anyone know any nice apartments to stay in and what side of town is considered bad to live in kzoo. Please help us. Thanks in advance.

[little.dipper]

If you'll be attending KVCC, I'd recommend living on that side (west) of K-zoo. We currently live on the northeast side of Kalamazoo (near Parchment) and my wife drives to KVCC. It's a pain to get across town. Any time you can avoid a daily commute on I-94, that's a good thing as well. If you look more in the Portage area, try to avoid an area where you're forced to drive I-94 to school as it's always torn up and always busy through K-zoo/Portage area.

I don't know much about apartments, but many areas in Otsego and Portage are nice and very close. Texas Corners is very nice as well, but probably a bit more pricey. If you want to go further west, the next town is Mattawan which is growing rapidly and is a very nice area not too far from KVCC. If you plan on living in the city of K-zoo, typically the south side of town is nicer than the north, but there are exceptions both ways.

Hope that helps a little.

[summers19]

Hi,
there are a lot of apartments off of Drake Road that serve a lot of college students. It's on the west side of town. Oshtemo is also on the west side of town and very quiet and nice. I believe one side of Drake is Kalamazoo city and the other side is Oshtemo. Anyway, I lived in Concord Apts. for 2 1/2 years while attending WMU and loved it. It was convenient and quiet. There are also quite a few apartments off of West Michigan Ave. Again, this is on the west side of Kalamazoo, and close to WMU. I know you said you will attend KVCC. The above-mentioned places are within 10 minutes drive to KVCC.
I lived downtown for a year while attending KVCC and the drive was easy from there, also...about 20 minutes. There were times when my WMU roommates would have classes cancelled due to snow but KVCC stayed open. So I had to allow about 30 minutes for snowy roads while living downtown.

[little.dipper]

Sorry, I meant to say Oshtemo, but I typed Otsego in my message above. Otsego's a little further north.

[maggieme]

There are some nice apartments along 12th street. I live in Foxwood Apartments, which are nice & quiet. There's also Rosewood right down the street. Both have good prices. Anna's Vineyard is down the road but I'm not sure what those are like. We are also less than 5 minutes from KVCC, no expressway driving involved. 12th street runs parallel with the road KVCC is on, and is only 2 roads over. We're surrounded by nice neighborhoods with families, not many loud college kids here like the apartments on Drake & W. Michigan Ave. If you want to be around other college kids then you'd want to look over there, but the crime rates are lower around here, & you can always party over there & come home to somewhere quiet.

[Softballfan]

you'll have no problem finding apts. on the west side of Kalamazoo.

Some are crappy,(Concord Place, Nottingham), but most cater to students and people in their 20's.

[mackinac81]

Really, the Northwest side of Kalamazoo is the best place to live-location wise. It's near all the stores and conveniences you'll need, and has the most apartments. Here are some

Along Drake Road

Nottingham
Concord Place
Seville
Drake's Pond
Dover hills
Clayborne Court
Cedar Trail

Off W. Main St.
Carriage Green
Ramblewood
Sage Terrace
Pinewood Glen

Off W. Michigan (By WMU)
Hunter's Ridge
Western Pines
Redwood

In Portage
Greenspire
Foxwood (or foxfire?)

I lived in Sage Terrace and liked it. You get a lot for the rent you pay. I've heard the same thing about Seville My sister is in college and lives in Nottingham--doesn't like it, really run down.

Hope that helps!

[suydam]

If you want to be near other young people, I'd say live off Drake. You'll be close enough to KVCC to get there quickly, but near enough to other college kids that you can have a little fun sometimes.

If you don't want to be near college kids, I'm a big fan of Parkview Hills on Parkview. You can go straight down parkview to 9th street, so it's an easy drive to KVCC. They have great amenities (25 yard outdoor pool!) and it's a nice little self-contained complex of apartments, condos and single-family homes so it has a little nicer feel than just a big apartment complex.