KALAMAZOO, MI — The city of Kalamazoo will grant $100,000 in Foundation for Excellence money to the Edison Neighborhood Association to support the fight against gentrification laid out in the Imagine Kalamazoo plan.

The Kalamazoo City Commission approved the grant at its Monday, Feb. 17, meeting.

The Edison Neighborhood Association has an option to purchase a mixed use building at 812 Washington Ave., which is next door to the neighborhood association offices at 816 Washington Ave., a recommendation to the city commission states.

Acquiring the property supports the Imagine Kalamazoo anti-gentrification strategy to put land in the hands of the community to further the goals of neighborhood, the action item states.

Edison Neighborhood Association President Tammy Taylor, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years, said the group collaborated with the city on the effort.

Gentrification is defined as rehabilitation of properties in an urban neighborhood accompanied by an influx of new residents that can lead to displacement of existing residents.

It’s a concern not limited to Edison, Taylor said.

“It’s happening all over the country, we’re just trying to get ahead of it so it doesn’t happen here," Taylor said.

The nonprofit will take in proceeds from renting retail and residential units in the building, she said. The group plans to buy the building and rehabilitate it, she said. The effort aims to keep current residents living in the neighborhood and goes along with others meant to increase the quality of life for residents, Taylor said.

“We really, really love the diversity of Edison and we want to see it stay or increase,” she said.

Kalamazoo Deputy City Manager Laura Lam said the city is partnering with Edison and other neighborhood associations to provide financial support for them to buy property, to help communities to retain control over land and uses to ensure community benefit.

The fear of displacement is one of many themes found in the Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 document that sets the goals for the city looking forward, Lam said.

“How do we ensure, as neighborhoods improve, they are able to improve with the residents that live there and can continue to live there, and we are working to avoid involuntary displacement?” she said.

She said other anti-gentrification initiatives have happened in Northside and Eastside neighborhoods as well.

The city commission approved a $350,000 grant to the Northside Association for Community Development to purchase seven properties. The NACD is planning mixed-use development, which includes housing units, space for educational training and commercial space for women-and-minority-owned businesses.

“Through the Imagine Kalamazoo process, we understand the importance of communities being able to shape the ways in which their neighborhoods improve and this is one of the ways we are going about doing that,” Lam said.

The $100,000 will come from Foundation for Excellence funds allocated for strategic property acquisition to further neighborhood goals, the city said.

The city said the Edison neighborhood plan’s commercial vision includes goals to redevelop commercial corridors, increase family friendly retail shopping options in the neighborhood, and promote programs to preserve and rehabilitate existing buildings. Another goal is to reconstruct Portage Street to include ADA sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, historic light posts, landscaping, trees, art and improve the visual appearance of the storefronts, the city said.

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Neighborhood association gets $350K for ‘anti-gentrification’ strategy