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Kalamazoo makes top 25 best cities for college grads

by Thom Myers

June 2, 2011 | WMU News

Photo of Kalamazoo.
Kalamazoo
KALAMAZOO--Western Michigan University's hometown of Kalamazoo is No. 24 among the best cities in the United States for recent college graduates.

That's according to a list of the top 25 cities compiled by the Daily Beast for its second annual ranking. Quality of life factors such as relative affordability, housing and employment opportunities, and size of the age 22-24 population were used to compile the list.

Topping the 2011 list is Fayetteville, N.C., home of the Fayetteville State University Broncos. Not surprisingly, all the cities on the list have at least one university and several, like Kalamazoo, are home to major universities. Only Fayetteville and Kalamazoo, however, are home to the Broncos. Go Broncos!

Universities naturally foster community environments appealing to young adults. Some of cities on the list are well known as the homes of major universities--Austin, Columbus, Durham--but not all major university towns made the list. Kalamazoo is the only city in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana or Wisconsin to make the top 25.

Chosen by the Daily Beast to represent Kalamazoo was a photo from the Kalamazoo Gazette of WMU music professor Lin Foulk and her husband, Bernie Foulk, working in the large vegetable garden they've created in the back yard of their Stuart neighborhood home.

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Kalamazoo among nation's most affordable college towns | Dec. 6, 2011