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Since its inception as the Western State Normal School, Western Michigan University has dealt continually with growth and planning issues. Some problems, such as the limited availability of buildable land, were the result of the original site selection. Placing the campus on an impressive but steep hill, very near the intersection of major roads and railways, automatically affected physical expansion. Other situations that had an impact on planning and campus growth include building materials shortages during World Wars I and II, enrollment surges after the wars and during the so-called "baby boom" years , the recession following the oil embargo in 1973, and the inevitable ups and downs, both "political" and financial, that come with being a State-funded institution.
Of course, the success and growth of Western affected the City of Kalamazoo as well. In retrospect many changes seem commonplace or insignificant, but nonetheless had a role in growing the City and the University. Prospect Hill, the site provided by the City of Kalamazoo, was very quickly nicknamed "Normal Hill" after the Normal School was built.* Today, most refer to it as simply "East Campus". The main road running along the ridge and hilltop and then downtown was originally named "Asylum Avenue" after the Michigan Asylum for the Insane (now the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital). Within a few years of the Normal School's opening, the name became a more flattering "Oakland Drive".
*To modern ears "normal" is very quaint - it has been years since the term was used to refer to the State's teacher education system where Training Schools were affiliated with the Normal Schools to provide on-site experience. The concept itself is no longer used in Michigan. Under current practice, College of Education majors "intern" at a local school following completion of all required coursework. WMU's Campus Training School was phased out in 1966.