Elements of Urbanism: Kansas City

[finehoe]

...give it six months after the property is in ownership, before passing judgement on whether dedicated parking improves the Landing's chances on attracting more tenants. 

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[thelakelander]

You would die if you tried.

[billy]

impressive

[spuwho]

I just spent a few days in KCMO with friends and went down into the Crossroads neighborhood to help with the homeless for Christmas.

As we drove through I recognized some of the recent upgrades through this MJ article.

The one thing I noticed is that KCMO has not been as extensive in tearing down older buildings in the urban core. They have done a better job at getting them re-purposed into new use, either lofts, office/research or grills/bars. However, you can see where they have pretty much decimated their legacy manufacturing districts west of the city center. Lots of vacant, run down, weed choked lots.

But there are much more signs of reinvestment in the core than there are here. The overpasses on the rebuilt freeways aren't using the FHA generic "green steel & concrete" but have taken on a french colonial style design (also seen in St Louis as well) with older streetlight designs that improve the asthetics significantly. I applaud MoDOT for at least trying to improve the look. The Sprint Center, Kaufmann Performing Arts Center, all great additions to bring people into the core.

Country Club Plaza is a St Johns Town Center on steroids. It leverages its setting next to Brush Creek really well, and of anyone says its too cold to have a mall outside, 18 degrees wasn't swaying the crowds I saw. It's proximity to UMKC Campus and the many parks surrounding it, make it a great setting.

Never got to use local transit, perhaps next time.

[vicupstate]

Country Club Plaza is a St Johns Town Center on steroids.

Comparing CCP to SJTC is like comparing the Effiel Tower to a cell phone tower. CCP is a completely urban design with very little surface parking. 

[tufsu1]

^ that was built in the 1920s

[I-10east]

Looking at the Country Club Plaza's directory, I'm not overwhelmed by no means; I'd argue that SJTC's goes toe to toe with it directory-wise. Then again, I'm supposed to believe that everything is about decorative towers, charm, pedestrian layouts etc....

[JaxAvondale]

I was in KC over the weekend. They have an excellent downtown setup. Kansas City Live! is a cool spot.