Kansas City things

[Belvis Noland]

Do any cities really have a big family demographic?

Probably not.  outside of maybe NYC, SanFran, Boston, and a handful of other uberdense downtown areas.

[pissclams]

Do any cities really have a big family demographic?

maybe? not sure the point.  bigger (growing) cities have more young/single/married no kids people to put in their urban core.  with a stagnant population, where are the people that are supposed to be flocking to these downtown apartments coming from?  dumping their kick ass olathe apartments?  i don't know.

[Dub]

Also, might be just my perception but it seems people in KC (Midwest?) have kids a lot younger than other cities on the west and east coasts.  There are a lot of people in big downtown areas that decide not to have kids or wait till they are 35+ which I don't think is as common in KC.

[michigancat]

KC has way more kids than SF, and a few more than NYC. Maybe we're thinking of white kids?

http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/2938000,0667000,3651000

Do any cities really have a big family demographic?

maybe? not sure the point.  bigger (growing) cities have more young/single/married no kids people to put in their urban core.  with a stagnant population, where are the people that are supposed to be flocking to these downtown apartments coming from?  dumping their kick ass olathe apartments?  i don't know.

My point is families owning homes and sending kids to public school doesn't seem to have much bearing on how healthy an urban area is. These apartments seem like a good thing even if the tenants will be some what transient.

[Cartierfor3]

good news on both projects.  i'm interested to see if this gentrification era in KC is a passing fad or if people/businesses will actually leave joco.
population and job forecasts say that KC will struggle to grow on either front.   given those studies, until KCMO fixes their schools, living in KCMO will continue to be a short term gap between getting out of college and starting a family.

apartments are great for the short term but a transient population will hold the area back.  to succeed long-term, KCMO proper needs people who have ownership in the area in which they live.

all true.  school district is huge prob for KC, in general.  But, with respect to just the downtown core, I doubt a Midwestern city like KC will ever have a huge family demographic given the abundance of cheap real estate and highway access.  just seems like condo and apartment living isn't going to work for most families even if the public schools were excellent.

 

There are real, honest to goodness, houses in Kansas City Missouri. I own one. We're considering selling but I really want to stay in KCMO proper and buy another house in the area I live in now. My son goes to a public KCMO neighborhood school and we're trying to invest in it, with our time and with our children. The district can turn around, it takes commitment and ownership like 'clams said from families.

[Belvis Noland]

Do any cities really have a big family demographic?

maybe? not sure the point.  bigger (growing) cities have more young/single/married no kids people to put in their urban core.  with a stagnant population, where are the people that are supposed to be flocking to these downtown apartments coming from?  dumping their kick ass olathe apartments?  i don't know.

I distinguish between downtown and urban core.  I view downtown as essentially rivermarket to crossroads.  I view the urban core as midtown.  anything between downtown and plaza.  if KC's public schools were strong, I think the urban core would thrive due to the mass of single family homes.  downtown, tho, not so much. 

anyway - the City's goal has been to increase downtown residential to 40,000.  At that number, I think downtown would be plenty vibrant and sustainable. 

[Skipper44]

What is your southern boundary for midtown, Brush Creek? 

What is the downtown number now?

I have often wondered if splitting up KCMO in to smaller districts might be the solution to college educated families not sticking around KCMO.   Reopening SW High School for just the white areas between State Line and Troost is obviously a racial/socioeconomic pr nightmare but it might help gentrify the next few neighborhoods over as people are priced out of the SW district. 

[8manpick]

Do any cities really have a big family demographic?

The ones that do don't send their kids to public school. At least the "gentrification" owners referenced earlier.

[Phil Titola]

good news on both projects.  i'm interested to see if this gentrification era in KC is a passing fad or if people/businesses will actually leave joco.
population and job forecasts say that KC will struggle to grow on either front.   given those studies, until KCMO fixes their schools, living in KCMO will continue to be a short term gap between getting out of college and starting a family.

apartments are great for the short term but a transient population will hold the area back.  to succeed long-term, KCMO proper needs people who have ownership in the area in which they live.

all true.  school district is huge prob for KC, in general.  But, with respect to just the downtown core, I doubt a Midwestern city like KC will ever have a huge family demographic given the abundance of cheap real estate and highway access.  just seems like condo and apartment living isn't going to work for most families even if the public schools were excellent.

 

There are real, honest to goodness, houses in Kansas City Missouri. I own one. We're considering selling but I really want to stay in KCMO proper and buy another house in the area I live in now. My son goes to a public KCMO neighborhood school and we're trying to invest in it, with our time and with our children. The district can turn around, it takes commitment and ownership like 'clams said from families.

Totally correct...and that's awesome. I've not been blessed with children and don't know the schools intimately but been told the real problem is the HS vs elementary school.

I don't see downtown kc or any other middle sized American city to ever being an urban family oasis but it would be nice for the urban core to be serviceable for kids/families.... We are seeing a lot of new people coming in from larger cities from around of the country that we haven't seen as much of before... Our typical immigrants have historically been small towns from around kc.

[Pete]

IDEA:  house swaps between young people in Brookside and older people in Prairie Village, for example.


The young couple with the hip house with a small yard, fewer living rooms, bad schools swaps with the older couple whose kids have gone off to college and now have a big empty house and yard they don't want to maintain.  Then the young couple has kids and the older couple walks to the coffee shop everyday.

Problem solved.

[wetwillie]

holy crap Pete that could actually work

[Missouriscribe]

I have a friend who relocated to midtown from the burbs years ago and now has a family there. A lot of KC is years and years away from being nice for families who aren't originally from the urban core. The charter schools are a mixed bag, but many have done very well the last few years.

[Emo EMAW]

good news on both projects.  i'm interested to see if this gentrification era in KC is a passing fad or if people/businesses will actually leave joco.
population and job forecasts say that KC will struggle to grow on either front.   given those studies, until KCMO fixes their schools, living in KCMO will continue to be a short term gap between getting out of college and starting a family.

apartments are great for the short term but a transient population will hold the area back.  to succeed long-term, KCMO proper needs people who have ownership in the area in which they live.

all true.  school district is huge prob for KC, in general.  But, with respect to just the downtown core, I doubt a Midwestern city like KC will ever have a huge family demographic given the abundance of cheap real estate and highway access.  just seems like condo and apartment living isn't going to work for most families even if the public schools were excellent.

 

There are real, honest to goodness, houses in Kansas City Missouri. I own one. We're considering selling but I really want to stay in KCMO proper and buy another house in the area I live in now. My son goes to a public KCMO neighborhood school and we're trying to invest in it, with our time and with our children. The district can turn around, it takes commitment and ownership like 'clams said from families.

Is it a nice house? 

[Dub]

You know what helps urban areas?  Light rail that sprawls to the outer parts of the city.  High speed light rail that families can take downtown, spend the day traveling up and down the city using the streetcar and helping the economic development down there along with taking away property taxes by countering with fares.  Keeps the younger core down there and families can still be a part of the development.

Guarantee families from PV, etc. would take a 15-20 min LR downtown and not buses.

[DQ12]

You know what helps urban areas?  Light rail that sprawls to the outer parts of the city.  High speed light rail that families can take downtown, spend the day traveling up and down the city using the streetcar and helping the economic development down there along with taking away property taxes by countering with fares.  Keeps the younger core down there and families can still be a part of the development.

Guarantee families from PV, etc. would take a 15-20 min LR downtown and not buses.

If you're going down with your family, wouldn't you just drive?

[Cartierfor3]

good news on both projects.  i'm interested to see if this gentrification era in KC is a passing fad or if people/businesses will actually leave joco.
population and job forecasts say that KC will struggle to grow on either front.   given those studies, until KCMO fixes their schools, living in KCMO will continue to be a short term gap between getting out of college and starting a family.

apartments are great for the short term but a transient population will hold the area back.  to succeed long-term, KCMO proper needs people who have ownership in the area in which they live.

all true.  school district is huge prob for KC, in general.  But, with respect to just the downtown core, I doubt a Midwestern city like KC will ever have a huge family demographic given the abundance of cheap real estate and highway access.  just seems like condo and apartment living isn't going to work for most families even if the public schools were excellent.

 

There are real, honest to goodness, houses in Kansas City Missouri. I own one. We're considering selling but I really want to stay in KCMO proper and buy another house in the area I live in now. My son goes to a public KCMO neighborhood school and we're trying to invest in it, with our time and with our children. The district can turn around, it takes commitment and ownership like 'clams said from families.

Is it a nice house?

yes but its almost 90 years old so it has issues from time to time

[pissclams]

I saw it in one earlier.  Still, ppl park over lines/too close to lines all the time.  What then?

the spaces that they have "built" are too narrow.
http://www.kctv5.com/clip/12255484/downtown-parking-problem-could-cost-drivers-more-than-they-think

http://www.kctv5.com/story/31369052/parking-along-kc-streetcar-route-doesnt-meet-city-ordinance?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

i realize that the supporters will ignore the ordinance (like sly has, and commands others to)

[_33]

Downtown Topeka sucks, I can tell you that rusty

Remember that Italian restaurant that used to be downtown on Kansas Ave?  It was called Grazi's or something like that, it had a nice atmosphere.  I wonder whatever happened to that place.

[Emo EMAW]

good news on both projects.  i'm interested to see if this gentrification era in KC is a passing fad or if people/businesses will actually leave joco.
population and job forecasts say that KC will struggle to grow on either front.   given those studies, until KCMO fixes their schools, living in KCMO will continue to be a short term gap between getting out of college and starting a family.

apartments are great for the short term but a transient population will hold the area back.  to succeed long-term, KCMO proper needs people who have ownership in the area in which they live.

all true.  school district is huge prob for KC, in general.  But, with respect to just the downtown core, I doubt a Midwestern city like KC will ever have a huge family demographic given the abundance of cheap real estate and highway access.  just seems like condo and apartment living isn't going to work for most families even if the public schools were excellent.

 

There are real, honest to goodness, houses in Kansas City Missouri. I own one. We're considering selling but I really want to stay in KCMO proper and buy another house in the area I live in now. My son goes to a public KCMO neighborhood school and we're trying to invest in it, with our time and with our children. The district can turn around, it takes commitment and ownership like 'clams said from families.

Is it a nice house?

yes but its almost 90 years old so it has issues from time to time

Well that's cool then.  It seems (to me) there aren't many homes in that $250-$350k range in KCMO.  Lots below and then the other are ridiculously expensive.

[Belvis Noland]

http://www.kctv5.com/story/31369052/parking-along-kc-streetcar-route-doesnt-meet-city-ordinance?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

i realize that the supporters will ignore the ordinance (like sly has, and commands others to)

I don't know anything about Sly commanding folks to ignore the ordinance, but that is a problem.  problem for downtown businesses and also for codes enforcement. 

I wonder how many of the parking spots along main are non-compliant?

[star seed 7]

A house has to be $250-$350k to be nice?

[Phil Titola]

I saw it in one earlier.  Still, ppl park over lines/too close to lines all the time.  What then?

the spaces that they have "built" are too narrow.
http://www.kctv5.com/clip/12255484/downtown-parking-problem-could-cost-drivers-more-than-they-think

http://www.kctv5.com/story/31369052/parking-along-kc-streetcar-route-doesnt-meet-city-ordinance?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

i realize that the supporters will ignore the ordinance (like sly has, and commands others to)

Its an interesting discussion. First off the ordinance they reference doesn't apply to on street parking. It specifically says that in the beginning of the ordinance (sec 52 for those interested) but this investigative reporter missed that for the shock value.

The interesting discussion comes in with business owners along the line. These spots were shoehorned into widths not generally recommended by street standards here and in other cities... Denver and boston for example list minimum width standard at 7 foot for on street parking lanes.

Main Street business owners begged the streetcar to save their parking... So they did... Does that mean an f250 can't fit in some spots? Sure... But other car can and do daily... Even suvs.  So now some of these owners are complaining that customers are mad they can fit...

So is it better to just remove these skinny parking spots and repurpose them to say bike parking or bike lanes? Maybe wider sidewalks? I don't know honestly. It's not like downtown lacks in parking so I don't see the true need to save every single street parking space no matter the width... But these business owners did and the streetcar authority met their requests. I guess it's best to ask them.

[pissclams]

http://www.kctv5.com/story/31369052/parking-along-kc-streetcar-route-doesnt-meet-city-ordinance?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

i realize that the supporters will ignore the ordinance (like sly has, and commands others to)

I don't know anything about Sly commanding folks to ignore the ordinance, but that is a problem.  problem for downtown businesses and also for codes enforcement. 

I wonder how many of the parking spots along main are non-compliant?

i would think they can cut out the sidewalk to make additional room in spots.  i have seen more and more businesses complaining about the lack of parking around their businesses.  we're this far into the project and it's just as ok for the city to learn about the streetcar as it is the residents who they're trying to teach.  they can get it right, they just need to admit to mistakes like this and fix them in the best way possible. 

[Cartierfor3]

yeah my house is not worth $250k, but I still like it.

[pissclams]

It's not like downtown lacks in parking so I don't see the true need to save every single street parking space no matter the width... But these business owners did and the streetcar authority met their requests.

Some of the spots are too narrow for a Fiat.  They're unusable in their current state. The city did not save any spots if the spots they supposedly saved can't fit a car in them.  Failure, it's ok to admit it. 

I guess it's best to ask them.

lol