Better Block KC is one of the more successful and cost effective Kansas City hipster effort to transform a local street into a mini-version of Portland . . . If only for a few, brief shining moments.
Mission Statement:
The “Better Block” project transforms a street to show the potential for a great, walkable, vibrant neighborhood.
Sadly, because City Hall reality has killed all of my faith in the ability of just about anybody to change this wicked little town . . . For TKC, this just looks like a bunch of hipsters impeding traffic and littering the street with a bunch of potted plants and trees.
OR . . . Maybe this is the first glimpse at the urban core good life that will be sparked by a $100 Million+ Toy Train Streetcar that almost nobody was allowed to vote on . . . We'll see.
For now, take a look at this year's video of the upcoming project.
More deets . . .
What: "Better Block takes an under-utilized city block and transforms it into a ‘complete street’ to showcase a more sustainable community."
Where: Main Street at 19th
When: First Friday, October 4
And now the links . . .
Better Block KC Begging For Money On Neighbor.ly
Better Block KC FB
Better Block KC Pix on Tumblr
Not to be a total ass, but how come everyone who has taken the initiative to transform Kansas City is gay?
ReplyDeleteAll these gay dudes have great ideas, and it even looks as though they CONSIDER including families, ultimately, their goal is use tax $ that could improve residential neighborhoods, police service, or maybe even the school district, and they want to use it to make some entertainment districts downtown look cooler. I'm not sure gay dudes entirely understand what families want/need.
I'm sorry, but streetcar and better downtown/Crossroads blocks don't make Kansas City a better place for my family to live, and once all these twenty somethings start families, they're gonna get cars and move to the suburbs, and only visit the Better Blocks or the Streetcar on the weekends.
Why don't we focus on making urban neighborhoods like the Westside, Midtown, Northeast, and Waldo safer, and with more access to better schools? Make the BUS system easier and more convenient to ride in these areas.
Do something for the home owning residents instead of the loft dwelling renters for once. I know we homeowners don't spend 2/3 of our paycheck at P&L, but we're not gonna dart for Chicago after the streetcar turns out to be lame.
Kind of looks like they want to transform us into something that resembles Baghdad.
ReplyDeleteThey believe they are self-sufficient when they are actually as helpless as newborn babies.
ReplyDeleteHow bout just staying out of others neighborhood and fixing your own own fucking problems. Thanks knew you would understand.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they go help East KCMO? Where the poor and suffering are in the most need of help?
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing sustainable about mindless mass consumption.
ReplyDeleteI think most of these people are either inheritance baby's, trust funders, or relatives of big bankers and Wall Street hedge fund executives.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly prefer to spend other peoples money rather than their own don't they?
ReplyDeleteEver notice how it's white people, cleaning up, planting, sweeping, rehabbing the area, after the niggers have torn it up? Typical KC. If you build it, the niggers will tear it down....repeat.
ReplyDeleteHey, gays have great style. If they want to help KC. More power to them. Because most other people tend to just complain from the suburbs.
ReplyDelete“You have a fast growing dynamic city full of opportunity”
ReplyDeleteSure, if you like working for free or for peanuts.
KANSAS CITY WILL NEVER BE FRIGGIN PORTLAND. If there were any chance, would Kemper and his buddies be having Is It Time To Leave Kansas City breakfast siminar? Kansas City is moving to become Detroit and not Portland because of demographics. Here is the demographic breakdown for Portland, Oregon: White 72.2%, 6.3% Black and 9.40% Latino. Here is Kansas City, Missouri demographic breakdown: White 59.2% Black 29.2% and 10.0% Latino. Here is Kansas City, Kansas demographic breakdown: White 52.2% Black 26.8% Latino 27.8%. I would guess that the 6.3% Black population of Portland is more affluent and better educated then the 29.2% of the Blacks here in KCMO. Do not even think of turning KCK into Portland. KCMO has four times more of the population that does not hesitate to use violence to settle disputes. In short, KCMO does not have the population to create or support a city like Portland or another way of saying that KCMO demographics are not the right mix for turning KCMO into Portland. Kansas City is not a real city with a real identity like a Chicago or New York but a collection of suburbs. Yes, I am an asshole and a racist for using statistics from the last Census to prove a point.
ReplyDeleteI just want to clarify that everyone's ideas are welcome, and gay dudes usually have the best ideas, but those ideas don't always consider other lifestyles such as families with school aged children. It's just an issue of where we place our priorities, and obviously our mayor is willing to put entertainment districts above neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteAnd we can acknowledge that Kansas City has different challenges than Portland based on stats and demographics without resorting to racism, because it undermines the cause.
Rather than complain that we can't have anything nice because black people ruin it, why not advocate ways to determine what black/Hispanic neighborhoods need and address that?
I just want to clarify that everyone's ideas are welcome, and gay dudes usually have the best ideas, but those ideas don't always consider other lifestyles such as families with school aged children. It's just an issue of where we place our priorities, and obviously our mayor is willing to put entertainment districts above neighborhoods.
ReplyDeleteAnd we can acknowledge that Kansas City has different challenges than Portland based on stats and demographics without resorting to racism, because it undermines the cause.
Rather than complain that we can't have anything nice because black people ruin it, why not advocate ways to determine what black/Hispanic neighborhoods need and address that?
Glad you cleared that up Bry.
ReplyDeleteI think we know you are not a homophobe. I guess it's more a question of style that people who identify as homosexuals find themselves drawn to do civic engagement this way.
To each his own.
At least someone is actually trying to do something to improve the situation in the city. It's way more than you people do - which is nothing (except troll on the internet).
ReplyDeleteWow, I guess the so called whites on here don't know that half the problem is their own attitude towards anything that's better and anything that isn't bigoted and hateful. If anyone had half a brain they would know that arts, clean areas, and bringing people out into the streets improving area by area of cities does several things. 1) arts and the "gay dudes" bring not only vibrancy but also wealth and businesses due to talent, think a big old ones of San francisco and Seattle totally different than in the 70's. 2) Improving areas also tends to lower crime with more people of diverse back grounds out an about. 3) Being so diverse of a city brings responsibility to not be bigoted asses, blow out the concentration of low income housing equally all over the metro area. 4) this then creates opportunity for area revitalization, increased tax rolls, along with home values. With Kansas City having lost not one but 2 or 3 generations of people of color to the slums, gang violence being ingrained, it will take quite some tim to turn around. I noticed many empty lots and subpar housing on either side of the 71, why not condem or buy out people who are still there and build office parks there and start infilling the entire area instead of sucking up more farm land since studies and migration patterns are showing that suburbs are the future slums with more and more people looking to move into cities. Hence the higher prices on homes in central areas and suburbs looking old tired with shotty built tract homes. Minneapolis is similar in size to KC and it and St Paul have been slowly improving areas since the 80's and it's still working. So far the only bad comments are by bigots and racists. By the way, gay here with a parnter of 16yrs, with a step daughter straight A student in college. Gays have kids too plus typically gays pay more in income and sales taxes than the avg person, because we earn more and spend more. It's a big reason why cities with large gay populations and arts are better.
ReplyDelete