Archive for the ‘kcmo’ Category.
17th July 2008, 10:44 am
Walk Score is a great web site that lets you calculate just how walkable your address is. That is, how many services like groceries and barbers are within walking distance. Now they have calculated city-wide ratings for the top 40 US cities. It’s no surprise that car-dependent Kansas City ranks a lowly number 34 with a walk score is only 44 out of 100.
However, there are several individual neighborhoods with really high walk scores. They are mostly concentrated in the central corridor between Downtown and Brush Creek. Westport and the Plaza rank at the very top, with scores similar to Lincoln Park in Chicago or Manhattan in New York City. They key is that the Plaza/Westport area is the only place wtih high concentrations jobs, residences, and retail in close proximity. A few more neighborhoods in Brookside, Waldo, parts of the Northland also rank fairly high.
Over all, 38% of Kansas Citians live in neighborhoods considered “somewhat walkable” and just 14% live in “very walkable” locations. Conversely, that means 62% of us are almost completely car dependent.
16th May 2008, 05:51 pm
Today city officials and Northeast neighborhood leaders conducted a ceremonial closing of Cliff Drive. As part of a new Car-Free Cliff Drive program, the historic road will be closed to automobile traffic and become the exclusive domain of pedestrians and bicyclists every weekend until October. Cliff Drive is also undergoing a big renovation to enhance its charms even more in the future.
With this historic move, Kansas City joins the ranks of other world cities that are closing streets to promote healthy, family-friendly activities in the public space. If this test proves successful and popular, the city could expand it to include car-free days in other areas. Just imagine how pleasant the Country Club Plaza could be without the steady stream of cars and SUVs…
It all started in Bogota, Columbia where every Sunday over 60 miles of city streets are closed and become open air festival of walking, jogging, bicycling, music, families, etc. It’s called Ciclovia, and it has spread all over the world.
Car-Free Cliff Drive will start on Fridays at 2:00 p.m. and continue until 8:00 a.m. on Monday. If Friday or Monday is a holiday, then the closure starts on Thursday or lasts until Tuesday. To really get enjoy car-free, think about getting there on foot or by bicycle. If it’s too far away, take the bus. The Metro #30 Northeast route is your best bet. Take it to Lexington and Brooklyn and walk two blocks to the entrance near the old reservoir, or go to St. John and Elmwood walk four blocks north the drive’s eastern entrance.
For more information:
3rd April 2008, 12:34 pm
Today’s KC Star has a story about how the city of KCMO is going to spend $47 million of taxpayers’ money to build a 1,000-space parking garage for the new performing arts center under construction at 16th and Broadway. For comparison, the city spends $48 million a year on the bus system.
So the city is essentially spending an entire year’s worth of bus service to build a single parking garage. It’s a massive amount of money that works out to $47,000 for each parking space, more than twice the average for typical parking garages. For the cost of this one parking garage, we could double bus service for an entire year.
Building parking garages is OK when and where they are needed. The interesting issue here is that the city is spending this money at the same that it is cutting other city services to balance the budget, as well as struggling to find enough money to keep the bus system running and pay for a promised light rail system.
To be fair, the contract to build this garage was signed by the last mayor and city council, so most of the current politicians are trying to deal with that legacy. However, the situation still a very bad message.
Despite all kinds of talk about climate protection, the environment, mass transit, green solutions, re-urbanizing the urban core – city leaders are not putting their money where their mouth is. When push comes to shove the city is still putting the automobile first, even the most urban of environments.
Continue reading ‘City to spend as much on parking garage as transit’ »
2nd April 2008, 01:48 am
Yesterday the city did something virtually unheard of here, it took public space from the automobile and reallocated it to people. The Parks & Rec Board approved a plan to close Cliff Drive on weekends and create a car-free recreation and fitness opportunity for pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, rollersbladers, dogwalkers, etc. The closure will be in effect Friday afternoons through Monday mornings starting May 16 and running through the end of October. If all goes well, it could lead to car-free days in other parks and maybe even a boulevard or two in the future.
Car-free days are becoming commonplace in parks and boulevard all over the world. Just a few examples include Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Central Park in New York City, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. In the South American city of Bogota, Columbia, most of the city’s main streets become car-free on Sundays.
Cliff Drive is an oasis of nature in the middle of Missouri’s largest city. It is one of the original parts of the city’s famed boulevard system, as well as Missouri’s only urban scenic byway. It’s a four mile long road along the limestone bluffs high above the Missouri River. It is a centerpiece of Old Northeast Kansas City, the historic neighborhoods east of Downtown and north of Independence Avenue.
6th February 2008, 01:26 pm
Yesterday more than a dozen supporters of a livable Kansas City showed up at City Hall to advocate for the new development code. Despite opposition from big developers like Hunt Midwest and McBride & Sons, the City Plan Commission approved the addition bicycle parking for new apartment and condo buildings.
The Commission also approved a provision to include pedestrians, transit, and bicycles in the traffic studies that developers do to analyze the impact that new development will have on traffic. This is a huge step towards creating a full integrated transportation system that includes all modes.
The next step is the City Council and hearings before their Planning and Zoning Committee. Stay tuned for updates on the process.
31st January 2008, 08:53 pm
On Feb. 5 at 11:00 am, City Hall council chamber 26th floor, the City Planning Commission will be discussing the new development code. They will be discussing bicycle parking—long-term and short-term, and whether to include bicycles, pedestrians and transit in traffic analysis that is routine for motorized vehicles. We need as many people as possible to show up to support these issues.
Deb Ridgway, our KCMO bicycle/pedestrian coordinator, will be speaking in support of bicycle parking and bicycle, pedestrian, transit traffic analysis. Let’s Go KC will have speakers. The development community will be there to argue against it. We want the city to see that the public supports bike/ped issues but the public needs to show up.
I spoke to several of you in the last week about coming to this meeting so I hope you will. If you live in Kansas, you can still come because you ride, walk and spend money in KCMO. You do not have to speak but we will point out how many people are there to support bicycle/pedestrian issues. You can speak if you want—it’s a public meeting. If you have questions please contact me.
Thanks so much.
Laurie Chipman
Kansas City Bicycle Club
Let’s Go KC
Read more about the development code
15th January 2008, 10:11 pm
In November 2007 the City Plan Commission added long term bicycle parking and bicycle/pedestrian traffic analysis to the proposed new development code. The first item would require indoor bike parking at most work places and overnight bike storage in apartment and condo buildings. The second item would require developers to include bicycles and pedestrians when they analyze the traffic impacts of new developments.
On December 18, 2007 several representatives of metro real estate developers testified against these two items and were able to convince the City Plan Commission to remove them from the proposal. The CPC meets again on February 5th and we need bicyclists and pedestrians to show up and speak out. More info coming soon.
