Unity Village area of KCMO

[GRID]

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&F ... &encType=1

So, I was surfing KC via live local and I ran across what appears is be an upper bracket area of KCMO along Bannister Road in east KCMO.

I knew they were building some new houses, but I had no idea they were building so many and that they were such large homes in what looks like a pretty upscale development.

Anybody know anything about this area?  Is this one of the areas where city employees might live so they can live in the city of KCMO and be in Lee's Summit schools?

And if so, why this area and not the Northland and like I said, many homes in this area seem out of the price range of police and other city workers.

I just found it interesting.  It would be nice if the southern areas of KCMO developed instead of skipping over it into the suburbs.

[aknowledgeableperson]

You are talking about the homes that are just west of 350 Highway?

If so, I believe those homes were built 5 to 7 years ago.  Yeah, pretty much like some of the newer houses in Lees' Summit and JoCo and are now sold in the $300K to $400K range.  If you go further west on Bannister and north on  Noland Road those houses are in the $500K range.

Many city workers, at least fire and police, went further east to the houses by Lakewood Hospital

[dangerboy]

A lot of city employees are further north in that finger of land between Raytown and Lee's Summit, along Lee's Summit Road.  That area is planned for development.  Lee's Summit Road will be improved to four lanes (with bike lanes!) and Noland Road south of 40 Highway won't be far behind. 

The topography is a big reason why this area is so slow to develop.  Road improvements are really expensive there.

[moderne]

Some of that land along the Little Blue is very Ozarkian, especially around the old Pendergast place.  In the bluffs in the Unity Village limits there is even a natural bridge.

[Pendergast]

A lot of city employees are further north in that finger of land between Raytown and Lee's Summit, along Lee's Summit Road.  That area is planned for development.  Lee's Summit Road will be improved to four lanes (with bike lanes!) and Noland Road south of 40 Highway won't be far behind. 

The topography is a big reason why this area is so slow to develop.  Road improvements are really expensive there.

Improving Lee's Summit Rd to 4 lanes would require a lot of effort.  It has a nice country road feel to it, hope it would stay that way.  Any details on the schedule of this?  Sorry this is off topic. 

[GRID]

Improving Lee's Summit Rd to 4 lanes would require a lot of effort.  It has a nice country road feel to it, hope it would stay that way.  Any details on the schedule of this?  Sorry this is off topic. 

Jackson County, Lee's Summit and KCMO are working on a plan to widen Lee's Summit Road.  It's needed as it would be an alternative to I-470 which is getting congested to the east.

Not sure when it will happen though.  Jackson County is busy widening Woods Chapel east of 470 right now.  When that is complete, Lee's Summit Road will probably be the next project.

There are no plans to widen Noland.  KCMO has no money for that.

[dangerboy]

Construction will start soon.  KCMO is already budgeting for the first phases over the next five years.  They are starting with stuff light fixing dips, straightening curves, etc. before adding lanes.  Even though the county is coordinating the project, the two cities are funding it, and  90% of the road is in  KCMO.

http://www.kcmo.org/pubworks.nsf/web/LSRstudy

[shinatoo]

Some of that land along the Little Blue is very Ozarkian, especially around the old Pendergast place.  In the bluffs in the Unity Village limits there is even a natural bridge.

Old Pendergast Place? Where the hell was that?

[chrizow]

Construction will start soon.  KCMO is already budgeting for the first phases over the next five years.  They are starting with stuff light fixing dips, straightening curves, etc. before adding lanes.  Even though the county is coordinating the project, the two cities are funding it, and  90% of the road is in  KCMO.

this alone should be reason enough why sprawl in kcmo city limits is bad.  we're out spending money widening fucking lee's summit road for all the lee's summit, independence, and blue springs traffic while many roads in the urban core would be more at home in a third-world country.

[moderne]

Pendergast property was to the northeast of Knobtown.

[KCBoom]

this alone should be reason enough why sprawl in kcmo city limits is bad.  we're out spending money widening fucking lee's summit road for all the lee's summit, independence, and blue springs traffic while many roads in the urban core would be more at home in a third-world country.

There are portions of Lee's Summit Road that are very dangerous.  Places where there is a steep drop off just 3-inches outside the white line and the pavement is rapidly deteriorating.  Also, there are a couple of curves just south of the caves where I've seen several head-on collisions.

Sprawl is inevitable.  Deal with it and make it safe in the process.

[PumpkinStalker]

Aside from roads, I went on a kcpd ride along with east patrol and we got a call for a domestic violence situation and had to to from Van Brunt to Noland Road south of 40. By the time we got there it was a complete bust. Perp was long gone and the girlfriend all beat up. Independence cops were probably circling back and forth on 40hwy but none of them were dispatched because it was technically KC. Stupid. 

[aknowledgeableperson]

What was stupid was the requirement of having a patrol car respond from Van Brunt to Noland Rd south of 40 Hgihway.

You get into these jurisdiction boundries all of the time.  You could have an incident at a just inside Mo at 39th St and have a KCK cop just across the border and not be able to respond.

[LenexatoKCMO]

You get into these jurisdiction boundries all of the time.  You could have an incident at a just inside Mo at 39th St and have a KCK cop just across the border and not be able to respond.

Not anymore - they signed interagency cooperation agreements dealing with these issues several years ago.  Nowadays if you go speeding past the med center, that KCK cop is going to follow you right over the line and pull you over in Missouri.  Back in the day you would always hear stories of KS or MO cops not being able to respond to emergencies on the other side of the yellow line down the middle of state line road, but that is all cooperative these days.  Now if they need to take you into custody - say hypothetically that AKP intentionally ran over some TIF-loving urbanite on the sidewalk in front of the med center - they would likely have to have a KCMO cop come take custody of you after the stop in MO and you would spend a night or two in the KCMO jail before getting sent back to KCK, unless you waive your extradition hearing.  But they can absolutely follow you accross now.  It used to be that states wanted to protect their "sovreignty" but most have gotten over that in the interest of actually catching the bad guys. 

[aknowledgeableperson]

What I said had nothing to do with following a person across the state line.

[LenexatoKCMO]

What I said had nothing to do with following a person across the state line.

Yeah - I addressed that too.  The days of a MO cop standing by and watching a mugging take place on the west side of state line road (and vice versa) are long gone.  The departments just don't actively patrol on the other side. 

[aknowledgeableperson]

Go back to Pumpkins post.  That is more in line with what I posted about.

A KCK PD patrol car will not respond to a call for an incident in KCMO along 39th St.  This has nothing to do with following a speeding car nor witnessing a crime.


As a side note, one reason these other jurisdictions will not respond is because they are not tied into the communication system or vice-versa.

[moderne]

I would consider the widening of Lees Summit Road into a major arterial as a valuable INFILL project.  The surrounding areas in Independence, Raytown and Lees Summit are highly developed(in their sprawling suburban style) while this most eastern section of KC in between them in the Little Blue valley is very rural, isolated and forested.  Development just leapfrogged over the area.  It is really noticeable in a small plane at about 1000 feet.  Development here would bolster the population of KC SOUTH of the river, which continues to declline.

[GRID]

I would consider the widening of Lees Summit Road into a major arterial as a valuable INFILL project.  The surrounding areas in Independence, Raytown and Lees Summit are highly developed(in their sprawling suburban style) while this most eastern section of KC in between them in the Little Blue valley is very rural, isolated and forested.  Development just leapfrogged over the area.  It is really noticeable in a small plane at about 1000 feet.  Development here would bolster the population of KC SOUTH of the river, which continues to declline.

Yea, I’m not sure why people wouldn’t want KCMO to develop areas like that.  It’s more rural in that area of KCMO than in just about any part of Jackson County, even un-incorporated areas far east of 470.

Why would you not want to develop that land and bring in revenue to the city of KCMO?  Even if it’s a wash, which low density sprawl typically is.  It’s still economic activity that will help bring in more federal money, more cash flow, more taxes etc.  More people in that area would help keep commercial areas along 40 from becoming tired and vacant, it would help develop Noland or Lee’s Summit road into corridors that might contain more retail or medical buildings.  It would go a long way in bringing the Bannister area back.

All at the expense of OTHER SUBURBS.

You see, people LEAPED over KCMO to get to other suburbs.  Much like most of the growth that did not occur in the Northland in the 70’s 80’s and 90’s went to Johnson County.

If KCMO doesn’t want to develop this area, then turn the area over to Raytown, Lee’s Summit or Independence and let them develop it.

This is a suburban city/metro.  Outside the relatively tiny areas around the Plaza, Downtown and parts of Midtown, people in metro KC live in single family homes and typical suburban apartment complexes.  Only about 50,000-75,000 people “choose” to live in an urban area in this town because that is the lifestyle they want to live.  The other 400k in KCMO and 1.7 million in metro KC want a house and a yard and good schools and want to know that when they call the cops, they won’t come from 12 miles away.  That’s why people choose not to live in many parts of KCMO.

KCMO needs to do a lot of things.  It needs to continue investing in the core, but it also needs to continue providing a suburban options within the city limits, as well, especially since that is 95% of the market.

Why in the world would you not want residents to live in KCMO, even if it was suburban?  Build high-rises on the plaza or downtown, let developers infill areas of KCMO that are perfect for the middle class suburban crowd.

Or keep it rural and watch Lee’s Summit grow to become larger than KCMO is south of the river in 20 years and wonder wtf happened since you have rural land “in the city”.

[BSykes]

Here, here!