There's long been talk of need for improvement in urban/eastern KCK - including accusations that the area has been neglected at the benefit of Village West, which I don't believe is exactly true. With the mayoral election ahead and the candidates vowing to focus on the urban core, the thought of "what can be done?" comes to mind. I haven't heard many ideas. So I'd like to share some of the things that I would like to see done and give a place for others to share any thoughts they have.
This is my list:
-A redeveloped Indian Springs site including a Walmart Supercenter and a development that is overall similar to Blue Ridge Crossing.
-A new building for Price Chopper across 635 from Indian Springs, with a new Home Depot next door to it.
-A Walgreens and Aldi at 7th and Central Ave.
-Not sure if this one is that realistic, but a renovated Tower Plaza (38th and State Ave) with a Target and new building for CVS would be tremendous. There used to be a Sears there and Target built a store in a not-so-dissimilar area in KCMO on Chouteau.
-Redeveloped of main thoroughfares - those roads that are highly-trafficked and a sort of "face" of the community that provide an impression of the given area. Examples are 7th Street from KU Med to the Missouri River, 18th Street from I-70 northward, Central Ave, Minnesota Ave, lower State Ave, Washington BLVD, 10th Street, and SW BLVD/Merriam LN. State Ave west of 635 has been updated and they've done a nice job - it's a great example.
-Actual articulated buses along the new State Ave bus route so it will be BRT just like the Main St and Troost MAX lines.
-A 3rd phase of the 39 Rainbow development or entirely new development on the northwest corner of 39th and Rainbow.
-Construction of a recreation trail similar to the Trolley Track Trail in KCMO along the old rail Kansas and Missouri Terminal and Railway ROW that goes through some of KCK's best urban neighborhoods. Those neighborhoods are similar in terms of architecture and era as Brookside. The ROW is surrounded by these neighborhoods and runs from northeast of 18th and Minnesota southwest to City Park. The ROW directly bounds the middle-class neighborhoods of Arickaree and Westvale as well as Donnelly College, Bishop Ward HS, and Wyandotte HS.
-And in the center of the area described above, this is a bit far fetched, but I would like to see existing local businesses in immediate area and hopefully other businesses and new businesses organized into a new shopping center that would be smaller but modeled after Brookside's architecture along 18th St from Armstrong to State. Existing businesses include multiple restaurants, a lock smith, dry cleaner, laundrymat, etc. With the right incentives, nearby local businesses might move to create a great synergy and make the project work. Los Amigos, Mad Jacks, and perhaps Italian Delight are a few possibilities. I'd like to see this along with renovations of apartment and commercial buildings a couple blocks south at 18th and Washington, just at the "gate" of KCK's most upscale urban neighborhood, Westheight Manor. This is not dissimilar to page 29 of the KCK Planning Department's 'Downtown Master Plan'.
http://www.wycokck.org/WorkArea/Downloa ... x?id=28105
Hopefully a couple of KCK posters will come out of the woodwork. I haven't seen anything written from the user KCK/DeadManWalking/Anthony in a long time.