Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Issues concerning Downtown as described by the Downtown Council. River to 31st Street, I-35 to Bruce R. Watkins.
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missingkc
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by missingkc »

Come again? I don't understand.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by mgh7676 »

missingkc wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:11 pm Come again? I don't understand.
I believe the facepalm was in reference to, and correct me if I’m wrong, the thought that it would be ok to block the parks view of the downtown skyline and instead to use it as an office park amenity.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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missingkc wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 2:31 pm We're looking pretty much due north. This is the western building. Can't visualize where this building is to sit. Is it going to sit in a sea of parking connected to the park and street grid only by drives/sidewalks on causeways? That's sure what it looks like.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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So, it looks like it is in fact very disconnected from the surrounding streets and the park. I guess that's OK Street arcing across the foreground.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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missingkc wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:29 pm I guess that's OK Street arcing across the foreground.
Yes.

There are multiple potential designs floating around to show potential tenants the flexibility the site offers. Don’t get caught up on anything yet.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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Kevin Collison is reporting that Blue Cross/Blue Shield has purchased the 5-acre parking lot from Union Station that is just north of Washington Square Park.

Blue KC Buys 5-Acre Lot From Union Station, ‘Flexibility’ for HQ Decision

Blue KC has purchased a five-acre parking lot owned by Union Station adjoining its offices on Main street, a move that will allow the health insurance firm more flexibility as it anticipates the future of its headquarters.
...
“Blue KC is pleased to acquire the five acres of parking lot space from Union Station,” Christa Dubill, Blue KC vice present of communications said in a statement.

“This purchase provides us with more flexibility as we consider our future real estate options, including ongoing considerations for our headquarters.”

The firm also is exploring other options including the 1400KC building at 14th and Baltimore, according to downtown real estate sources. That 18-story building was erected for Waddell & Reed, but the deal fell through after the investment firm was bought.
...
https://cityscenekc.com/blue-kc-buys-5- ... 0Kzvspf28A
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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Every year, Boulevardia reminds me just how cool this park could be
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by DaveKCMO »

With enough resources, every open space can be that cool. It shows you how underfunded our parks system is.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 8:21 pm With enough resources, every open space can be that cool. It shows you how underfunded our parks system is.
We should have more parks funding than ever before. Property taxes have skyrocketed the last several years. Is it really a resource issue or an incompetence issue?
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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beautyfromashes wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 10:13 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 8:21 pm With enough resources, every open space can be that cool. It shows you how underfunded our parks system is.
We should have more parks funding than ever before. Property taxes have skyrocketed the last several years. Is it really a resource issue or an incompetence issue?
Or is it a sprawl issue? Too many parks, not enough people.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by FangKC »

Yes. The original KC park system, which was so lauded, was when the city and population existed on about 20 percent of the land area we have now.

KC was 60 square miles in 1940 with a population of 400,178;
130 square miles in 1960 with a population of 475,539;
316 square miles in 2001 with a population of 441,545.

The City is physically so much bigger now and so are infrastructure costs, but the population hasn't grown five times to pay for it, or at least the tax base hasn't.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by KC_Ari »

smh wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 7:59 am
beautyfromashes wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 10:13 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 8:21 pm With enough resources, every open space can be that cool. It shows you how underfunded our parks system is.
We should have more parks funding than ever before. Property taxes have skyrocketed the last several years. Is it really a resource issue or an incompetence issue?
Or is it a sprawl issue? Too many parks, not enough people.
Sprawl. At least based on a very quick search.

This is over the entire metro, but KC is #2 on this list, and it's a big jump from 3 to 2. https://stacker.com/environment/cities- ... ace-capita

KCMO has the most park + open space on this list per 1000 residents yet even then it only makes up 6.6% of the total area. (This is an old one from what looks like 2001.)http://www.demographia.com/db-uscityparklist.htm
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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Yes, but park money should be flowing in at a good pace right now with property values increasing and the county adjustment. Also, you can’t compare the maintenance from when we first started the park system to now. We have huge riding lawnmowers now and modern technology that should make it quicker and easier to maintain. I don’t think this is a money issue. The piles of trash are in the same spots as last year. Same homeless people during Covid. Same crumbling concrete.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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KC_Ari wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 9:18 am
smh wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 7:59 am
beautyfromashes wrote: Mon Jun 19, 2023 10:13 pm
We should have more parks funding than ever before. Property taxes have skyrocketed the last several years. Is it really a resource issue or an incompetence issue?
Or is it a sprawl issue? Too many parks, not enough people.
Sprawl. At least based on a very quick search.

This is over the entire metro, but KC is #2 on this list, and it's a big jump from 3 to 2. https://stacker.com/environment/cities- ... ace-capita

KCMO has the most park + open space on this list per 1000 residents yet even then it only makes up 6.6% of the total area. (This is an old one from what looks like 2001.)http://www.demographia.com/db-uscityparklist.htm
Sprawl makes sense to me. I'm sure you're familiar with the Trust For Public Land's ParkScore

Despite the city's vast greenspace, a significant portion of Kansas City residents are not within a convenient distance of a park. In fact, only 69% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park. This sprawl poses challenges for maintaining and monitoring parks regularly, as they may be geographically distant from neighborhoods which could activate them and be "eyes on the street."

Kansas City also stands out for having some of the highest median park sizes in the nation. While large parks provide ample recreational opportunities, they demand more resources and manpower for maintenance. They can be too large a space to utilize or maintain and therefore become neglected.

Also KC scores very high on park equity - which is great! However, many parks are situated in communities with limited resources. While I know these communities value their parks, they lack the financial means to contribute significantly to maintenance efforts.

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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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The fact that so much of KC’s parkland was initially built on land developers didn’t want doesn’t help. Instead of building parks amongst neighborhoods, we instead built a lot of parks on the leftover land, on craggy cliffs and hills that are just tougher landscapes for parks
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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Another stat that jumped out to me: low-income neighborhoods have 82% more park space as those in high-income neighborhoods

https://parkserve.tpl.org/downloads/pdf ... ity_MO.pdf
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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Cratedigger wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:45 pm Another stat that jumped out to me: low-income neighborhoods have 82% more park space as those in high-income neighborhoods

https://parkserve.tpl.org/downloads/pdf ... ity_MO.pdf
the massive size of Swope Park probably skews this a bit. Actually, it probably skews all the numbers listed above. It's more a nature reserve than a park. I don't really agree with the belief that we have outsized numbers and sizes of actual parks.
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by TheLastGentleman »

beautyfromashes wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:49 pm
Cratedigger wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:45 pm Another stat that jumped out to me: low-income neighborhoods have 82% more park space as those in high-income neighborhoods

https://parkserve.tpl.org/downloads/pdf ... ity_MO.pdf
the massive size of Swope Park probably skews this a bit. Actually, it probably skews all the numbers listed above. It's more a nature reserve than a park. I don't really agree with the belief that we have outsized numbers and sizes of actual parks.
Yeah swope is more of a greenbelt than anything. Penn Valley has to be the largest thing in KCMO that actually resembles a traditional park, right?
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

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beautyfromashes wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:49 pm
Cratedigger wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:45 pm Another stat that jumped out to me: low-income neighborhoods have 82% more park space as those in high-income neighborhoods

https://parkserve.tpl.org/downloads/pdf ... ity_MO.pdf
the massive size of Swope Park probably skews this a bit. Actually, it probably skews all the numbers listed above. It's more a nature reserve than a park. I don't really agree with the belief that we have outsized numbers and sizes of actual parks.
You're probably right but what also skews the data is the Boulevards being classified as parks
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Re: Washington Sq Park between Crown Center/Union Station

Post by Cratedigger »

TheLastGentleman wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 2:07 pm
beautyfromashes wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:49 pm
Cratedigger wrote: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:45 pm Another stat that jumped out to me: low-income neighborhoods have 82% more park space as those in high-income neighborhoods

https://parkserve.tpl.org/downloads/pdf ... ity_MO.pdf
the massive size of Swope Park probably skews this a bit. Actually, it probably skews all the numbers listed above. It's more a nature reserve than a park. I don't really agree with the belief that we have outsized numbers and sizes of actual parks.
Yeah swope is more of a greenbelt than anything. Penn Valley has to be the largest thing in KCMO that actually resembles a traditional park, right?
I think that's right with Loose being the 3rd largest
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