KCRag Forum

Sales tax.  What a mess it has made of our cities.  City Councilpersons want more money in the city coffers to do more projects to "make the city better".  All this while being politically popular and keeping property taxes low.  If property taxes are low, then they get re-elected.  The on...

Why the City still allows huge billboards is amazing.  These are great photos that are all fouled up by ugly sign pollution. 

It is ashame how this area is starting to look.  I have always loved that modern brick house with the flat roof and I assume that house is scheduled to be razed.  The area will go from a pleasant bend in the road in a residential area, to a faster, duller zone of suburban scale.  I know nothing of t...

I am working on master planning for housing at air force and army bases (better than it sounds) around the country.  Our lead engineer works for the Corps or Engineers and is so proud of himself.  Over the past 30 years he has been able to work it so that all buildings are demolished and rebuilt jus...

A page from the book published by the City Plan Commission of Kansas City in 1957 called Kansas City Urban Area PATTERNS OF GROWTH  This book represents the general opinion of 98% of the public and city officials.  Old is bad!  New is good and a sign of prosperity.  Some still feel this way.

Another image from the same book, showing areas for urban renewal.

Here is a page from the Kansas City Urban Area PATTERNS OF GROWTH book from 1957, put out by the KCMO City Plan Commission.  The area was in severe decline at that time and many of those buildings are already gone.  The lower image shows the promising future of the area....notice not one old buildin...

Cottonwood Falls does not have a 'square' as we would think of one.  It is a beautiful town that is surrounded by an amazing portion of the Flint Hills.  This place is worth seeing, as is nearby Council Grove.  I found this info....
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/kansas_chase_county.htm

I talked with someone that lives in a small town near St Joe, they told me of a few downtown squares in that area.  Anyone been to any of these? Maysville, Albany, Savannah, Grant City and Stanberry.  All are NE of St Joe.  Anyone been to these?  Are any worth seeing and experiencing? There has got ...

I am wanting to spend some time visiting great small towns that are a days drive or shorter to Kansas City.  In the last week, I stumbled into the town square in the center of old Paola KS.  Great square that is huge.  I also made it through Harrisonville.  Another great square, but one that is tiny...

With all these malls tumbling down in KC I was wondering if anyone knows when the malls were all built and/or heavily modified.  I know that some of the original ones started as open air malls.  Then they were enclosed from the weather.  As we cycle through the trends, I wonder when they will put a ...

Does anyone remember the old heart of Roeland Park?  They tore it down to built the Walmart (It was built as a Pace Wholesale Club).  As a kid, my family shopped here often.  The Skaggs/Katz, Thriftway and other stores that were in a pleasant atmosphere.  I know it was mostly vacant by the time they...

Has anyone been by the local house completed a few years ago (I think it was in Raytown?)  Is the family still there?  Is it being maintained? I always wonder what happens when the tv crews leave and the family starts living, day to day in this new big house.  I assume most would sell it to get extr...

Leaving the Sprint campus yesterday and sitting at the light at 119th and Metcalf (not BV Pkwy, Metcalf), I saw the strangest sight - PEDESTRIANS CROSSING THE STREET! A well-dressed couple was walking south.  They got across the kajillion lanes of 119th St in one piece, but there was no light to he...

Well, I rode the same buses home in the evening.  It was smooth and the drivers were very nice.  It took only 45 minutes to get home (better connection).  There was a couple on the bus visiting KC and were headed to the Plaza and the driver was very deliberate to help them know where to get off and ...

which JO route did you use? did you call the regional call center to confirm that was the most convenient? i've used route H to the sprint campus (commuting the opposite direction as you), which stops at the plaza, where i connected from the MAX. None of 'The Jo' routes pass my house near 95th &...

I have lived in OP all my life and have worked in Westport for 12 years.  I have never ridden on a bus in KC.  My car is in the shop, so I thought I would see if the Jo or KCATA could get me to work.  With a lot of route maps in hand, I found a line that would pick me up five houses away from my hou...

They just don't belong together.  I issues for each area are distinct and usually not related.  It just doesn't make sense to keep them together.  This annoys me every time I go to that forum.

The discussion about parking is irrelevant.  The six cars that could park in the footprint of this building is not worth discussing.  Parking is needed.  I don't disagree.  The problem with this tear down relates more toward neighborhood fabric preservation (or reconstruction).  It is ok that this b...

I walk/drive by this building every day and I can assure you that it lent nothing to the streetscape.  It was an eyesore and had been deteriorating for the past 10 years.  I'm all for maintaining buildings that lend character to an area, but you are extending the argument to an illogical end with t...