Status and future of the River Market area??

Issues concerning Downtown as described by the Downtown Council. River to 31st Street, I-35 to Bruce R. Watkins.
mister816
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by mister816 »

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Last edited by mister816 on Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mister816
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by mister816 »

Holy Shit! So one of the city's hot spots on the weekends in the summer will now be bisected by cars? This has to be a joke... I mean seriously, who got paid to make this decision and why/how could anyone think that this is a good idea? I'm lost.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by KCPowercat »

Everybody I know in that neighborhood wants it. It would still be a great ped experience and shut down on weekends I'm sure. Most other times it's open for cars to weave through there and park
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by TheLastGentleman »

I have never seen the massive empty space in front of the steamboat museum busy outside of farmers market days, and even then it doesn't contribute anything except a longer walk between buildings
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by tower »

And this would make it an even longer walk because you'd have to cross at a crosswalk. Rather than putting car lanes trough the center of the market, why not put some planters with some trees and plants there instead? Maybe add a cycletrack.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by KCPowercat »

One block bikelanes are peak KC.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by tower »

Well, it would connect to another half-assed bike lane.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by TheLastGentleman »

Walnut wouldn't really cut through the the center of the market, since almost all the actual market activity occurs to the west. Redevelop the east block as a true city block. That means running a street past it and building up to it. You can still temporarily close it off.

Again, if I owned a business in the river market, I think I'd prefer a spot along an actual street over a pedestrian zone.

(Edited for grammar)
Last edited by TheLastGentleman on Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by tower »

If the current museum building and parking lot on Grand were getting replaced by a mixed use development, then I'm all for reopening Walnut. Better a car hole there than one on the streetcar route. However, if that's not happening, then I still see no reason to reopen the street. Normally allowing cars would be better for attracting businesses, but it doesn't matter when there is already a lot of pedestrian traffic. And attracting businesses is not something the river market really needs to worry about anyway! In fact, the high retail/resident ratio is one of the reasons that the market is mostly parking lots.
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TheLastGentleman
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by TheLastGentleman »

DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:57 pmWalnut is being reconfigured this year to pass directly through the Market, just like it used to do before the 50s.
Dave, can you fill us in on any more details? What are the reasons they're doing this?
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by FangKC »

FangKC wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2019 1:30 am A woman posted on the Old Northeast Facebook page that Cascone's has been rented to a new tenant, who will redo the space and serve all-day breakfast, lunch, and plans to apply for a liquor license.
Cascone’s Grill closing after decades in the River Market, new concept coming

...
His landlord would only agree to another year lease at increased rates. The recent snow storms and frigid temperatures kept customers away. His longtime customers balk at now having to pay for parking spaces when they had long parked for free.
...
“Maybe it’s my menu, I serve hocks and beans, liver and onions, stuffed peppers, meatballs, stuffed cabbage rolls,” Cascone said. “I’ve tried to keep up with the new clientele but they want gluten-free, turkey bacon. I cook with lard and I don’t sell too many salads.”

He said Anton Kotar, formerly a co-owner of Grinders and current owner of Anton’s Taproom Restaurant in the Crossroads, will take over the space. Cascone, 62, plans to stay on for five years.
...

https://www.kansascity.com/news/busines ... =twt_staff
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by WSPanic »

FangKC wrote: Mon Feb 18, 2019 2:53 am
FangKC wrote: Sun Feb 03, 2019 1:30 am A woman posted on the Old Northeast Facebook page that Cascone's has been rented to a new tenant, who will redo the space and serve all-day breakfast, lunch, and plans to apply for a liquor license.
Cascone’s Grill closing after decades in the River Market, new concept coming

...
His landlord would only agree to another year lease at increased rates. The recent snow storms and frigid temperatures kept customers away. His longtime customers balk at now having to pay for parking spaces when they had long parked for free.
...
“Maybe it’s my menu, I serve hocks and beans, liver and onions, stuffed peppers, meatballs, stuffed cabbage rolls,” Cascone said. “I’ve tried to keep up with the new clientele but they want gluten-free, turkey bacon. I cook with lard and I don’t sell too many salads.”

He said Anton Kotar, formerly a co-owner of Grinders and current owner of Anton’s Taproom Restaurant in the Crossroads, will take over the space. Cascone, 62, plans to stay on for five years.
...

https://www.kansascity.com/news/busines ... =twt_staff
Frankly, I found the food there to be bland. It was a fun, cheap "throw-back" kind of breakfast/lunch every once in a while, but it wasn't great food.

And, I don't thing he didn't make it because of the health food craze in our extremely obese country. It's not like egg white omelets and gluten free flap jacks are keeping City Diner open.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by KCPowercat »

It's time had passed. Annoying when a restaurant owner blame everything under the sun for their demise.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by kcjak »

Anyone else find it odd that they're keeping the owner around for a few years? Seems like a bad idea to keep around someone who struggled with keeping pace with industry trends.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by scooterj »

I only tried Cascone's once when I lived in the RM, and it wasn't as good as City Diner so I had no reason to ever go back.

It doesn't sound to me like the streetcar or parking had anything to do with it, it's more an aging owner so set in his ways that he refused to adapt his menu (and hours) to meet the demands of a changing clientele.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by DaveKCMO »

TheLastGentleman wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:12 pm
DaveKCMO wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:57 pmWalnut is being reconfigured this year to pass directly through the Market, just like it used to do before the 50s.
Dave, can you fill us in on any more details? What are the reasons they're doing this?
The goal is to put some on-street parking closer to the eastern retail stalls, which have struggled. Walnut would remain closed on during farmers market weekends.

I support the change, as it will improve circulation in the neighborhood and keep people from circling the streetcar alignment to search for parking.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by town cow »

Re Walnut Street through the City Market: the plan as I understand it is to reopen Walnut weekdays and keep the "market square" closed to cars weekends, as it is now.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by smh »

Part of the idea as Dave says it to bring more eyes to the internal retail stalls which should, in theory, improve sales. This concept has been percolating for at least 5 years. The design of Walnut (at least as of a couple of years ago) would operate as something like a pedestrian street where cars are allowed, if that makes sense. I hope the final design comes out that way.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by tower »

City Scene article on Walnut:
https://cityscenekc.com/plans-underway- ... ty-market/

The design has has a lot of greenery, which is good. Is there a reason that this doesn't have raised crosswalks? Seems like that would be a good fit for this street.
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Re: Status and future of the River Market area??

Post by nickyrosstheboss »

town cow wrote: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:40 am Re Walnut Street through the City Market: the plan as I understand it is to reopen Walnut weekdays and keep the "market square" closed to cars weekends, as it is now.
I don't see a problem as long as it's still an open market on the weekends. Plus there is already practically a foot print for the road anyway.
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