OFFICIAL - Main Street Streetcar Extension

[KCPowercat]

I see 10x the homeless on my walk to work that I did 10 years ago downtown.

[herrfrank]

This may sound unfriendly, but the homeless problem tends to self-minimize after the first cold snap, which is probably less than 60 days away. City Union Mission and the other shelters prepare for an uptick in housing during winter-time.

Long-term solutions are not about transit nor even policing, but rather psychiatric and institutional.

[dukuboy1]

Homeless issue for KC really seemed to pop up during COVID. While everyone was working from home and not going out, the homeless spread in to gain access to common areas that were now left vacant. There was no one around to provide them services and no one around to run them off. Once COVID was tamed and people started to remerge to the offices and businesses they were met head on by the homeless. Groups that had provided services to help before were now underfunded & understaffed because of the pandemic. Police and medical services had bone run to the brink during the pandemic and had now had limited dollars and staffing issues of their own. It was kind of the perfect storm to let a problem that was being managed somewhat, explode out of control. Plus the population grew during COVID as those who were on the edge of homelessness became homeless after losing their job during the pandemic. Pandemic saw an increase in substance abuse caused by isolation and the homeless population was impacted as well. Plus I feel there were communities around the metro that were impacted and those folks migrated of sorts to KC and other larger population centers.

It is an issue for sure, and working downtown I see they way more frequently than I did before. It would be great to get them off the street and into treatment, but there are no facilities and no money or manpower to do it. Perhaps it will become a focus, but I have my doubts with current leadership. The free ridership of the Street Car & buses allows these homeless to "commute" from Downtown to eventually The Plaza. Busses allow they to get out into the burbs where they can camp in areas where they may co unnoticed. They are an issue in the Northland with their ease of access to large wooded areas and undeveloped land to setup camps. The buses take them to 2 major stops where they get off and just spread out into the landscape.

It's bad but the biggest fix is to get development back and rolling. Bring in businesses that will help work to run them off, which I know sounds harsh. But those businesses and residents help add to the tax base to hopefully increase dollars to help work with them and provide facilities to get them the help they need.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

On another subject, with all the added landscaping areas, does anyone know what the plan is with those? Will they just be grass or actual plantings? Who will be responsible for maintenance?

[Chris Stritzel]

There is a plan for streetcar safety and security that might be announced soon. It should alleviate most, if not all, concerns pertaining to the homeless population along the route. I’m willing to bet the 39th/Westport stop will have the most problems, but the plan will help address that.

As for the planting question, I expect it to be similar to the portion south of Brush Creek. Streetcar Authority will likely maintain it.

[shinatoo]

Didn't they city just pass funding for a 300 bed transitional housing/treatment center that is slated to open before the world cup?

[beautyfromashes]

Didn't they city just pass funding for a 300 bed transitional housing/treatment center that is slated to open before the world cup?

If the numbers I see are any indication, that is probably about 10x too small for what is needed. I really think it's going to get worse too. This didn't just happen during covid. This is a very recent explosion likely coming from the beginnings of a very weak economy. Poor groups are the first to feel effects of a recession and a spike of homelessness is a harbinger of further economic pain.

[moderne]

Xeriscaping being planted north of Linwood between the curb and sidewalks. Good luck on that. Even if it somehow prospers it will be a catchment for windblown trash.

[chingon]

There is a plan for streetcar safety and security that might be announced soon. It should alleviate most, if not all, concerns pertaining to the homeless population along the route. I’m willing to bet the 39th/Westport stop will have the most problems, but the plan will help address that.

tout maladi pa maladi doktè

[Anthony_Hugo98]

Xeriscaping being planted north of Linwood between the curb and sidewalks. Good luck on that. Even if it somehow prospers it will be a catchment for windblown trash.

I’d rather the trace amounts of storm water penetration that comes from planting than impervious paved surface, but oh well.

[DMNBT_RCJH]

Putting a stop right in front of what will almost assuredly be a vacant and boarded up CVS in the next 12 months was certainly a choice.

[Chris Stritzel]

Putting a stop right in front of what will almost assuredly be a vacant and boarded up CVS in the next 12 months was certainly a choice.

Opens it up for a development opportunity!

[DMNBT_RCJH]

Putting a stop right in front of what will almost assuredly be a vacant and boarded up CVS in the next 12 months was certainly a choice.

Opens it up for a development opportunity!

Hah, yes that parcel will definitely be available soon. No chance that store is not one of the stores CVS is planning on closing by EOY or early next year.

We need to bring back state funded institutions. Will cost money but the push to de-institutionalize has brought its own issues.

[GRID]

What is wrong with that CVS?

[TheBigChuckbowski]

From my observations: they've closed the drive thru, cut the pharmacy's hours, they seem to have one pharmacist and one pharmacy assistant on staff, my last prescription took two days to get filled so I'm just going to Costco now. They also have a Walgreens two blocks away but that's always been true.

That said, I'm not sure what that has to do with putting a streetcar stop at 39th.

[GRID]

From my observations: they've closed the drive thru, cut the pharmacy's hours, they seem to have one pharmacist and one pharmacy assistant on staff, my last prescription took two days to get filled so I'm just going to Costco now. They also have a Walgreens two blocks away but that's always been true.

That said, I'm not sure what that has to do with putting a streetcar stop at 39th.

I mean I do think that the site needs to be redeveloped. Having a parking lot on the corner is dumb.

I'm not sure if there is demand, but you could bring CVS back as a ground floor tenant in a residential development there.

I just have a feeling it's going to take a very lot time to get the site re-developed. If CVS closes, it will probably sit vacant for 5-10 years.

[FangKC]

CVS has been shutting down and consolidating stores. A pharmacist told me that CVS seems to think they can keep all their customers needing prescriptions even though they are making them travel further to a store.

[FangKC]

Missouri and Kansas keep losing pharmacies, and a key part of health care

...
Kansas City has lost close to 100 pharmacies in the last 10 years. CVS closed at least 11 stores, including one on Independence Avenue this summer. Walgreens shut down five, and another on East 63rd Street is expected to close at the end of the September.
...
CVS has closed 850 stores since 2022. It expects to close 50 more this year. Walgreens has closed 2,000 stores over the last decade. Now it’s deciding whether to shutter an additional 2,150 that the company calls “underperforming.” That’s one in four of its remaining retail locations.
...
Missouri has two counties — Knox and Schuyler, in the state’s northeast — without any pharmacy. And 16 counties in the state have only one.
...

https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2024 ... -missouri/

Kansas City pharmacists’ walkout a year ago highlighted industry troubles. The problems haven’t gone away

https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2024/ ... -uprising/

[herrfrank]

Part of the problem is that the US excessively "pharmacizes" simple drugs that should be available OTC (over the counter).

For example, simple blood pressure meds like Amlodipine (Norvasc), a calcium channel blocker or Lisinopril -- both widely prescribed, maybe 80 million prescriptions per year in the US for these two drugs alone.

Another example, codeine -- a modest-strength narcotic that is available OTC in Europe. I always stock up when transiting London Heathrow -- super effective for pain management like a kitchen accident or trip-and-fall (when you need more than an aspirin but don't want to deal with a doctor and pharmacy.)

[GRID]

UMKC stop looks great and it also looks like it's just begging to be extended.

They should use that parking garage sitting there for a park and ride till the site is re-developed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4VkT2vYSjQ