That is exactly what you should do.TheBigChuckbowski wrote: Maybe us River Market residents should rise up and take it over.
During the 20th Century River Market became and "old quarter", got cut-off from the City by I-70, and languished until the brief era of River Quay. In the 80's there was a Market Area Development entity that I became acquainted with for a short time, and through the 80's and 90's various businesses prospered and some failed. There always was a City Market however, functioning according to some "just fine," but to others maybe short of potential. The expansion of residency in the River Market has been in my opinion the singular dynamic change in recent years. RM as a neighborhood is creating a stable community of diverse residents, some highly educated, some culturally sophisticated, some young and upwardly mobile, some of exotic ethnicity. All of this has been poured into an old quarter that has the City Market, the biggest and the one with the most potential for exciting destination development. The weekenders who will have reason to visit on a regular basis will come if a unique and exciting mix is present. I think this potential is all but within arms reach based on a couple of recent developments, like 1) The Chinese Market, 2) 2nd Street improvements (and the infusion of hundreds of new residents into Milepost Zero, 3) the wonderful mix of restaurants and eateries that are now there; some of these are ethnic and exotic and complement the "food culture" of the City Market. And this a short list.
What River Market needs is the right amount of night life, and the right amount of retail, and a full line grocer, a drug store and galleries. Steamboat Arabia could leave, but this wouldn't hurt the Market's potential. An aquarium would actually be a better fit for the River Market. Another improvement would be the departure of more non-retail type businesses (the cottage sized manufactures and warehouse type companies. And lastly either a streetcar or light rail link to downtown. RM is not beyond walking distance from the Phillips, Marriot-Muehlbach and the rest (roughly 7 blocks,) but the pedestrian connections are of marginal quality. Any who have been to Seattle and visited Pike Street Fish Market will appreciate that the major hotels are 5-6 blocks away, but the walk is fine because there are merchants along the entire route. One thing you see in Seattle's (sorry to keep bringing that City up, but I could mention the "Piers" in Chicago and San Francisco) Fish Market are souvenir shops. Just as a point of discussion where are KC's souvenir shops (at MCI, the hotels, or in the malls)? Could a souvenir shop make it at City Market-I think so. It's the type of place and the type of location and would add to the mix that approaches the potential. City Market is already a destination, at certain times of the day and year. This is certainly true on Saturday mornings, and summer evenings when there are events. A little more added to the City Market will produce much more for the River Market. It is distinctly different in culture, offerrings and content from the Crossroads.
People are needed on the street all day long, and if large numbers of residents, merchants, and visitors are there, the hoodlums from Columbus Park will go away-because these punks need relatively vacant streets and the cover of night.
So what do you who live there do? Bond together, become the River Market development organization (I can't remember what the actual name of the existing one is), find a way to insert yourself into the affairs of the City Market management company, and work that councilman to advocate for City Market and River Market development. The private sector has done a great job in recent years, the residents are numerous enough to claim ownership of this neighborhood, and all of these entities ought to create and develop a vision and strategy to make RM and the City Market a destination for visitors and residents from 6:00 am to 2:00 am.
