KCRag Forum

One has to remember that this shopping area was an attempt to bring suburban shopping to an area that didn’t have anything like it even close to the area. Urban redevelopment was still the mindset at that time therefore we got what many at the time wanted. I am sure if it was done now the area would look much different.
The one turnoff for me is how Linwood was completely separated from the stores. That blank wall was an eyesore.
And BTW the skywalk at CC was to unite the buildings on both sides of the street. People could still enter and leave as many do from the street.

If I were the grand poohba of development, and could go back when the redevelopment plan was being cooked up, here are the several options I would have put forth. I would move that international school to a portion of one of the Westport school buildings. The main purpose of this is to be able to develop those playing fields behind the school. I'd put in more housing around the retail buildings.

Aerial of current layout.



Option 1



Option 2



Option 3

Restore the grid!

I'm not sure the school district would sell off their green space so the southern half would be possible, but redoing the portion in the shopping center is sound. I like the idea of a through street across the front of HD.

It makes no sense that anyone would have made it harder than necessary to get from Gillham to Home Depot.

Did you tear down the school on Armour to build the park?!

flyingember wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:33 am I'm not sure the school district would sell off their green space so the southern half would be possible, but redoing the portion in the shopping center is sound. I like the idea of a through street across the front of HD.

It makes no sense that anyone would have made it harder than necessary to get from Gillham to Home Depot.

Westport High School did not have those large fields originally -- they were greatly expanded (and many houses torn down) in the 1980s, while the school was in its last gasp years.

I don't recall the details, but there was a fight with Hyde Park about it.

The whole area looks vastly different then it did in 1975.

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:13 am Restore the grid!

Everyone here knows I'm the king of the grid.

flyingember wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:33 am I'm not sure the school district would sell off their green space so the southern half would be possible, but redoing the portion in the shopping center is sound. I like the idea of a through street across the front of HD.

It makes no sense that anyone would have made it harder than necessary to get from Gillham to Home Depot.

FangKC wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 6:17 am If I were the grand poohba of development, and could go back when the redevelopment plan was being cooked up, here are the several options I would have put forth. I would move that international school to a portion of one of the Westport school buildings. The main purpose of this is to be able to develop those playing fields behind the school. I'd put in more housing around the retail buildings.

I don' t think that school was there when the Glover Plan was being conceived. I think that building where the school is had offices in it. The playing fields used by the school didn't exist then. There were houses there.

FangKC wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:10 pm

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:13 am Restore the grid!

Everyone here knows I'm the king of the grid.

I thought that was GRID

Riverite wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:12 pm

FangKC wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 3:10 pm

DaveKCMO wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:13 am Restore the grid!

Everyone here knows I'm the king of the grid.

I thought that was GRID

Ok. Advocate of the grid.

GRID supports the grid too lol. Fang, if they are going to move Costco 1000', they may as well build it on top the home depot. Probably not much going to happen with this though. I'm just happy they have been so successful. That shows there is demand for retail in the inner city.

I see big boxes like this all the time even in dense parts of NYC (queens etc) and Philly. DC has a couple of big boxes with surface parking as you enter the city from Maryland on US-50.

It's not the best urban planning design, but having a full blown home depot in the city is a pretty convenient.

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:50 pm GRID supports the grid too lol. Fang, if they are going to move Costco 1000', they may as well build it on top the home depot. Probably not much going to happen with this though. I'm just happy they have been so successful. That shows there is demand for retail in the inner city.

I see big boxes like this all the time even in dense parts of NYC (queens etc) and Philly. DC has a couple of big boxes with surface parking as you enter the city from Maryland on US-50.

It's not the best urban planning design, but having a full blown home depot in the city is a pretty convenient.

Wasn't the Home Depot reported as one of their worst performing stores in the US at one time

^I've seen worst with employee theft several years ago, not worst performing. Apparently resolved, or at least enough to stay open.

GRID wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:50 pm ... Fang, if they are going to move Costco 1000', they may as well build it on top the home depot. Probably not much going to happen with this though. I'm just happy they have been so successful. That shows there is demand for retail in the inner city.

If I had my way, I would have put some residential on top (probably senior housing) on both the Home Depot and Costco with entrances on one of the sides, and a level of garage parking underneath (for residential tenants).

^They are nice fantasies but at this point the most plausible shortest path solution is to redevelop the pad sites surrounding into streetfront commercial buildings with housing on top. Might not happen until well after streetcar running through Midtown though. Will take time but Midtown's growing suburban mentality over last few decades will eventually transition back some to how it used to be after streetcar draws less car dependent minded residents.

It was just a thought exercise to illustrate lessons in how to better create a retail node that also has residential and mixed-use. More people living adjacent, and more tax revenue in the long run.

FangKC wrote: ↑Fri Oct 01, 2021 5:49 am It was just a thought exercise to illustrate lessons in how to better create a retail node that also has residential and mixed-use. More people living adjacent, and more tax revenue in the long run.

I can see the north half as being doable today. Turn it into more like The Legends in design.

With the right layout it's not the worst spot for a Pedestrian Mall running E-W with stores fronting it.

No one indicated which of the three options in the design experiment was their preferred one. This has left FangKC bereft.

Aerial of current layout.



Option 1



Option 2



Option 3


[/quote]

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GRID wrote: ↑Thu Sep 30, 2021 8:50 pm Fang, if they are going to move Costco 1000', they may as well build it on top the home depot.

Build a Costco on top of the Home Depot, you say? Well, it WOULD be increased density. So to speak. Plus it would free up some additional room for other things.

There would have to be some sort of freight elevator arrangement for movement of goods in and out, since everything wouldn't be on ground level any more.

Maybe stack a Super Target on top of both of them while we're at it?

There could be some sort of service to do deliveries, like UberShops or something. You could either shop the store in person or online, pay for goods, and then have them delivered to your home. UberShops could work out something with TargetCostHome so that you could scan everything into an app on your phone, create a QR-coded order, and send it to your Uber. The Uber person could then meet the store staff at the dock. The store staff then scans the QR code that the app sent them on your authorization which tells them what to load. The Uber person delivers to your home at a time of your choosing. Much better than pushing a buggy around and schlepping your stuff all over the store.

Costco has a little food court in the front. Come to think of it, Target has something like this too. The Target near me serves personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hut. Also has popcorn, etc. Across from it on the other side of the front door is a mini-Starbucks, because the space was just sitting there, and Starbucks abhors a vacuum. Point is, there could be somewhere to eat in the TargetCostHome, too.

This all seems familiar, somehow. I think there used to be a place like this in downtown KC, a long time ago.