KCRag Forum

The indoor malls can co-exist with street level retail in a vibrant city.  Right now, KC is having a hard time doing either, hopefully in a few years, but will come along and complement each other.

But the point remains, it may be what people think they want (probably because they have never experienced a true vibrant urban place to begin with) yet someone, a developer, a designer, whoever, must go out on a limb to innovate. And in today's terms, innovation largely means using tradition as a reference, because the "innovators" of the past are the ones who gave us these compartmentalized and abominable pseudo public spaces to begin with.

Look at the photo below. It is at 11th and Baltimore. To the left is what was destroyed in order to build City Center Square. Which does more for the ground level scene?

i understand that you would prefer to have the stip clubs and go go bars back, which is great and all, however, i would prefer city center square over that stuff any day.

i remember when downtown was a powerhouse, it was on it's way out when i was a kid. and i do miss it. but, times change, and we allowed our downtown to rot. it is just now coming back to life.

I wish they would build all the new buildings ontop of the old ones. Not with the weight on the old buildings but large supports.

Nice pic, I would prefer the action packed night life and go go bars over the sterile Disney Land fakery, which deadens the street.  Almost all new skyscrapers that I've seen--especially in Kansas City completely turn their backs on street and the city.  They are great when viewed from a distance, but the real energy of a city is at the street level.

paisstat wrote: Nice pic, I would prefer the action packed night life and go go bars over the sterile Disney Land fakery, which deadens the street.  Almost all new skyscrapers that I've seen--especially in Kansas City completely turn their backs on street and the city.  They are great when viewed from a distance, but the real energy of a city is at the street level.

anyone on here been to city center? they did far from that. they had a food court entrance, on one side, a food court entrance on the other. a street retail entrance, 3 of them on main. it is not their fault that the street level retail, ( applebees, shoe shine, that haberdashery that was there for a while ) all failed, is it?? or town pavilion, had a SHITLOAD of ground level retail, hell, they still have fred p otts and kinkos. how bout the p&l?? it was built in that grand street retail era, where is it's ground floor retail??

The problem is not indoor food courts, its the fact that the current designs turn their backs on the street.  Food establishments especially can have more than one entrance, so they can serve both the building tenants and pedestrians.  Innovative design would marry the needs of the office workers, and the needs of pedestrians.  There are a lot more places to eat downtown than people think, but with the current design, most people would never know they are there.

tat2kc wrote: The problem is not indoor food courts, its the fact that the current designs turn their backs on the street.  Food establishments especially can have more than one entrance, so they can serve both the building tenants and pedestrians.  Innovative design would marry the needs of the office workers, and the needs of pedestrians.  There are a lot more places to eat downtown than people think, but with the current design, most people would never know they are there.

Fred P. Ott's and The Mango Room - both good examples of restaurants that draw in people both off the sidewalk and from within their office building.

Starbucks = Perfect example of a restaurant that mocks the sidewalk.  There's no good reason for it to not have an exterior entrance.    I have seen out-of-towners there on the weekend peering through the windows trying to figure out if it was open or not and how to get inside.  (I directed them to a nearby local coffee shop that was open.)

McDonald's - Perfect example of a place so tucked away in a food court that I'd say the majority of downtowners don't even know we have a McDonald's downtown.

dangerboy wrote: Town Pavilion tried to fix the streetscape problem in the late 1990s and failed.  They opened holes on the ground level at Main Street for several stores... Bagel & Bagel, a deli, a travel agent, and a juice cafe.  All of them folded within 3 years.  All within a block of the four biggest office buildings in the city.

I worked for a short time at One Kansas City Place when I was with Bank of America. I ate lunch at the food court. For some reason I didn't feel it was worthwhile leaving the building. May be it was the whole self-contained feeling the building exuded. There isn't really anything in reasonable walking  distance. At least as far as I was concerned.I think what downtown needs is some fast food restaurants for workers to get something quick. May be they could put a Fazzoli's in one those Town Pavilion spots.

Maby is spelled Maybe.

I wouldn't leave either,  I mean, the way the Bannister area intimidates you, you better stay inside.

beautyfromashes wrote: Maby is spelled Maybe.

so, so typical. attacking spelling. this is not a spelling bee.

kcdcchef wrote: so, so typical. attacking spelling. this is not a spelling bee.

No, but is third grade grammar that difficult?  If you don't have time to look it up if you are unsure of the correct spelling, maybe the post isn't worth making.

lock&load wrote: No, but is third grade grammar that difficult?  If you don't have time to look it up if you are unsure of the correct spelling, maybe the post isn't worth making.

obviusly, he knew what the word was, we all know how to spell maybe, sometimes when typing fast, one mis-spells, and it is infantile to always call people out on their spelling

kcdcchef wrote: we all know how to spell maybe, sometimes when typing fast, one mis-spells, and it is infantile to always call people out on their spelling

Listen, the kid needs to know how to spell maybe.  It might be the most important thing he learns on this site.  And he didn't know how to spell it or fast typed it because he did it five times.  He now has it as may be.  It undermines everything that he writes.  Just tryin' to help the kid out. 

obviusly, he knew what the word was, we all know how to spell maybe, sometimes when typing fast, one mis-spells, and it is infantile to always call people out on their spelling

Obviusly that's the case. 

WSPanic wrote: Obviusly that's the case. 

ahhh, my point made. thanks.

I would guess that I am the worst speller on this site. I agree that it's pretty much third grade mentality to make fun of someone for their in ability to spell.

However, if you want to be taken seriously as an adult you might want to take the time to use the spell check button. I have to on ever post.

shinatoo wrote: I would guess that I am the worst speller on this site. I agree that it's pretty much third grade mentality to make fun of someone for their in ability to spell.

However, if you want to be taken seriously as an adult you might want to take the time to use the spell check button. I have to on ever post.

too bad it does not check overall grammar. hence, every post, instead of ever.

this is all pointless. if you mis-spell something, right on, good for you. if you understand the word, and notice a mis-spell, have a laugh, and move the fuck on. hell, you can spend all day laughing at it, if it makes you feel better.