Are any Kansas City neighborhoods gentrified to the point that higher property taxes forcing people out? Most of the larger urban neighborhoods growing rapidly were really never residential in the first place and those that were (e.g., Quality Hill) were apartments and are converting to more apartments. Most of the more well to do single family home neighborhoods in the KC core have barely expanded since I've been a kid (Hyde Park is essentially the same size it was 40 years ago) and only a few new areas are undergoing the beginnings of gentrification (West End and Beacon Hill) but even those are still a big mix of what is new and what was there before. The only really completely gentrified area in KC for single family homes is Union Hill and that is a very small neighborhood - like 4 square blocks and much of it on non previously non residential land.loftguy wrote:"..judiciously freeze taxes on fixed or limited income long term ownership..."flyingember wrote:Why should the time of purchase mean citizens get a special deal on their taxes to keep them below the market yet be able to benefit from selling their home at market rates?
A need-based system is different and isn't just a blanket freeze.
I did not suggest a "blanket freeze".
I recommend a judicious use of tax abatement to allow people of varied incomes, backgrounds, vocations and cultures to be a continued part of our historic neighborhoods. In part because it is the 'right thing to do' but also because it results in a richer experience for everyone. The differences are a major part of what makes these changing neighborhoods attractive in the first place. My recommendation goes towards allowing that difference to continue and prevent wholesale change that makes it just another neighborhood.
I've been looking for a place to buy in KC for a couple of years and I would have to say, I've never seen an urban area like Kansas City with so very little housing offerings to upper middle class in it's core. There are tons of high rent apartments but KC is woefully lacking in good housing stock within the urban core, particularly north of the Plaza. Frankly, the city desperately needs gentrification, it needs urban neighborhoods with at least some wealth.