News & Issues

Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.

Nick Haines

Nick’s Picks | KC Awakens to a Brutal Chiefs Hangover

The Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl hopes come to an end with a second half collapse and an overtime loss against the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Crescendo Project to Add Affordable Housing Near Downtown

By Kevin Collison A $10.6 million development plan that would add 39 affordable apartments to the Wendell Phillips neighborhood is being planned by the same developer who has built similar projects near downtown. Brinshore Development is teaming with the Urban Neighborhood Initiative on what’s called the UNI Crescendo project. It calls for 10 townhome-style apartment…

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Omaha Going Big on Downtown with New Skyscraper, Streetcar Line

(Editor’s note: This article about two major developments announced Wednesday in Omaha is being published to inform CityScene readers about what other regional cities are doing to revitalize their greater downtowns. The last office tower built in downtown Kansas City was the 18-story H&R Block headquarters in 2006. The 30-story 1201 Walnut building opened in…

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Lotus Care House is a 1970s era hotel that is being converted into transitional housing and a service center for the homeless. It is part of a "housing first" approach to addressing homelessness in Kansas City.

Houseless Hotel: A ‘Housing First’ Solution for Those Without Homes

Lotus Care House is a 1970s era hotel that is being converted into transitional housing and a service center for the homeless. It is part of a “housing first” approach to addressing homelessness in Kansas City.

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Imagine KC Strategic Plan Seeks More ‘Equitable Downtown’

By Kevin Collison A strategic plan that encompasses neighborhoods more than a mile from the skyscrapers of its central business district and envisions downtown as an economic catalyst for that larger area was rolled out Tuesday by the Downtown Council. The new Imagine Downtown KC 2030 Strategic Plan was two years in the making and seeks…

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The Imagine Downtown KC plan suggests a downtown ballpark as one of its catalytic projects this decade.

Imagine Downtown KC Strategic Plan Seeks More ‘Equitable Downtown’

A strategic plan that encompasses neighborhoods more than a mile from Kansas City’s skyscrapers and envisions downtown as an economic catalyst for that larger area was rolled out Tuesday by the Downtown Council.

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Decking South Loop Tops Downtown Improvement Priority List in Survey

By Kevin Collison The proposed decking of the South Loop freeway with a park was the most popular of three potential big downtown improvements being discussed these days, according to CityScene readers responding to an informal survey. More than 40 people offered their opinions on Facebook and Twitter last week about how they would prioritize…

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Connie Brown Collins, a Wyandotte County resident, says during a news conference Monday at the Statehouse in Topeka that lawmakers awakened a sleeping lion with their proposal to divide the Kansas City metro area between congressional districts.

‘You Have Awakened a Sleeping Lion’: Kansas City Residents Denounce GOP Congressional Map

Kansans for Fair Maps, a coalition of advocacy groups, organized a news conference to elevate the voices of residents in the Kansas City metro area who are upset about the proposed new congressional map.

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Nick Haines

Nick’s Picks | Classic Game Gets Chiefs Closer to Super Bowl

The Chiefs upcoming AFC Championship Game will be the talk of Kansas City this week.

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Mac’s Big Midtown Project Dead After Council Rejects Funding

By Kevin Collison A $100 million proposal that would have added 385 apartments next to the planned streetcar stop at Main and Armour is dead after the City Council rejected funding considered key to including affordable housing. Mac Properties had proposed renovating the US Bank building at Main and Armour and the nearby New Yorker…

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