News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Riverfront Soccer Stadium Planned, Big Step Up for Future Port KC Projects
A $70 million, privately funded women’s professional soccer stadium planned for the riverfront should spur future housing projects and quicken streetcar expansion.
Building at 17th and Washington Slated to Become Foodie Destination
(Editor’s note: CityScene is taking some time off for a vacation, this article originally appeared on July 28.) By Kevin Collison The former Screenland property at 17th and Washington is about to become a foodie oasis, its parking lot replaced with a landscaped courtyard and stage, and the surrounding level hosting a restaurant, bar and…
‘What Do We Tell Our Customers?’: Labor Shortage, Material Delays Hamper Home Construction
Demand for housing has skyrocketed during the pandemic, but homebuilders and remodelers haven’t caught up because of labor shortages and long wait times for raw materials, tripling the timeline of some housing projects.
curiousKC | A Homelessness Resources Guide
Here’s a brief housing and homelessness guide with information on seeking or giving help.
Three Regional Emmys Go To … Kansas City PBS
Kansas City PBS is the recipient of three regional Emmy awards for 2021.
Chartreuse Saloon Swings Open in East Crossroads
By Kevin Collison For a small town Nebraska native, Jill Cockson has a gift for creating sophisticated city watering holes, her latest being the Chartreuse Saloon at the corner of 17th and Oak in the East Crossroads. “My inspiration is drawn from the history of the saloon culture,” she said. “The old saloon culture brought…
City Affordable Housing Policy Criticized at Industry Apartment Summit
By Kevin Collison The affordable housing mandate approved by the City Council earlier this year has slowed project applications to a trickle despite robust growth in the overall metropolitan apartment industry, real estate professionals said Thursday. “In Kansas City, there are headwinds,” Jeff Stingley of CBRE told the audience attending the 2021 Kansas City Apartment…
Vacant Lots, Absentee Owners, Little Accountability. What’s Going on With the Kansas City Land Bank?
The Kansas City Land Bank is supposed to revitalize neighborhoods. But a Beacon investigation found that the Land Bank has potential conflicts of interest between board members and buyers, and fails to hold buyers accountable to its own requirements. The result: Properties sit vacant for years.
Houseless In Kansas City
Flatland takes a look at how service providers, city officials and those experiencing homelessness are coming together to form both short and long-term solutions as winter approaches.
Revised Jamestown Square Plan Spares Building Tied to Truman
By Kevin Collison Harry Truman can relax, a small residential building in the Volker neighborhood he invested in briefly 100 years ago is safe now that developers of the proposed Jamestown Square apartment project have found a way to work around it. At a recent virtual briefing to the Volker Neighborhood Association, a representative of…