News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
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…
Winter is Coming: The Unhoused Still Seeking Solutions in KC
Here’s what you need to know about the housing crisis as the homeless and unsheltered community in Kansas City braces for winter.
Gillham Bike Path Nears Completion from Cleaver to Crossroads
By Kevin Collison After years of coasting when it comes to shielding cyclists, the city is racing to finish its longest protected bike path to date, a 3 1/2 mile, north-south route along Gillham Road from near Cleaver Boulevard to the East Crossroads. The completion of the Gillham route, already the city’s longest protected bike…
New Age of Homeownership: Young Professionals Share First-hand Experiences in the Housing Market
Some young people looking to buy homes in a red-hot market are teaming up to make it work financially. Others are simply choosing to wait.