News & Issues
Stories from around the Kansas City Metro area on a variety of topics.
Union Station Adding Soaring Sculpture to Downtown Skyline
Editor’s Update: Union Station announced over the weekend the “Reflecting Motion” sculpture experienced significant damage during a freak thunderstorm with high winds last Wednesday and is being removed as of today (July 15). The dramatic floating sculpture had been scheduled to be displayed through Labor Day Weekend. Since its opening May 18, it had attracted…
Neighborhood Cleanup Removes Tons of Trash From Kansas City’s East Side
Just imagine what $1.5 billion would do for blight on Kansas City’s East Side. Well, if Bill Drummond had his way, the city would make sprucing up neighborhoods as big a financial priority as the billion-dollar-plus project to replace Kansas City International Airport. Drummond, a volunteer from the Manheim Park, an urban core neighborhood, spoke…
Restoring Residential Density by Embracing the ‘City’ in Kansas City
GUEST COMMENTARY By Kevin Klinkenberg An expert is someone that lives more than 30 miles away, so it’s said. Since I’ve spent about nine years living much more than 30 miles away from Kansas City, I suppose that’s made me a bona fide expert. In my last piece, I wrote about the excitement and positive…
Troost Restaurants Strive, Thrive and Help Revive Downtown Neighborhood
By Jill Wendholt Silva Thelma’s Kitchen is a non-profit, pay-what-you-can café. Ruby Jean’s is a for-profit juicery. What do these two businesses have in common? Try food, an address near 31st and Troost on the edge of greater downtown and a people-centered approach to urban redevelopment. “What we need in order to have a resilient…
How Did Trails West Influence The Growth of Westport?
Gary Jenkins, an expert on Kansas City’s mob history, lives near a sign that denotes the crossing of the Oregon and California trails. That piqued his interest, so he asked curiousKC to find out how the city developed along the early trails.
Beliefs Ease Strain of Rime Buddhist Center Financial Struggles
In early March, the winter-brown grass on the vacant lot at the northwest corner of 30th Street and Highland in Kansas City reflected the harsh winter weather that pummeled the city for several months. It looked beaten, exhausted, almost breathless. But this land is where the Rime (pronounced REE-may) Buddhist Center has placed its long-term…
Thirsty? Your Hoppy Guide to the Downtown KC Craft Beer Scene
(Editor’s note: This post was last updated Jan. 28, 2022) By Brian McTavish Kansas City’s downtown craft beer scene traces its hoppy roots back to Nov. 17, 1989. That’s the date John McDonald, founder of Boulevard Brewing, delivered his first keg of Pale Ale to Ponak’s Mexican Kitchen just a few blocks down the road…
Next Kansas City Mayor Needs to Keep the Line Moving Downtown
COMMENTARY After decades of neglect, downtown is relevant again to the metro and that’s vital not only for the well-being of our city as it competes nationally for talent and investment, but for its nearby neighborhoods as well, particularly the East Side. Back in 2002, when The Kansas City Star, did an important series on downtown…
Meet Some of the KC Mayoral Candidates You Might Not Know
When Kansas City PBS and the Kansas City Public Library co-hosted a Kansas City mayoral forum, the two organizations limited participation to candidates that had reached at least 5 percent support in one independent public opinion poll prior to the March 20. Three candidates in the 11-person field did not meet that threshold. But those…
Flatland’s New Look And The Joy of Curiosity
You might have noticed that things look a little different around Flatland. That’s because we just debuted our new homepage. It’s the end result of months of work by our team (thanks to all, but particularly Jirrod, Taylor and Karen) and comes on the heels of a long listening campaign where we asked folks in…