by Mary Wilson
City Manager Troy Schulte, who has supported the South
Kansas City Alliance from the beginning of the organization, spoke with members
on Monday, November 9. He began by talking about the Royals Victory parade,
held on November 3, with over 800,000 people in attendance.
“It was a terrific event,” said Schulte. “I have gotten
calls from colleagues all over the country and as far away as Australia asking
how we pulled that off.”
Schulte said, “That’s how we do things in Kansas City.” It
is a testimony to the city, he added, that will pay dividends down the road.
“I just wanted to come down to South Kansas City to say
thank you and keep doing what you’re doing,” said Schulte. “Whatever is in the
water down here is working.”
According to Schulte, seventy-eight percent of
non-residential permitting activity in Kansas City has occurred in the
southland.
“This area is hot, and what we have to do as a city is keep
that momentum going,” he said.
Plans that were put in place a couple of years ago are
starting to come to fruition. Richards-Gebaur, which was struggling for
redevelopment for some time, will see movement with the announcement of Sioux
Chief’s relocation from Cass County. Along with further development along 87th
Street, Oxford on the Blue, Cerner, Centerpoint and others, the southern part
of Kansas City is seeing the bulk of development announcements.
“There is a tremendous amount of activity going on down in
the southern part of the city,” said Schulte. “It is really the engine that is
driving the city as a whole.”
Schulte added that while the projects may not get a lot of
attention from a press standpoint, like the streetcar or downtown convention
center, the jobs and true economic prosperity are happening in South Kansas
City. He is looking at next steps to keep development momentum going.
“We need to build off of the gains that we’re seeing out
here,” said Schulte, “and augment the quality of life issue.”
One thing in particular Schulte is looking to accomplish is
to wipeout the dangerous buildings. According to Schulte, there are seventeen
dangerous buildings in the 6th District boundaries of Kansas City,
primarily clustered in the Ruskin area. In comparison, there are three-hundred
in the 3rd District boundaries. Schulte said the focus has been on
targeted areas.
“Next year, we’ll target that Ruskin area,” said Schulte.
“We’re also looking for feedback from the neighborhoods on where we can do some
targeted code enforcement.”
Around the larger projects, the city is looking at taking
care of some quality of life issues, with the dangerous buildings being a
priority. Schulte has found results with an aggressive code enforcement program
to help give a push to property owners to bring their properties up to code.
“These targeted enforcements have really paid dividends,”
said Schulte. “It can drive some of those problem property owners out of
business and they’ll sell and get the homes into hands that are more
productive.”
For example, in a different part of the city, Schulte and
his team focused on a four-block area and opened 350 cases. Within sixty days,
150 of those homes had been abated.
“With all this job creation and economic development, I want
people to invest back into these neighborhoods,” said Schulte.
He added that single-family homeowners would be the best way
to fix the education issues the southland is facing, specifically Hickman
Mills.
“To have people with incomes buying these houses, and
getting them out of rental properties would pay off,” said Schulte. “I’m
looking forward to working with the South Kansas City Alliance in identifying
areas where we can get the most bang for our buck.”
This approach has worked reasonably well in other parts of
the city, and according to Schulte, it should work in South Kansas City as
well.
“There are a lot of great things going on in terms of South
Kansas City and economic development,” said Schulte.
He added that the conversations regarding rail access in the
southland are happening. They are working on plans to get rail south of
downtown and through Brookside and Waldo.
“There is certainly a demand out here around Oxford on the
Blue and the Cerner project for light rail,” said Schulte. “We as a city have
got to foster that need and figure out a way to get that from a connectivity
standpoint.”
While it wouldn’t have solved all of the city’s issues
moving 800,000 people in and out of downtown for the Royals Victory parade,
Schulte stated that more transit options would have been helpful. The city
commandeered 400 buses to move people from the outlying areas into downtown
Kansas City. According to Schulte, 10,000 people were still waiting for buses
at the remote locations at the parade start time.
“We had plenty of buses, we just couldn’t get through the
traffic congestion in downtown Kansas City,” said Schulte. “Having another
long-term transportation issue, from a logistics issue, in another thirty years
we might be better prepared for it.”
Schulte added that he was pleased to see Cerner’s plans from
a campus-approach to development, with their own exit and entrance onto I-435,
have been abandoned due to cost issues. Cerner is now looking at ways to fully
utilize the existing Bannister and 87th Street access points.
“That will then be able to support additional retail and
commercial activity along those corridors,” said Schulte.
With all the good things happening in South Kansas City,
Schulte said his job is to make sure that the City keeps the momentum going.
“That’s what‘s exciting about it,” Schulte. “We’re trying to
figure out how to reinvest in those corresponding neighborhoods around the
developments.”