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The current issue of the Urban Times, Kansas City’s culture, news and entertainment, mag, has a piece describing the development strategy for the metro area. The current boom downtown poses a problem which the plan aims to address:

Kansas City has quickly become a cosmopolitan-like city with entertainment being a central focus. All the new high-end places to live for urban dwellers are evidence that the city is open to drawing a new type of resident-one that appreciates the urban environment and-for convenience sake-wants to live close to work and benefit from the new amenities downtown.

But this type of explosive growth says little for the city’s neighborhoods located both in and on the fringe of Kansas City’s urban renaissance. New arenas, performing arts facilities, and the influx of new urban residents have an impact on the people who live or operate small businesses in surrounding
neighborhoods.

Main gist: The development approach gives KC’s urban neighborhoods leeway to cater to their distinctive histories and flavors while building on the current growth trends.

If you live in or near downtown Kansas City, you know that there’s a ton of development going on. But you may not realize the full extent… Constructor Magazine:

“Kansas City is experiencing a construction boom the relative scope of which we have not seen since the pioneer days,” says Don Greenwell, executive director of AGC Kansas City. In the core city area bounded on the north by the Missouri River, approximately $4.5 billion of construction has been completed or is in various stages of development.

See also Constructor’s piece on the Sprint Center (which I’m hoping will draw NCAA Tourney games in the near future):

At the center of the rebirth sits the bedazzling new Sprint Center, an eye-popping jewel in Kansas City’s newly polished crown. Designed as a see-through building, the $276-million sports and entertainment venue is intended to be viewed from the inside out.

The article states that the Sprint Center “will” host an NBA team. However, to my knowledge that’s not true at this point. Unless the Constructor folks are privy to behind-closed-doors talks with NBA owners…here’s hoping.

Anyway, seems like the ball is rolling as far as downtown Kansas City goes, and may keep rolling for awhile.

HT: Kevin Cawley.