The latest issue of the KC Urban Times makes an argument, albeit a mostly emotional one, that KC citizens should vote for the latest Light Rail Proposal on November 4. I think you could build a more compelling argument by bringing in some environmental and economical statistics and $$ figures, rather than calling for KC to lose its “cowtown mindset” (haha)–nevertheless, I am on board with the new public transport deal, which is arguably the first one that’s actually been feasible. (The KC Star has a helpful article on the Light Rail issue.)
I think Light Rail, slated to run from Vivion Road (North) to 63rd Street (South) would help move Kansas City’s downtown renaissance forward. Call me an optimist.
And while I’m on the topic of things I’d like to see happen downtown, let me say that it’s high time I acquired one of these:
Perfect for getting around downtown, amazing fuel economy…and would probably bump my cool factor up a notch too. Clearly, I need to make some connections at Vespa of Kansas City.
Making progress through Andy Crouch’s Culture Making, which is proving to be a fantastic read.
Reading some authors is like scanning a blank wall with occasional windows. Reading Crouch is like walking through a fully furnished downtown loft with picture windows that open on the Missouri River and urban arts district (showing my KC bias there). Point is, Andy Crouch can flat out write.
Culture Making is not that book you “read for content.” Some authors make the occasional good point. A few authors do it with personality. And a mere handful write with consistent insight, voice, and artistry. Crouch is in that minuscule group, and the fact that he’s writing about cultures, creativity, and the arts makes it extraordinarily appropriate.
OK, I’ll stop raving. Here’s a piece from chapter 2:
The fact that I can give you a fairly complete description of the Gryphon Cafe depends on its participation in a broader culture, one that includes coffee shops, ponytails, realtors and bourgeois bohemians. But the culture of the Gryphon Cafe—the things it makes of the world, the horizons of possibility it creates within its walls, the new culture that its denizens make in response—is not exactly like any other coffee shop. The Gryphon Cafe is not just making something of the vast world of coffee or the current boom in “third places” all over America fueld by Starbucks; it is also making something of the lovely building it inhabits at the corner of Wayne and Lancaster Avenues, of local artists who hand their work on its walls, of the availability of artfully scruffy twenty-somethings who somehow can afford to live in an affluent community on barista’s wages.
Great book, and very helpful in exegeting an urban context like Kansas City.
Last night Lindsay and I had the privilege of hosting Scott and Sharlain Donahue for dinner at our place, and talking ad nauseum about church planting. Scott and Charlane are currently living in Oklahoma, and are seriously thinking about moving back to KC, MO to plant a church somewhere in the metro area. Their journey toward church planting has some similarities to our own, and it was great to hear the story.
Aside: I’m realizing this is one reason people involved in church planting like to hang out together—it’s kind of like listening to yourself talk and then saying, “Yeah, that’s exactly right, dude.”
With 5.2 billion invested in development, over 500,000 people in the metro area and 2 million in greater KC, this area needs dozens of new churches. The cool thing is, I’m aware of at least a half dozen working to get off the ground right now. Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 Southern Baptist plants, a couple non-denominational, one Lutheran, and one Acts 29.
One thing that gets me pumped is the prospect of cooperating with like-minded people who get the gospel, love Jesus, love the city, to help KC get a renewed vision for who Christ is. There’s every reason that should be a group effort.
Good post from J. Dodson on what he calls “Urbanolatry“:
Much has been made of the “City” of late. On the global scale, over half of the world’s population inhabits cities and urban migration is on the rise. Stateside, burgeoning New Urbanism coupled with a minority of urban-focused evangelicals is generating a growing interest in urban life. The new urban mantra is: “live, work, and play in the city…”
Nevertheless, obsessing about the goodness of urban living can blind us to lessons we might learn from rural lifestyles.
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.
