urbanSTL

Don't hold your breath with massive federal funding cuts on the horizon

Auggie wrote: ↑

Mar 12, 2025

Chris Stritzel wrote: ↑

Mar 12, 2025

Fares should be brought back on the busses. All the busses do now is shuffle the homeless and mentally ill around 90% of the time. 10% of the time is actually moving people around who need to use the bus to get around. This has caused a serious quality of ridership decline. Put a fare back in place and this issue will decline and ridership will likely increase as passengers will know there’s less of a chance to deal with someone who might just ruin their ride.

When I lived in KCMO, I used the bus often to go from Downtown to the Plaza or Waldo. The number of times someone was having an episode, stinking up the bus, or asking for money was insane.

You aren't still in KC? Where do you live now?

I still live in the KC Metro Area, just on the Kansas side now.

Some of the world's top architects are competing to build an expansion at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.

https://www.archpaper.com/2025/03/nelso ... proposals/

Despite construction rolling along for a while now, the KC Current, Palmer Square, Marquee Development, PortKC and others celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony today for the 1st phase of the KC Current's mixed-use development at Berkley Park. This phase of the project includes 429 apartments, 48,000sf of retail, 2+ acres of riverfront gathering space, and hidden parking. 

Chris Stritzel wrote: ↑

Mar 26, 2025

Despite construction rolling along for a while now, the KC Current, Palmer Square, Marquee Development, PortKC and others celebrated a groundbreaking ceremony today for the 1st phase of the KC Current's mixed-use development at Berkley Park. This phase of the project includes 429 apartments, 48,000sf of retail, 2+ acres of riverfront gathering space, and hidden parking. 

That is an amazing looking project, probably one of the best multi-building mixed use I have seen. Good for our western neighbors 

I’ve been in Kc for a work function since Monday, all of the time spent at the Sheraton at crown center plus walking to downtown and crossroads for dinner.   My honest and fair assessment of downtown Kc is its downtown STL minus about 10,000,000 people that come to Union Station, arch, city museum, cardinals, blues, city sc and battlehawks and then from that point you can add about 10% more activity  vs downtown STL.

^To be fair, you took those pictures in the morning. The first half of the week is usually quiet. When I lived in Downtown KC, there was a steady flow of people in the evenings. Not huge crowds, but not desolate sidewalks.

This was around 8:00am. I walked from Sheraton to get breakfast at HomeGrown and then did a loop around downtown

One thing I did like is that their non-ballpark ballpark village has all external facing restaurants and bars, BPV here would look much better if that was the case for all of the businesses there and if it was 1 story with a pedestrian way in the middle (which still may be the case if it’s fully developed)

Both DT KC and STL suck relatively speaking in the national picture but the difference is most STL people know our DT has faults and have a level head about its position. KC people think genuinely Downtown KC is booming and also throw shade at ours, I live here (for now) and get the anti-STL sniping all the time, it borders on delusion. Downtown KC is probably the quietest major Downtown I've been to in terms of foot traffic, its totally dead. The only other Downtown I've been to thats close in a metro over 1m is probably Jacksonville. They need that ballpark so badly and the development it can bring, and our Downtown actually still has some major attractions like the Sports venues and the Arch, they have T-Mobile without an anchor and not much else, both cities have nice historic railway stations I guess. I don't know if its the Chiefs success or whatever but theres a lot of misplaced arrogance in KC in terms of its national importance. Maybe because of its geographical isolation from other major metros the locals don't get a chance to visit large cities too often, but urban KC sucks and if you were used to being in big cities you would not be impressed by it. That last photo you took in the Crossroads DB down from the scientology building on Grand, that area is an embarrassment, so many run down buildings and surface lots.

I feel the bar mall setup at BPV hasn't aged well and sucks in terms of street interaction, however anytime I am in the area even without sports games or events its still ticking over.

I can’t believe anyone was against bulldozing all that and putting in a royals stadium.

KC's a nice place, and its growing, at least. But yeah, the Chiefs frenzy (along with that annoying Kelsey/Swift romance) have surely given them a bigger lift than is perhaps deserved. 

KC's downtown is pretty nice and has decent activity, but I would argue that is more because their downtown is smack dab between the thriving River Market and the Crossroads. Despite their insane ring of interstate highways, their downtown is just better connected to it's surrounding neighborhoods. The streetcar helps a ton as well.

KC also has a few large vacant buildings but they aren't in as high profile locations as downtown STL.

There's only a few things about KC I'm jealous of.

First is their PR. The way some STL haters act you'd think it's a Charlotte or Nashville type boomtown. It's not.

I'm also jealous of how the West Bottoms district has emerged as an under the radar hipster place. Would LOVE for that to be a model for Near North STL east of Broadway.

Baltimore Jack wrote: ↑

Mar 28, 2025

There's only a few things about KC I'm jealous of.

First is their PR. The way some STL haters act you'd think it's a Charlotte or Nashville type boomtown. It's not.

I'm also jealous of how the West Bottoms district has emerged as an under the radar hipster place. Would LOVE for that to be a model for  Near North STL east of Broadway.

That's already happening.  Mississippi Underground is drawing bigger crowds than any nightclub/bar in StL.  This follows a typical pattern for emerging districts.

STLinCHI wrote: ↑

Mar 28, 2025

Baltimore Jack wrote: ↑

Mar 28, 2025

There's only a few things about KC I'm jealous of.

First is their PR. The way some STL haters act you'd think it's a Charlotte or Nashville type boomtown. It's not.

I'm also jealous of how the West Bottoms district has emerged as an under the radar hipster place. Would LOVE for that to be a model for  Near North STL east of Broadway.

That's already happening.  Mississippi Underground is drawing bigger crowds than any nightclub/bar in StL.  This follows a typical pattern for emerging districts.

Not sure about the crowds but I know they have a healthy flow of events. Would like to see more development in that area to really feel like it's an "emerging district".

Yeah if you've been to The Ship in KC West Bottoms that's the sort of place pur near north riverfront could use.

The Ship is awesome. This kind of use would be ideal for the ground level of Choutaeu's Landing as well IMO. The trains and highway make it way too loud for residential but would be perfect for a late night techno club. Close enough to be walkable from Downtown hotels too

https://www.kctv5.com/2025/04/03/kansas ... n-running/

Looks like the City of Kansas City is bailing out KCATA to keep service running for 6 more months without cuts. Good on KC. Literally saving thousands of people from having to find some alternative way to get around.

Fiserv adding a regional HQ and fintech innovation hub in KC. 2,000 new jobs at the Aspiria office complex. Nashville, Texas, Arizona, and So. Florida were also evaluated.

Kansas City earns a D on its financial grade card. Taxpayers are on the hook

Truth In Accounting analyzed Kansas City’s 2023 financial report and concluded the city needs $1.6 billion more than it has to meet all its obligations. Those obligations include its unfunded pension liabilities. That shortfall works out to $8,800 per resident.

https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/read ... 62806.html

STL is a D as well, I definitely thought we were in a better position financially lately. At least that is what the messaging has been.

Its definitely improved since 2020 from $15,000 per to $9,800   

^^ the report notes STL City's condition improved but Kansas City deteriorated. But STL City has been moving up from more of a cellar dweller status so it;s still firmly in the D category.  Both cities also are based off of 2023 financial reporting and not 2024 as some others which had more timely reporting.