Prairie Village Community Improvement District

Prairie Village has approved a 1% sales tax increase in only the Village Shops at Prairie Village and Corinth Shopping District to fund the Community Improvement District that will renovate the two shopping districts.

You can see the proposed improvements here on pages 43 and 97. There are some pedestrian-oriented improvements that will be integrated. The crosswalks will be emphasized more in the Village Shops center. The Corinth center will have a new courtyard for pedestrians to mill about and relax. Bike racks will be included and both developments will be integrated with a proposed trail.

Still, it strikes me as a missed opportunity. Both developments will still be areas to drive to and park, rather than centers that residents can walk to from their homes, despite the fact that Prairie Village can boast a sizeable biking and walking population. No parking is being reduced despite the fact that neither center has its lots much more than half full. Parking still lines Mission Road, which should be a walkable, pedestrian-friendly road that connects the two centers together.

City Councilmembers have emphasized wanting to preserve a "village"-type atmosphere for Prairie Village, and this will be a long-term development that will take decades (the tax runs for twenty-two years). My hope is that over time, as the economy recovers, the CID will be able to make more dramatic changes that fundamentally alter the auto-centric layout of the development and foster a more walkable community in Prairie Village.

Sanders Lays Out Commuter Rail Specifics

Jackson County executive Mike Sanders unveiled more specifics on his proposed commuter rail plan that would be able to take commuters from as far as Blue Springs all the way to Union Station.

Six lines in Jackson, Clay, Platte and Wyandotte counties would converge at Union Station. The system would operate 16 hours a day, mainly to get people to and from work but also to the airport, big sporting events and major shopping areas. The trains would scoot along at up to 70 mph and have amenities such as Wi-Fi. “Put your bicycle on there if you want to,” Terry said.

Terry puts the price tag at slightly more than $1 billion – less than $8 million per mile, far lower than systems in other cities – mostly because 70 percent of it uses tracks or old rail corridors that are already in place and are underused or not used at all. The line through Independence, Blue Springs and Grain Valley, for example, would use Kansas City Southern tracks that currently handle only five trains daily – four of them at night.

Its also interesting they note that the price tag - while large - is less than a third of what it would cost to expand I-70 by one lane. 

I applaud Mike Sanders for using his political capital on such a project. While it has its flaws, its one of the most serious mass transit proposals this metro area has seen, and he is actually going out and winning support for it, rather than letting others do the heavy lifting.

Its also embarrassing that Johnson County refuses to participate in this.

MoBikeFed Hosts Bike Safety Course

MoBikeFed will be holding a Traffic Skills 101 course to educate bicycle riders on bicycle safety tips, including "bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student text book."

Bicyclists can do their part by becoming safer, more aware riders who legally follow traffic signals. But it will also take drivers becoming safer, more aware drivers who legally follow traffic signals if we can avoid awful incidents like this one. Integrating bicycle safety and rules on bicycles as part of driver's education courses may not be a bad idea in getting drivers to at least acknowledge sharing the road.

MARC Presentation on Sustainable Communities

MARC continues its 2010 Leadership Series with a presentation from Sarah James a city planner and author of the book "The Natural Step of Communities: How Cities and Towns Can Change to Sustainable Practices."
  
Participants will learn:

• What is and is not sustainable
• Why a project-by-project approach is not enough
• How broad participation in sustainable change makes a difference
• How to bring about comprehensive community sustainability
• Cost savings through sustainable development

 James will speak Friday, October 8 from 8-10 a.m. at the Sylvester Powell Center in Mission, Kansas.

Kansas City Seeks Input on Street and Traffic Plans

Just a reminder from Let's Go KC, that the city of Kansas City is seeking public input on its street and traffic plans.

Stop by one of these open houses to voice your opinion, all from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
North Community Center on Monday, Sept. 20.
Tony Aguirre Community Center on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
Gregg/Klice Community Center on Wednesday, Sept. 29.
Line Creek Community Center on Thursday, Sept 30.
Marlborough Community Center on Tuesday, Oct. 5.
Hillcrest Community Center on Thursday, Oct. 7.

The Pitch: KC's Bus Service is Pretty Lousy

The Pitch steps up this week with a pretty decent expose on how the city continues to raid the coffers of the Kansas City Area Transit Authority to the tune of $5.4 million, over one-sixth of the tax revenues generated by the 0.5 percent sales tax that is supposed to be dedicated to public transit.

By any name, it keeps growing. The city's 18.3-percent cut follows a pattern of steady increases. In the 2003-04 fiscal year, the city kept only 4.6 percent of the sales tax....

An accountant by training, Rogers has put together a spreadsheet indicating that the city has withheld $22 million from the ATA during the past eight years.

We keep hearing how Kansas City should not build a light rail because people don't even use the bus system. Well people aren't going to use the bus system if its perpetually underfunded, inconvenient, and doesn't go everywhere riders need it to go.

It also begs the question of whether the KCATA might be better of serving as its own political unit, raising its own funding through a sales tax where it can keep all of its revenues, and being the truly regional authority it needs to be for this to be a healthy metro area.

Public Transit Helps You Lose Weight

Its always been a theory among transit advocates that if you implement a successful transit line, a welcome effect is a healthier populace. Well now there is evidence to support that claim as seen in a study of the Charlotte, North Carolina metro area.

Increasing the availability of public transit systems is one among a number of modifications to the built environment that offers opportunities for increasing physical activity and reducing the prevalence of obesity and its associated problems. In a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University and the RAND Corporation found that construction of a light-rail system (LRT) resulted in increased physical activity (walking) and subsequent weight loss by people served by the LRT. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood environments and increasing the public's use of LRT systems could improve health outcomes and potentially impact millions of individuals.

In this age of spiraling health care costs and and an alarming rise in obesity among younger generations, it makes sense for public policy to encourage people to get off their duff, walk out their door, and walk down the street.