The city aims to make its streets more walkable and reduce traffic violence by investing in sidewalks and other safety improvements.
Last month, Kansas City adopted a Vision Zero plan that pedestrian advocates hope will be a step toward making the city safer and more walkable. According to an article by Mili Mansaray for KCUR, “Residents complain about missing and poorly marked crosswalks and crumbling sidewalks.” The city’s walkability score, as defined by Walkscore.com, sits at 35 out of 100.
“We as a city, like most American cities, rely on design standards and other rules that do not prioritize pedestrians and other vulnerable road users,” said Michael Kelley, the policy director of BikeWalkKC. And, like other cities, Kansas City has seen a sharp rise in pedestrian deaths in the last decade, with communities of color disproportionately affected by traffic violence. “Smart Growth America reports that older adults were also struck and killed at much higher rates than other populations in 2020.”
Now, the city plans to implement more safety improvements and prioritize the communities that need them most through an $900 million infrastructure plan approved by voters in 2017, Go KC. “Through the Go KC bond program, the city will spend $7.5 million on sidewalks every year. Of that, $5.5 million will be used for sidewalks, and $2 million will be used on improvements to make streets safer for people with disabilities, such as curb ramps and colorful sidewalk bumps.”
Advocates are calling on the city to update its 2003 Walkability Plan and devote more resources to prioritizing pedestrians and other non-driving modes on the city’s roads and reconnecting communities cut off from resources by urban renewal projects.
FULL STORY: Can Kansas City park its cars and become more walkable?
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
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