Car-Dependent Kansas City

Urban Land Institute president Patrick L. Phillips says his hometown of Kansas City needs to mend its car-centric infrastructure and encourage denser growth in the suburbs.

1 minute read

July 27, 2010, 9:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


Phillips cites data from the Center for Neighborhood Technology measuring the expense of housing and transportation for households:

"...on average, Kansas City residents were spending 23 percent of their income on housing but 33 percent on transportation, for a combined total of 56 percent. In fact, Kansas City transportation costs in proportion to residents' incomes were among the highest in the study, exceeding New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C."

"The data also show the extent of Kansas City's car dependency: Most of the area's residents drive an average of more than 18,000 miles per year for work and errands (nearly twice the national average)..."

Saturday, July 24, 2010 in The Kansas City Star

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