Several planning efforts are in the process to rethink Washington Square Park in Downtown Kansas City. In an already bustling part of Downtown, stakeholders are considering the changes ahead of a forthcoming influx of daytime working population.
Most of the year, Washington Square Park in Kansas City is “a sanctuary for birds and squirrels,” writes Lynn Horsley. “For a few days each year, it is filled with people as the start and end point for the Kansas City Marathon and as a main staging area for Irish Fest. But most days, it’s woefully underused and…just a place to walk through...”
According to Horsely’s article, the city’s parks board has begun the process of rethinking the space by approving a $49,000 contract with Minneapolis-based Coen + Partners.
In a separate article, Rob Roberts provides more background on the city’s initial efforts to revamp the park. “Two years ago, the [the Kansas City parks and Recreation Department], in collaboration with the Downtown Council of Kansas City's Green Space Committee, hired the Kansas City Design Center to generate a vision study for green and civic spaces within the Greater Downtown Area Plan boundaries.” That study has involved graduate students from Kansas University and Kansas State, and will result in a master plan.
“Meanwhile, Union Station has engaged VanTrust Real Estate LLC to study development options for 5 acres of surface parking it owns between the northern edge of Washington Square Park and the Union Station rail yard.” The General Services Administration will soon relocate 900 employees to a location adjacent to Union Station, which is driving some of the incentive to renovate the park.
FULL STORY: Kansas City has dreams of transforming little-used Washington Square Park

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Montreal Mall to Become 6,000 Housing Units
Place Versailles will be transformed into a mixed-use complex over the next 25 years.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions