|
CREATIVE CITY NEWSLETTER: NOVEMBER
2003
ISSUE 9: DESIGN AND PLANNING
ISSUE IN FOCUS
NEWS YOU CAN USE
CREATIVE CORNER
CREATIVE
CITY COMMUNITIES
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
UPCOMING
EVENTS
CREATIVE CITY COMMUNITIES: What HAVE they
been up to?
KANSAS CITY
New
Housing Strategy
Downtown
Economic Stimulus Act
Downtown
Streetscape Plan
Return to Creative
Cities Page >>
Message from the Mayor, September 12,
2003
Today, I’d like to provide an update on one of my priorities
and one of Kansas City’s biggest success stories over
the last few years: our intense focus on housing development
across the city.
Our housing strategy has been designed
to preserve existing housing units and to encourage new housing
construction, with a particular focus on urban core and downtown
housing. It calls on all levels of government and the private
and non-profit sectors to work together to achieve major housing
objectives, including:
- Rehabilitation and/or construction of 10,000 housing
units in the River-Crown-Plaza area by 2010.
- Preservation of at-risk and vacant buildings within downtown
and Kansas City’s urban core neighborhoods.
- Rebuilding the Kansas City Housing Authority’s stock
and transitioning control of the Authority to a locally
appointed board of commissioners.
- Helping 500 renters achieve the security that comes with
homeownership and fostering homeownership among woman-headed
households.
I’m pleased to report that we’ve made solid strides
toward achieving these objectives. In fact more than 5,000
housing units have been completed or are under construction
in the River-Crown-Plaza as of April 2003, already surpassing
the five-year goal for new housing units I set less than three
years ago, and representing more than $500 million in private
and public investment in Kansas City’s urban core.
A significant portion of this growth, more than $366 million
in total investments, is occurring in the area from the Missouri
River on the north to 31st Street on the south. Since late
2002, 426 units have been completed, and more than 800 units
are under construction, including 172 units of affordable
housing. Since 1999, more than a dozen vacant buildings downtown
have been redeveloped into residential units and commercial
space.
More public housing units have also been constructed. As
of September 2003, the Kansas City Housing Authority has rehabilitated
or built 1,911 units, representing a 30 percent increase in
the number of public housing units in the city. After operating
for nearly a decade under court-mandated receivership, the
Housing Authority has been granted local control. In March
2002, I appointed a seven-member board of commissioners, which
is at work carrying out the authority’s mission to promote
and expand the supply of affordable rental and homeownership
opportunities in our community.
In an effort to help more residents become home owners,
the City and Heart of America Family Services have established
a $1 million Individual
Development Account (IDA) fund, which uses city, federal and
private funds to assist residents with purchasing a home. Families
agree to save regularly and attend financial literacy classes
and in return, their savings are matched by IDA funds with the
goal of accumulating a down payment for a home. To date, the
City-sponsored IDAs have helped more than 250 individuals become
homeowners or establish financial independence, and we hope
to increase that number to 500.
I have also worked with Fannie Mae, the McAuley Institute,
the Association of Professional Mortgage Women and local community
development agencies to increase economic security for woman-headed
households by making more homes affordable and accessible
to women. This partnership has provided new tools for homeownership
counseling, affordable finance and mortgage products, and
targeted outreach to potential women homeowners in specific
neighborhoods. In the metropolitan area since 2001, more than
9,000 women have been able to finance their first home through
this initiative.
These are just a few examples of the solid progress we’re
making toward our housing goals city wide. The state of the
housing market in Kansas City, Missouri is sound and responding
to the increased demand for housing for all our citizens.
As a member of the Fannie Mae National Advisory Council
and U.S. Conference of Mayors Community Development and Housing
Standing Committee, I continue to work with leaders throughout
the country who are also trying to expand the resources available
for housing and provide input on national and state housing
policies. These experiences have affirmed my belief that housing
is one of the most important parts of our local and national
economy.
Acceptable housing is an essential building block of healthy
neighborhoods, and has much to do with shaping the quality
of life in a community. An improvement in housing has been
linked to improvements in schools, community safety, transportation,
and job access. We will continue our efforts on this important
priority for Kansas City!
Kay Barnes
Message from the Mayor, May 12, 2003
By now you have probably heard that
the legislation we’ve been promoting for two years, the
Missouri Downtown Economic Stimulus Act (MODESA) was approved
unanimously by both houses of the Missouri General Assembly
last Friday, and Governor Holden has said that he will sign
the bill. I think it is worth reiterating how big a victory
this is for Kansas City and the entire state of Missouri.
MODESA will provide us leverage we’ve never before had
to attract new businesses into Kansas City’s downtown.
Its passage represents an enormous step in our continuing downtown
revitalization efforts. It helps us solve a number of the problems
that have served as detriments to developing in downtown Kansas
City. By redirecting a portion of state sales and income tax
revenue generated by new development back into the project for
public infrastructure improvements, a qualifying project might,
for example, use the incremental revenue to construct a public
parking garage that it might not otherwise have the budget to
build. This parking dilemma has been a hurdle to downtown development.
We have already created new momentum in downtown over the
last few years, particularly with the addition of more than
5,000 new housing units. MODESA now will build on that momentum
so that we will more quickly be able to address other pressing
revitalization needs: retail outlets such as grocery stores,
and a wide array of restaurant and entertainment options to
complement our convention center.
I’d like to thank all the members of the Missouri General
Assembly for supporting this legislation. I would particularly
like to thank Representative Tom Dempsey, Speaker Catherine
Hanaway, Senator Sarah Steeleman, Senator Jim Mathewson, Senate
President Peter Kinder, and all of our Kansas City delegation
for the work they did to pass this legislation.
I look forward to working with the Greater Downtown Development
Authority over the next few months to craft a plan for utilizing
this new tool. This is yet another victory for downtown Kansas
City!
Kay Barnes
Reported By: Donovan Mouton, Director of Urban Affairs,
City of Kansas City
Downtown Streetscape Plan selection committee
to interview candidates
In an effort to create an arts center,
urban residential projects, public library and mend an interstate
highway, Kansas City’s public streetscape project will
need $700 million and the communities backing.
View
article >>
Return to
Creative Cities Page >>
|
