Great day in KC, something San Antonio needs
After a full day of basketball in Kansas City and a busy morning touring around a little bit, we have finally settled into the room to watch some more basketball and relax. The games are wild, especially the Pitt-ETSU game. I have Pitt going all the way. What was I thinking? Later we enjoy great BBQ here just down the street at Gates. Yesterday we ran across a great experience in downtown KC across from the Sprint Center called the Power & Light District. Within the district is an open air experience called KC Live!, a collection of restaurants, bars and shops surrounding a stage and courtyard. It is the happening place in KC this weekend.
Apparently this is not the only effort underway in Kansas City to rebuild the heart of the city. Another group known as the Urban Corps Group is working to enrich other parts of the city as well. The entire corridor of Main, Grand and Broadway from downtown to Country Club Plaza is going through changes with the latest area being the Crossroads area, a historic area just south of downtown. This area has a First Friday event very similar to San Antonio’s Southtown event. The difference is that the area has managed the growth of the event and business associated and is attracting residents and visitors into new condominiums and shops.
It appears Kansas City has been working on redevelopment of a midwest city into a vibrant center and destination. Kansas City has a plan for this growth and is in the process of executing this plan. The plan was started in 1992 under Mayor Emanuel Cleaver and maps out a strategy for the next 25 years. Even their transit system is involved in the plan with a series of Metro Area Express (MAX) buses that link the various development centers. The buses are clean and each stop has updated information regarding the status and arrival of the next bus.
If you have an interest in urban revitalization and planning I strongly encourage you dig deeper into the Kansas City FOCUS plan and see what they have been working on. I can tell you that from what I have seen this plan is not shelfware but is in active development with the results being experienced this weekend with the NCAA 1st/2nd Rounds at the Sprint Center.
Why is this important to San Antonio? A lot of it has to do with our upcoming mayoral and city council elections. San Antonio is on the verge of either a great rennaisance or dropping into mediocrity. Personally I think we have gone through a series of years where we have been biding time living on the laurels of prior vision. Mayor Hardberger made some strides to helping rebuild San Antonio but his time was cut short by term limits that limited him to only four years of service. Kansas City charter provides for up to eight years of service, something San Antonio is finally at par with after the November election.
Last year on July 4th Julian Castro wrote an open letter to the Express-News calling for a new city plan, pointing out that it has been 25 years since the inception of the Target 90 plan. In the letter he mapped out needs for business and economic development as well as development of a skilled workforce and enhancing the quality of our neighborhoods. This was many months before announcing his candidacy for mayor of San Antonio.
After seeing what I have seen in Kansas City it is apparent San Antonio needs a new plan as Castro has called for. We have a disjointed environment in San Antonio that has led to haphazard development and growth. We have transit issues that need addressing. We have business and economic develpment that should be dealt with now. We have many needs that a plan can help address. After seeing what I have seen in Kansas City this week it is pretty apparent the naysayers in San Antonio have no relevance. I have seen a city that is moving forward thanks to a plan. It’s time for San Antonio to do the same or accept mediocrity.
It’s time for San Antonio to build a vision much like Kansas City has done.
