Will this help or destory the Plaza? (Kansas City, St. Louis: condos, homes)

[moorlander]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I've been busy posting on other forums about this. This forum has such a suburban "soccermom" mentaility that it's far from the right place to discuss "urban" planning.

Yes, a very different feel than the StL board.

[Okey Dokie]

I had to laugh this morning when I read in the Star that now they are saying this isn't the final plan, that changes may be made.

Backtracking as good as any politician.

[kcmo]

Anybody listen to that interview with the CEO of PS on KCUR?

It was interesting. Nearly all the calls were from KCMO and the MO side burbs (all positive). A couple from Mission Hills (positive) and one call from Overland Park recommending the company move to Corporate Woods (not so positive).

When asked if he would move the firm to Kansas, he stated that a good friend of his was presently moving his company from the a long time Plaza location to OP because Kansas gave him 3 million dollars. He couldn't pass it up. So sad.

He stated he does not want to move to Kansas, but stopped short of saying he would never move there. KS did offer pretty substantial incentives to their firm he said.

I hope he stays in KCMO, sounds like a good company that wants to make KC better, they just need to go back to the drawing board with their plans and Highwoods needs to go. They are the problem, not the law firm.

It's interesting how KC has stepped up to save the balcony building and tower on the plaza. Where was KC when the Law Building and TWA building were demolished in Downtown KC?

It would be nice if KC had a fraction of the passion they do for 47th and Broadway that they could apply around other parts of the city, especially the CEO's of companies that continue to play KS against KCMO which creates only a loss loss situation for everybody...

[brewcrew1000]

I was at Town Center last night to watch a movie and noticed this new project called park place or something. This project just sickened me. It looks excatly the same as all these same type of projects in Dallas, Houston and other sun belt/lots of land type cities
You could basically say OP/Olathe Lenexa is turning into a Sun Belt City while the Urban Core is representing Upper Midwest towns

I have a feeling Karma will come back on the Kansas burbs, i don't know how, but i just have a feeling, it may not be in my generation but i have a feeling something will happen.

[aragx6]

I agree that the new parts of JoCo are very sun belt-y. Before I had seen much of KC I thought it was all like that based on my early experiences.

Whether or not there's some sort of karmic retribution coming to them is something I can't surmise, but it seems that the big draw for the sun belt is how new and shiny everything is. I've always wondered what happens when that is no longer the case.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by aragx6

I agree that the new parts of JoCo are very sun belt-y. Before I had seen much of KC I thought it was all like that based on my early experiences.

Whether or not there's some sort of karmic retribution coming to them is something I can't surmise, but it seems that the big draw for the sun belt is how new and shiny everything is. I've always wondered what happens when that is no longer the case.

Well, if it's an area that is still popular and it's cost effective to do so, they keep it looking new and shiny. <shrug>

Talk of karmic retribution is kind of amusing. Who knows what will happen? No one can say. Which is why city leaders and planners have to jump on and move with what's hot now in residential and commercial ventures. Trends come and go, business (and city government is a business and should be run like one) just tries to keep up.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by brewcrew1000

I was at Town Center last night to watch a movie and noticed this new project called park place or something. This project just sickened me. It looks excatly the same as all these same type of projects in Dallas, Houston and other sun belt/lots of land type cities
You could basically say OP/Olathe Lenexa is turning into a Sun Belt City while the Urban Core is representing Upper Midwest towns

I have a feeling Karma will come back on the Kansas burbs, i don't know how, but i just have a feeling, it may not be in my generation but i have a feeling something will happen.

I have been saying this for years. The outer suburban and exurban parts of JOCO are extremely Sunbelt-like for whatever reason. It really feels absolutely nothing like most of the Midwest at all. To compare south Leawood to old Leawood might as well entail traveling into completely separate worlds. It is just insane.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I have been saying this for years. The outer suburban and exurban parts of JOCO are extremely Sunbelt-like for whatever reason. It really feels absolutely nothing like most of the Midwest at all. To compare south Leawood to old Leawood might as well entail traveling into completely separate worlds. It is just insane.

Are you talking about the styles and designs of neighborhoods and houses?

Because I don't see them looking much different from newer (and wealthy) suburban areas of other Midwest cities. JoCo has grown pretty wide pretty fast and so maybe it's more noticeable when people return who don't live here.

And yes, it's different from the older parts. But it's not "insane" that suburban building trends that began in CA and have been popular have made their way to other 'burbs. Trends are trends, that's what they do.

[kcmo]

For me, the "sunbelt" feel is not just the new construction, but also the spread out feel of the area. The super wide arterial streets (so many six-eight lane streets with dual right and left turn lanes making crossing the streets on foot insanely uncomfortable.

All the buildings have massive setbacks, the relative lack of trees, hills and the flat and straight streets and general topography.

Also, the office parks in their islands of surface parking lots on the vast prairies of KS.

JoCo looks pretty much just like suburban Phoenix without the palm trees. It looks nothing like suburban St Louis or Minneapolis or Denver or Chicago or even the suburbs on the Missouri side of KC.

It has more of a Phoenix, or Plano or suburban Oklahoma City feel to it. It's not like sunbelt places like Atlanta or LA though. The topography and street layout is too different.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I've been busy posting on other forums about this. This forum has such a suburban "soccermom" mentaility that it's far from the right place to discuss "urban" planning.

But this is a terrible and destructive plan. The city can't let this happen in its current form.

When it is evident that the previous posters all feel that this building as designed is a huge mistake why do you find it necessary to be insulting and label the mentality as "soccer-mom"?