New Hoboken Redevelopment

Welcome to New Hoboken

2008-11-17T07:01:00.000-08:00

Hi folks. Here is where I am going to outline the plan for urban renewal on the 4500 Block of Troost Avenue in Kansas City, MO.

I am putting this on a blog so everyone can feel free to comment, and be able to see the comments of others. Entries will be automatically uploaded to Facebook, but everyone can't get on Facebook from everywhere, so it would be terrific if you would be sure to post your comments on the blogspot site and not on Facebook.

New Hoboken, for the uninitiated, is a virtual city, its citizens united by an unwavering belief in the ability of neighborhoods to rise like phoenicis (yes, that IS the plural of "phoenix", thanks for asking) from their own ashes, regardless of what anyone else might think.

This particular corner of New Hoboken, the first dirt and blood manifestation, is the 4500 block of Troost and its environs. Why here? Because we are here. Because it is exactly the spirit of New Hoboken, a place that is just fine and marvelously located, but which has been scorned by the adjacent neighborhoods and communities. Left for dead, its residents mocked and derided for choosing to be here. Disregarded and so fallen into disrepair and misused.

Like Hoboken, whose population decreased and reputation dragged in the 1980s and 1990, this area was, and partially still is forsaken. Buildings left empty, left to disintegrate.

I am going to use this blog to outline what we envision for this area, the scope of the project and the scope of what we believe its effect will be on the larger area, and argue for allowing us to be the redevelopers. I will also outline the unique challenges this area faces, discuss what sorts of things would be a bad idea for this location (according to the neighbors who live here.) In the process, I am hoping to gain a better grasp of what we envision, what is possible, what would benefit the neighbors, the neighborhood and the city as a whole.

Vision of a Down-at-the-Heels Resort Town

2008-11-16T11:08:00.000-08:00

Let's be clear. I make clothing by hand and to order for people who want something wonderful. Ideal Garment should be located in a resort town, where there is an ever-changing population of visitors who have time and inclination to explore and discover new ideas of what can be. Here in the busy little city, people are much more likely to dash off to the mall shops to get yet another manufactured garment that will not really work, but which might get them through tonight's crisis. Who knows. Maybe not even. Just wasted time and money.

So, it has been the dream to move Ideal Garment, lock stock and barrel, to a warmer place where people come and go for short visits, constantly new people, travelers, people on holiday. Older people, especially. Retirees. Women who have been completely forsaken by the clothing industry. I love them the most.

But living in a small town seems difficult and not really our style. So it should not have been a great surprise that I would begin to imagine the vastly underused areas around me as the possible site for a little resort town, right in the middle of Kansas City.

It's a glass slipper fit, I'll tell you what, and if we manage to transform this block in the manner we hope, it will be a Cinderella story of a most beautiful kind.

What do I imagine to be the qualities and ingredients of a down-market resort town?

First of all, a place must entice and welcome travelers. HIstorical buildings filled with interesting things is typically what draws in travelers. Tree-lined streets. Art and artisans. Think Eureka Springs. Mendocino. Provincetown and Marblehead. Laguna Beach and Carmel. The opportunity to explore and shop, to lounge around drinking and eating and visiting with friends. Some larger scale attractions are nice, but not necessary.

Here, at this location, it is a lovely walk to the most important regional art museums, and to one of the most beautiful shopping districts in the country. Plus parks and gardens adjacent, and other delightful and interesting destinations, concert and sports venues. Everything easily accessible by foot, bike, car or public transportation. Some travelers like to get out and find things, while their companions like to stay by the fire, be it in the fireplace at the hotel or campfire at the camp site. Variety, delightfulness, things to discover, and places to hang around and relax and visit. Historical charm. Shopping. Art. Music. Festivals. Hot springs. Fun restaurants. The opportunity to meet friends and spend a long weekend together in a place that offers charms different than what one has at home.

Distilled: History, charm, things to do and places to do nothing.

The thing about a down-market resort town is that no one expects it to be glossy or glamorous. In fact, it shouldn't be. It should be historic and ramshackle even. When resort towns get too cleaned up and polished, they don't seem like such a find anymore. Which means it is possible to create something interesting and inviting without breaking the bank. Which is just the perfect plan for this point in time and this point in place.

What should not happen here...

2008-11-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

This is a very troubling little bit of Kansas City. And occasionally someone suggests something. Here are some of the suggestions:

Tear it all down.

What then? And the buildings are so stout they would cost as much to tear down as they would to resuscitate.

Build low income housing or mixed use something or another.

Kansas City doesn't need another space for rent, and if someone wants to live around here, there are hundreds of great houses on quiet, tree-lined streets that need love and inhabitants, and which would be easier and cheaper to resusciate than to build new, "affordable" housing. It's not. Can you say "housing bubble?"

Plus, it is the very opposite of environmentally sane to tear down a concrete building in order to build another building, no doubt with concrete. The greenest building is the one already standing.

From the point of view of the current owners, their ploy is for a national retailer to suddenly decide they need the property and over pay for it. They don't seek out buyers, but wait like spiders for them to come around to what a great location this is. This strategy would bring them the highest price for the properties. The problem though, is that while it would profit them, it would destroy the quality of the neighborhood of houses adjacent to these properties. Having the back of a box store directly behind your house is very undesirable. I can attest to having it across the street not being all that grand, either.The blocks to the south and east, adjacent to this block, already suffer this fate, and the blocks are diseased. Historic Residences do not butt up well against the back of a box store. Think "delivery trucks" "dumpsters", "vagrants" and "public urination".

It is important to understand that no one has expressed the slightest interest in these properties and their health and that of the surrounding neighborhoods besides us. No one has thought of any plan at all for this block besides us. It is not so surprising. We are here. Our thoughts and visions of what should be here are more important than anyone else's because we are here. Because we have already invested all we have, our greatest investments, our homes are here, our lives are here. The safety of grandchildren and our own health and well-being depends on this block being resuscitated and reclaimed as part and parcel of the general economic and cultural life of Kansas City. And I for one actually chose this block because I saw how bad it was and thought I could make it better. Thought, foolishly, that my bringing life to this exact point would create a connection east-west in Kansas City. Reach across the Troost aisle, as it were.

Does it make sense to insist on revenues that would be appropriate on the Plaza or in Westport in order for anything to happen? Does urban renewal have to involve highly paid developers and many millions of dollars to build something grandiose? That would not be appropriate here, and there is no need. A modest project which wholly transforms the entire side of the block. That is all we intend and all we propose.

This is already a bald spot on the face of Kansas City, denuded and disdained. No street should be treated this way. It is the same way that Kansas City treats its river, the Missouri in case anyone forgot. Long term and systematic mis-use and disregard, and the by-way is degraded to a point where people literally turn their eyes away from it, no longer even giving themselves a chance to see the natural beauty and charm, the inherent usefulness and importance that exists, persists, nonetheless, if obscured. Oh, we do it to people too. Man, we suck.

When we suggest that the city could have a much better relationship with the river, by which we mean some docks for boats near commercial areas where boaters could disembark and get a drink or something to eat, or maybe pick up passengers, but in anycase people could hang out and smooch on the dock as people will, we are told about marvelous plans for marinas and developments, none of which include docks near downtown, none of which would do anything to improve the relationship of Kansas City to its river, but all of which are many many years away from happening, if ever, and all of which would cost millions upon millions of dollars of public and private investment. Docks, as far as I can tell, could be had for less than $100K, could exist tomorrow, and would immediately change the relationship of Kansas City to the river. But no. Kansas City will wait for the developer who has a plan for putting large amounts of money in his own pockets (and it is always a "him"), will gaze starry eyed at the greedy charlatan before them, and hand over the keys to the city coffers. And we will still have no docks, and still have no relationship to the river.

Yup. That is the sort of thing that should not happen but which does all the time. It is also the sort of thing which might happen here, down the road another ten years or more, maybe. A developer might get a scent of profit and raze the neighborhoods and put up crappy townhouses and strip malls. Maybe not. I don't really care. There is no way I will still be here if it should happen to remain the way it is for another two let alone ten years, or should it be carelessly developed, like the surrounding blocks were. Either it all becomes as lovely as we have made our little corner, or we will have to admit defeat. No worries. There are a zillion places on the planet we can make lovely. We will find another one. You are sweet to care.

Numbers Outline

2008-11-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Now, I know that everything I suggest will be scorned. But you know, there are no guarantees that any investment is going to pay off. You could build a bunch of great or shitty townhouses, and they could sit on the market for years. You could renovate factories into terrific office lofts, only to have "for lease" signs fade in the windows.

Mind you, this is not the revenue stream the day the project opens. Let's say 1-2 years in, to give time to market this very new Troost situation. Which will just about correspond to the reopening of the Troost Bridge, and the launch of the Troost Max BRT.

5-10 years in, these numbers should be higher, and the trees beginning to really make a difference. I am being as cautious and conservative as possible, shy of predicting failure for the project. What is very cool about this strategy is that the capital investment to create cash flow is minimal -- about what the Briarcliff development spent (in public money) on a decorative fountain -- and on-going costs are tied directly to how much revenue is coming in. Few visitors: no maintenance costs. Many visitors: jobs for people to keep everything gorgeous and to provide services.

Furthermore, with city-sponsored parking made available in the "Auto World" building, and to-code, accessible facilities, any part of the block could be made available for event rental. Indoor, outdoor, accommodations, catering resources, excellent location, etc.

Anyway, here are the numbers I would expect from the properties, once they are renovated, a year or two in.

Revenue Projections for New Hoboken Renovations within 2 years of completion

North End Lots (4) (4500 Troost)
Luxury, boutique, very small, short-stay RV camping park and greenhouse
$5-10,000/month

$40-70/night 12 spaces (including parking area to the south of the firehouse.)
I.E. 30% occupancy at $40: $4300/month
or 50% occupancy at $40: $7000/month
or 60% occupancy at $50: 10,000/month
(plus 15% hotel tax-$1-2000/month for the city)
Virtually no maintenance costs, once constructed, because it is adjacent to the Firehouse
We are already on the property 24/7 manning our shop and living here.
This tourism visitor amenity will be a complementary extension of that business.
Increase and broaden tourism to Plaza, Museums, downtown, stadiums, etc.
Further revenue potential through package visits, including classes by resident artists, tours, mini-festivals.
(If the park is successful, it can be expanded south, across Brush Creek Boulevard, or north several blocks where there is vacant property that would work well.)

Greenhouse
$1-5000/month

Build commercial green house, managed by people already on-site
1) co-op/retail greenhouse for the gardeners of midtown (nothing else within 2-3 miles)
2) Support re-greening of Troost and Environs (Tulips on Troost)
3) Amenity for tourist visitors, both as pleasant interior space in the winter, as a resource for sharing garden clippings, as something to do. (Bring plants from your garden, take plants home, help in the nursery.)
Possible revenue stream, but also great value in supporting regreening of Troost.

Building 1 (4528 Troost)
$1-4000/month

renovated simply to accommodate something along the lines of...

1) general use, eg lease for living or art studio or small business/design space. $1000/month
2) for-hire print-making facility and gallery ($40K to set up print shop) . $4000/month
3) "antique mall" style market place for local artisans and crafts people. 10-15 vendors, $100/month + three shifts $1000/month (advantage of bringing more people to the block benefitting other businesses.)
4) private gym facility (eg Scott Fitness); amenity for campers, plus member revenue. $2-3000/month
5) an amenity for the RV park, public assembly area, TV area, bathrooms and showers, free standing "cabin" for nightly rental to "non-campers" 1500-2500/month (Area is C-2, which is zoned for motels, though this wouldn't really be motel-like. More state-park cabin-like. Or loft-like.)

[Alternate plan: renovate Building 1 into the greenhouse by replacing the roof, and leave North End lots available as camping park and urban forest. Green house could still serve as communal area, and even still available for cabin-overnight stay. In a Greenhouse. How amazing would that be? I think the room-rate just went up.]

Courtyard (4532 Troost)

1) possible parking for small businesses in buildings.
2) Courtyard amenity for resort town. Gathering place. Music venue. Spas. Pool?
( Ideally this courtyard will eventually be part of some kind of restaurant in one of the two buildings, as it is a wonderful, magical courtyard, with a full basement, ideal for outdoor food service.)

Building 2 (4536 Troost)
$1-4000/month

1) renovated to accommodate 1, 2, 3 or 4, above. $1000-4000/month
2) renovated to accommodate commercial grade kitchen for lease to small food businesses, classes, allow for and support the possibility of a independent restaurant on the block down the road. 2000-4000/month

Total revenue from leasing 8 restored properties as described:

$7,000-20,000/month with potential for growth

Net income after expenses to be reinvested in the properties,
and in extending the improvements to the north and east of this location.

NOTE
Revenue projections do not include increased revenues for the Firehouse itself, nor the potential for leasing space in that historic and delightful building. We live here and our presence makes the rest possible. And if not us, someone else who takes responsibility for the whole project, manages and cares for it. The nature of the Firehouse, its view of and relationship to the entire block, makes it the perfect central point for the project. It's a glamorous watchtower, a town hall and chamber of commerce, in addition to being the hotel lobby gift and dress shop. Sweet.

[Current revenue for all 8 properties,
all paid to owners out-of-state: $2,000/month
and paid only because tenants are allowed to pursue against-code activities,
and paid only on the North End properties.
Southern properties are, and have long been, unleased,
though generally used for vagrant and illicit activities.
All properties would be un-leasable if codes were enforced,
or the zoning were returned to strict C-2.]

Susanville

2008-11-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

Hey, there actually is a place called Susanville, in northeast California. But the point here is that it could appear that Susan, me, has a vision for this block that is hers alone, and which does not reflect the community.

The short answer is "Yes, it does reflect the community, and profoundly, and in ways that could not happen through any paradigm of 'community input'."

Here is the long answer to that concern:

None of these ideas for redevelopment are what I would personally choose to do, or which excite me generally or which I want to do somewhere and so would inflict inappropriately on this place; but rather these are the things which might work, given my experience of cities and how their sore areas are healed, given the character of this region and of the immediate neighborhoods and of the historic nature of this block, given the terrible recent history and prejudice against this block and against Troost by the local population, given the economic climate, and given the affection for art and recreation in this region.

I am excited because after 8 years of puzzling and fretting over what could happen here to facilitate a healing of this part of the city, I finally came up with a solution which, to my mind, is flawless. It requires little investment to create potential for very good cash flow, invites new people in to create new markets for other small businesses, improves the environment, immediately and globally (I think I have 40 new trees on my new drawing of the block, including in the public right of way, plus a great increase in pervious surfaces and plantings, here and also spreading north from here), creates an atmosphere of security in a friendly hopeful way, rather than a mean spirited and cynical way, and most importantly, doesn't preclude any future excellent use that someone might envision for the block down the road, when the area no longer has the stench of blight on it and a person can effortlessly imagine opening a shop or business and having a possibility of success.

I am a problem solver, favoring the most frugal and plain, but also delightful and sensual, solutions to any problem. I find that completely new solutions cannot be understood by people until they actually experience them. Only then can they offer ideas to improve and expand the solution. All the clothes I make are an example of that. No one thinks what I make would be useful until they put it on and understand the completeness of the solution, physically, emotionally, socially and practically. Anyway, what is so beautiful about this vision of urban transformation is that there is no down side. All investment and renovation would be required no matter what, to bring these properties into use of any kind at all. There is no expenditure which is not in a general sense positive for the neighborhood and for restoring economic vitality. It's just that the specific ideas are the only things that I believe could offer immediate economic vibrancy to this dead section of town, and which have the added benefit of attracting outside visitors to this area. Locals will scorn this corner of Kansas City until it is completely wonderful. Our only hope is to bring in tourism.

But if I am wrong, no harm, only good, done. So, for example, if it should happen that we get to test out my vision of a boutique luxury RV park, and it turns out that it is not economically viable, or the neighbors decide they really don't like old folks drifting around the area with cups of coffee and small, over-groomed dogs on leashes, then the cleaned up and beautifully secured open space is ready to be used as anything else someone can come up with. Leased as secured parking/storage for extra cars, boats and RVs for the neighborhood; a tree farm for re-treeing Troost, a playground for the community (it will already be fenced and ready to go), or someone might just want to lease or purchase the property as a residence, with the small building as a house and a giant yard. In fact, maybe I want to live there.

Renovating the two southern buildings to be usable for any possible business, art or residential use does not preclude any possibilities, and allows for everything, including technology or professional companies, or light industry. Entire floors of the Plaza Library office building are for lease, at 30,000 sf each one, and downtown and the crossroads are thickly decorated with for lease signs. I don't think we need to consider demolishing or building new buildings at this time. It would be economically and environmentally idiotic. Recycle and re-use what we have. Nice and green and frugal and fast.

Regarding community vision... For now, the surrounding neighborhoods and the city have turned their backs on this block so completely and for so long that they have no experience of it to inform what should happen here, other than a sense of being reviled and wanting it all to just go away. The time and space continuum precludes that suggestion. In contrast, this plan is to very cheaply make it delightful and inviting (as we have already done with the firehouse) so that the surrounding areas will natually re-adopt it as part of their city, and then we shall see what might end up here. Lots of possible great things, but at this point it would be like proposing plastic surgery on a patient who has come in battered to a pulp and needs triage. It is impossible to even see if the patient needs dramatic investment until the swelling and bruising go down, stitches removed and they have healed. Only then can we look at the subject and think about what high investment projects might be appropriate or required to make it marvelous.

Please don't think that I am inflicting some vision of my own on this. No. I just want to heal this block, and this is the solution which after long years of puzzling and problem-solving seems to have no down side and much potential for success, and so, yes, I am very excited to have thought of it, and the possibility of actually healing this block, and even creating a sense of charming community which spans Troost Avenue, is very thrilling to me. I really have come to believe that the only solution that will work is one that is completely unexpected, and on Troost that means "delightful, marvelous, safe, inviting and beautiful." Which screams "down-market resort town" to me.

It has taken me many years to understand the neighborhood, the neighbors, this little area's relationship to and effect on the rest of the city. So my vision, though mine alone, is informed profoundly by the surrounding neighborhoods and communities, their challenges and ways of being, in a way that is far more respectful and reflective of the actual needs and desires of the community than one can get by having "public meetings", which are necessarily attended only by the most busy-body and fearful members of the community, who mainly want to be sure that things they don't like don't happen. Everyone else is too busy for such nonsense. Durwin and I are taking part in such a process right now, regarding the street improvements which will accompany the MAX transit upgrade, and I am now completely convinced that the paradigms of "public input" are completely broken, and the designer consultants are as much to blame as the more small-minded and self-interested members of the community.

I do what I can -- including offering up this blog and the opportunity to comment freely, so please do -- to let my neighbors and the surrounding neighborhoods know what I am thinking, what the vision currently is, and seek and appreciate criticism, ideas and discussion of any kind. We talk to our neighbors, to the neighborhoods, go to their meetings, invite everyone here, pour wine and food down their throats, get to know them and what is important to them, and listen to what their concerns are and their ideas for how to make Troost be less tragically awful. I talk to the press, which I shouldn't, and have reached out to the entire city and development community, looking for ideas and participation on this.

So I hate to hear that it seems like my own vision and what I want. What I wanted was for other individuals to purchase the properties around me and to do whatever interesting, C-2 zone use that inspired them and got them up in the morning. But the greedy, speculating landlords and the complicit, incompetent city dashed those hopes, and have made my life hellish. When you buy a house in an historic residential neighborhood, you do not expect to have industrial activities butted up against your garden fence, since the correct assumption is that such things would be against ordinance for this zoning. Ha! They sure fooled us.

Why would anyone go to Troost for any reason?

2008-11-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

Listen up. The Firehouse at 4518 Troost and all it contains is already a tourist attraction. When Food & Wine Magazine visited Kansas City to see what is cool and worth visiting, we were the second thing they mentioned in the article, right after the Nelson-Atkins Museum. They didn't have to do that. The Star had fed them all the hyped stuff in town, mainly in the Crossroads, but they managed to find our oasis anyway. Because we are historic and charming and centrally located and interesting to anyone without blinders on regarding Troost. Really and truly, and not just because our PR people say so. We don't even have PR people.

I have lived in San Francisco, in North Beach near Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39. I lived in Paris in the sixth, between Pont Neuf and Pont des Arts and then at the foot of Montmartre. Later I lived in the beach neighborhoods in Venice, near Santa Monica. Harvard Square and Oxford and Palo Alto and Russian Hill and Hayes Valley have been my stomping grounds. Durwin lived in New York and for years made a living at festivals and selling fine crafts to retailers. We know tourists. We know what draws people in, makes them want to be somewhere, and to come back, and the foolish, ill-conceived things this city does in the name of making it more visitor friendly makes us want to cry. Science City? Are you kidding me? The original WWI museum is a thousand times more interesting, and the Nelson, too and where we take children and adults. Why isn't there a botanical garden and green house where Science City is? It would be perfect and inexpensive to manage, and everyone would be a member. Cool in the summer. Warm in the winter. Luscious green. Delightful all the time, and then go have drinks and, hey, why not dinner! A booze court "downtown"? Seriously? Fine, you have coaxed the suburban folk in to spend their dollars getting drunk and then go to a pop-spectacle. But I know you are paying for all that with fees on rental cars, and other fees that may or may not have anything to do with the sad, zombie meat-market you created, custom designed, for no apparent reason, to insult and offend the black community of KCMO.

Who cares. I don't. I don't know why the east side doesn't secede. But we still still think a miniature, historic resort village, fun and tranquil, inviting and not too much going on, but enough, and you can get to goings-on from here, is a wonderful idea. And it will cost less than two blocks of "streetscaping" downtown, and include streetscaping that will make people want to walk to the store, or to a cafe, should one ever be allowed to exist. Trees, folks. Trees. People like to walk down tree-lined streets where they will not be assaulted by drunks and vagrants, nor garish, corporate merchandising. They like to stop on such streets and go into a quiet, interesting shop or cafe or bar and spend some nice time and some money, too, and then go tell their friends what a lovely time they had and what a hidden treasure they found. Think "Brookside", "Telluride", "Carmel" or "Antibes".

Our one little outpost of the Firehouse already is all this, except we have to give away the food and drink, which actually just makes it better for the visitors. We want to expand this delightful, otherwordly, resort aspect to the rest of the block. It will complement the historic homes adjacent, and will encourage, more than any other form of redevelopment, the resurrection of the utterly dead neighborhoods to the east, opening the door to sincere, individual investment, residential and business, in the very depressed areas, both to the north and to east. Artists and arty people seek out places that are very cheap and need love. Delightful resort towns always have historic residential areas, half inhabited by artists, woven into them. All this is waiting to happen.

Hey, let's call this the anti-matter to the Power and Light District. We will have music, but it will be campers playing their own instruments. We will have food, but to begin with people will be cooking it up themselves, or ordering in. We will have booze, but it will be purchased penny-wise at the liquor store and poured by friends into friends cups. And everyone will already be home safe. We will have gorgeous, but it will grow of its own accord and become more gorgeous over time, rather than needing to be redone when it looks shabby or dated. Browse in the galleries or shops. Buy a gift. Learn to make something. Share your gardening wisdom. Walk to the museum or to the plaza or take the dog for a walk in the park. Soak in a hottub. It's Eureka Springs without the long drive, and without the silly souvenir shops. You want topical kitsch? Make some up for yourself. Decoupage the paperweight of your dreams, and then go spend some time by the campfire or in front of the big screen TV. Oh, we know about the sports fans and their RVs. We love them too!

I think the numbers speak for themselves, but really, wouldn't this be a precious addition to Kansas City?

Meanwhile

2008-11-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

It is 10:30 am on a Wednesday, and I am in the Firehouse, listening to the loud conversations of the crowd of ex-felon vagrants who infest the property next door, and who got KCPL to leave them a nice, discarded pole for them to sit on, right next to my windows. No work is being done, no revenue of any kind, monetary or cultural, occurring. The property is not leased to them, and there is no commerce. The owners just let them hang around. A waste, and very annoying, and also inviting to crime. (Oh, don't worry. We have a pack of dogs patrolling our own little shangri-la, and our little art businesses don't scream "Cash on Hand" like a used car lot does.)

Two days ago, the predatory car lot to the north with a ramshackle chain link and barbed wire fence was held up by shotgun wielding robbers. Seriously. This happened about two hours before a bunch of ladies from Lee's Summit were to arrive for a little sensual products and party frocks event someone hosted here. (It was great, by the way. If anyone wants to have one here, they are more than welcome.)

A few months ago, a client here for a few hours in the evening found her lug nuts had been loosened. It was the night of the very big rain storm, so we think thieves might have been interrupted in their work by the Troost River that accompanies all storms. She discovered the loose lug nuts driving back to rural Kansas late at night. That's not good. The marvelous clothes she scored here made it alright, though, and she was back for Second Friday this month. Man, we have the best friends and clients in the world.

No. If this area isn't allowed to change, we won't be able to stay. We cannot put our beautiful and brave clients at personal risk. We need a secure and delightful place that does not through its visual and "commercial" qualities attract crime. We need a place that is not in actual fact, day and night, infested with shiftless, drifting criminals. We don't like criminals drifting around, for sure, but we really hate shiftlessness. Oh, you cannot imagine how slowly these people move, in the event that they are given an easy chore. It is stunning, and sort of difficult to watch.

We need a place that is inviting and which feels safe to the kind of generous spirited, curious, adventurous and creative people that we already attract. If not here, somewhere else. Eureka Springs, maybe.

The Black Skirt Initiative

2008-11-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

If we do raise money ourselves, we can do what we want. And since we have lived and worked here for eight years, we are the people who know what needs to be done.

So. For the foreseeable future, all revenue from the sales of slender black skirts of any length will go to the fund to change the 4500 block of Troost. (We are actually just going to donate revenue, minus cost of material, to a not-for-profit that will develop and manage the whole thing. What do you think of that?)

If our math is correct, 10,000 skirts, that's ten thousand skirts, will provide sufficient funds to change the face of a city. We don't usually sell thousands of anything, being a handmade clothing shop and all. But HSN plows through many thousands of all kinds of terrible garments every hour of the day, so there must be ladies out there looking for something to wear, and fully capable of going online or picking up a phone to order up a skirt that will, actually, solve many of their clothing problems.

Maybe one year to sell and make 10,000 skirts.

In addition to solving 10,000 problems with getting dressed for as many women, ten thousand black skirts will also solve the problems on this block.

But more than that we are hoping that we create a template for bootstrapping neighborhood investment funds. If we can do this, any neighborhood can do this.

We'll see how it goes. So far so good!

Why Kansas City should invest in the redevelopment of this small area

2008-11-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Because it has been the carelessness, maliciousness, cynicsm, incompetence, bigotry and negligence on the part of the city and all its departments that have led to a situation which should never have occurred adjacent to residential properties, which would not have occurred next to owner-occupied houses, and which has grimly exacerbated the degradation of Troost and of the adjacent residential properties, and contributed massively to the degradation of property and property value directly to the east.

Because this block is ideally located and arranged for stormwater remediation on Troost, being historically unbuilt, and only two blocks from Brush Creek. If the city participates and helps with the transformation, the New Hoboken Redevelopment Corporation might recognize the green infrastructure priorities of the city as such projects become more urgent. It's possible.

Because the moment is now.

We understand that the city has no money to invest in anything, even though it does have money to invest in important things like streetscaping downtown and sychronized traffic lights downtown and neon signs for the 18th and Vine district and whole new streets and infrastructure for Beacon Hill. Definitely a million dollars are available to fix a stone wall on the Plaza, even though it was the knuckleheaded short-sightedness of developers who made money which ruined the wall in the first place.

Did I miss any pet projects? Anyway, I do understand that there is no money at all for the city to invest on Troost, unless it is part of the bizarre Troost Bridge debacle. Case study in how a design process does not work, anyone? Case study in how public input does not work?

Because I understand that there is not one thin dime to invest on Troost, I do not suggest that the city should invest actual money on Troost. But it could advocate for a good plan for redevelopment, make the EDC do its work, perhaps in a pro-bono fashion, since there is no developer who will be doing any profit taking on this project. Maybe the city could assure the surrounding neighborhoods that the plan is good for the city and deserves neighborhood consideration and support, and promise and swear that the city will not go out of its way to thwart the project once it begins, as it is wont to do on Troost. These completely cost-less gestures would go a long way toward encouraging and supporting private investment in this project. Investment which is very reluctant without such assurances.

Which assurances? That the property will be able to be acquired for something near its actual value. That the city will approve the redevelopment plan and not be giant jerks. That the city will be supportive rather than destructive during the entire process of transformation. Again, not be jerks. Not get its metropolitan panties in a bunch over freaky little fetishes like "number of parking places". Not that it would matter, since there is no business planned that needs parking, and technically about half the surface area of the block actually IS parking. But you get the idea. Supportive rather than destructive. Work with us rather than against us, when the choice is presented. Help find solutions rather than seeking out and emphasizing obstacles. That's all. How about that? If that were the case, private investment, even at this tragic time, might be found.

Does one million dollars sound like alot?

2008-11-03T22:48:00.000-08:00

Ideal Garment is very very tired of the blight on the block where it lives. The bottom-feeding carlots and fake-repair shops are grim fronts for illegal activity. It is loud, smelly, ugly, and not an encouraging sight for children walking on the other side of the street to go to the CVS, nor an inviting atmosphere for the Ideal Garment customers, who have been very patient all these years, but also have been leered at, panhandled, and had their auto tags stolen. Time for change. I understand that such low-grade businesses need to be somewhere, but here is too close to neighborhoods, homes and children. Sleeping people at night do not mix well with bark all night junkyard dogs. This block is already profoundly commercial with the CVS on the opposite side of the street, the Walgreens one block down, a slew of fast-food joints and then hundreds of acres of institutions with hundreds of employees and students and visitors who are not looking for a used tire, but who are looking for a cup of coffee, a decent sandwich, and a pleasant place to sit down and enjoy it.

One million dollars or therabouts will solve the problem, transform the block into a place that entrepreneurs can imagine doing business. And although everyone knows this block is a civic problem that stinks up the whole city, there is no money available from local funds for improvement. It is mysterious why there isn't, but there isn't.

Does one million dollars sound like alot?

Get some perspective: This past year the city allotted $600,000 dollars to upgrading the men's room at Starlight.

Over one million dollars was given to "streetscaping" two downtown blocks that were fine to begin with.

Eight million dollars is pegged for synchronizing streetlights downtown.

Five million dollars will buy a nice painting for the museum.

One million dollars is alot, but it is not alot in comparison to the amount of improvement it can buy on this critical block.

Improving the commercial side of this block will increase the value of the homes on the residential side of the block by a half a million dollars, right off the bat. Which means more tax revenue for the city (sorry neighbors!) Count up a couple more adjacent blocks, and you have your million dollars in value, without even counting the actual property being improved.

Hmmm.