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THE KC SPIRIT PLAYBOOK

YOUR CITY. YOUR GAME PLAN.

KANSAS CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Approved by the City Plan Commission on 18 APRIL, 2023

Adopted by the City Council by Resolution Number #230257 on 23 APRIL, 2023

KANSAS CITY MISSOURI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Mayor The Honorable Quinton Lucas

City Manager Brian Platt

City Council Heather Hall, 1st District Kevin O’Neill, 1st District-at-Large Dan Fowler, 2nd District Teresa Loar, 2nd District-at-Large Melissa Robinson, 3rd District Brandon Ellington, 3rd District-at-Large Eric Bunch, 4th District Katheryn Shields, 4th District-at-Large Ryana Parks-Shaw, 5th District Lee Barnes Jr., 5th District-at-Large Kevin McManus, 6th District, Mayor Pro Tem Andrea Bough, 6th District-at-Large

City Plan Commission Coby Crowl, Chairman Cokethea Hill, Vice Chairwoman Bruce Allender, Commissioner James Baker, Commissioner Forestine Beasley, Commissioner Tyler Enders, Commissioner Paul Rojas, Commissioner Ashley Sadowski, Commissioner

Empowerment Committee Bobbi Baker Hughes Linda Brown Yolanda Cargile Jeannette Cowherd Coby Crowl Alicia Douglas Brandon Henderson Aly Hernandez Stacy Jackson David Kemper Abby Kinney Leigh Luna Nailah M’Biti Lora McDonald John McGurk Clyde McQueen Steve Miller Mark Moberly Vicki Noteis Stacey Paine Karry Palmer Rashida Phillips Jeron Ravin Pastor Sandy Wainright Scott Wagner Alexah Willhoite Michelle Wimes

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Public Engagement Committee

Beth Breitenstein Carrie Coogan Evie Craig Megan Crigger Chris Dahlquist Rev. Hartzfeld III Chris Hernandez Ann Holliday Jenny Johnston Tony Jones Michael Kelley Kathy Nelson Glenn North Sue Patterson Dr. Melissa Patterson Hazley Kathleen Pointer Andy Rieger Morgan Said Nicholas Segura Anna Marie Tutera Scott Wagner

City Planning and Development Staff

Jeffrey Williams, AICP, Director Diane Binckley, AICP, Principal Assistant to the Director Gerald Williams, AICP, Division Manager, Long Range Planning (Project Manager) Joe Rexwinkle, AICP, Division Manager, Development Management Morgan Pemberton, AICP (Assistant Project Manager) Andrew Bracker Noah Chapin Angela Eley, AICP Tim Esparza Megan Lanter Ryan Rambusch Marlene Torres-Pardo Brad Wolf, AICP

Past Staff Members

Kyle Elliott, AICP Beth Breitenstein John DeBauche, AICP Bobby Evans, AICP Brian Jackson, AICP Steve Lebofsky, AICP Lauren Manning Brian Wize

*AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners. See the American Planning Association website.

Consultants

1 Main Circuit Cityfi Collins Noteis Associates Hoxie Collective mySidewalk Parson + Associates Vireo WSP

This project was partially funded by a Planning Sustainable Places grant from the Mid America Regional Council.

And a special thank you to all of the Kansas Citians who generously gave their time to attend meetings, complete surveys, visit the web site, review drafts, and provide the thoughtful community input and feedback that serves as the foundation of this plan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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WHAT IS THE PLAYBOOK?

WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

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A city’s comprehensive plan guides its decisions on development, investment, codes and standards, and much more for future years and future generations.

The KC Spirit Playbook (“Playbook”) is Kansas City’s comprehensive plan for the next 20 years. It’s our shared vision, based on your input gathered through public engagement, for the future of our city. It defines what the community wants the city to be and reflects the community’s values and priorities. It also is built on the understanding that our city is diverse and requires a diversity of solutions. The plan will also tie together and guide updates to the 18 Area Plans and other citywide plans related to trails, major streets, economic development, housing, parks, and other topics.

Look around at all the things you see – streets, buildings, houses, streams and open spaces, parks, trails, sidewalks – they’re all part of the city’s built environment. These are the design and development decisions that have been guided by past comprehensive plans. The Playbook will guide development, investment, and more for the next 20 years.

HOW IS THE PLAYBOOK ORGANIZED?

The Envisioning Statement describes how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. The Supporting Vision Statements provide additional detail on the vision for Kansas City. The Supporting Equity Statements describe what an equitable Kansas City looks like. The Vision also includes the 5 Big Ideas, which express the plan priorities and major themes.

The Goals are 10 action items we must achieve to make the Vision and the Big Ideas a reality. The Goals organize the recommendations in the plan around the community’s big aspirations.

The Topics organize the plan’s elements around broad subjects. They compile all information in the Playbook related to a specific topic, such as transportation, in one place. This is another way to use the Playbook — to see information on one subject throughout the plan in one place.

The Objectives provide the detailed recommendations (Community Supported Actions) for 21 subject areas. This is where all the recommendations of the plan reside.

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WHAT IS THE PLAYBOOK?

WHERE DOES THE NAME "KC SPIRIT PLAYBOOK" COME FROM?

The title "KC Spirit Playbook" is an ode to Norman Rockwell’s “The Kansas City Spirit” painting created to represent the city’s resilience after a major flood in Kansas City in 1951. While our imagery is a nod to the original painting, it has been updated to represent today’s Kansas City: a diverse, exciting community with a strong sense of character and tremendous pride in how far we have come.

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WHY DO WE NEED A NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN?

Missouri State Statute requires that municipalities “adopt a city plan for the physical development of the municipality. The city plan, with the accompanying maps, plats, charts, and descriptive and explanatory matter, shall show the commission’s recommendations for the physical development and uses of land, and may include, among other things, the general location, character and extent of streets and other public ways, grounds, places, and spaces; the general location and extent of public utilities and terminals, whether publicly or privately owned; the acceptance, widening, removal, extension, relocation, narrowing, vacation, abandonment or change of use of any of the foregoing; the general character, extent, and layout of the replanning of blighted districts and slum areas.”

Comprehensive plans are typically built around a 20-year time horizon. It’s important that the plan reflects the conditions and trends at the time it is written while remaining agile enough to address future known and unknown challenges. It’s also

WHAT IS THE PLAYBOOK?

critical for the plan to reflect the issues that are personally important to Kansas Citians. Much has changed in Kansas City since the previous comprehensive plan, the FOCUS Kansas City Plan, was adopted in 1997. The time has come to create a new comprehensive plan and make sure it addresses the issues and challenges Kansas City faces today and those that will arise over the next two decades.

WHAT WAS THE PROCESS TO CREATE THE PLAYBOOK?

The process to create Kansas City’s new comprehensive plan spanned more than three years, from 2019 to 2023. An extensive report on the planning process, including a summary of the public engagement conducted as a part of this process, can be found here.

KC'S PREVIOUS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

Kansas City’s previous comprehensive plan was the FOCUS Plan. FOCUS stands for “Forging Our Comprehensive Urban Strategy” which was adopted in October 1997. The City of Kansas City, Missouri, and its residents partnered to develop an action plan the entire community could support. The plan set priorities and guided decision-making to make Kansas City a thriving, people-centered community and a successful model for other American cities to follow for future generations. Seven distinct but interwoven component plans were developed to detail the action steps needed to make the FOCUS vision and policy principles a reality.

The city has done a tremendous amount of planning since the FOCUS Kansas City Plan. Public feedback from the city’s area planning and citywide planning efforts from the past two decades have been incorporated into the Playbook, and built on. The Playbook process began with a detailed review of the FOCUS Kansas City Plan and the creation of a database of recommendations from every regional, citywide, and area planning document that was relevant. These recommendations helped inform and supplement the Playbook. City staff have taken care to ensure that previous planning that is still relevant is incorporated or referenced throughout the Playbook. Staff have also made recommendations about additional planning efforts to undertake or updates to previous plans that are needed to address policy gaps, emerging issues, and new best practices, and to reflect the City’s priorities.

WHAT ARE THE BIG IDEAS?

The Playbook’s vision for the future describes how Kansas Citians want their city to look, feel, and function. It emerged from the citizen-engagement process as a powerful statement of inspiration. Put simply, it says people are the priority in Kansas City and taking care of people will bring improvements in all areas of our city. Details about how to achieve this vision for Kansas City can be found in the Playbook’s citywide Goals. Specifically, the Envision statement and supporting Vision statements set the tone and overall emphasis of the plan while capturing the key themes, issues, and priorities of our communities. The vision sets the direction for future initiatives and guides the Playbook’s recommendations. It also provides a framework to evaluate changes to the plan.

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ENVISIONING STATEMENT

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“We, as Kansas Citians, envision our city as a vibrant, equitable, just, inclusive, welcoming, and thriving community where we consider people first by empowering members of the community to shape their environment. We acknowledge and will address past and current inequities by fostering equitable community and economic development that supports all residents with opportunities for a high quality of life.”

WHAT ARE THE BIG IDEAS?

VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities.

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at livable wages for our residents.

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive.

Equitable and Fiscal Sustainability: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

Mobility Options: Our well connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

Physical Beauty: Our city will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean, and safe.

WHAT ARE THE BIG IDEAS?

EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity.

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

BIG IDEAS

The Playbook’s 5 Big Ideas are a part of the overall vision for Kansas City. It expresses the most important things that need to be accomplished according to the priorities expressed by Kansas Citians. These Big Ideas should be used to guide plan priorities for the next 20 years in Kansas City.

• Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life.
• Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high-quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements.
• Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner.
• Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system.
• Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions.

WHERE DO I START?

HOW TO USE THE PLAYBOOK

The Playbook allows the city to be proactive in achieving the community’s vision for Kansas City by providing a clear road map and to-do list for the next 20 years. It is a guide for city decisions on funding and city services, public improvements, changes to city codes and ordinances and more.

The plan also helps city partners, neighborhoods, businesses and property owners move in step with the city toward a common vision.

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SEARCHING PLAN RECOMMENDATIONS

The Implementation Matrix provides a place where all of the plan’s recommendations can be viewed in one place. It also allows users to see information about how to implement recommended actions (responsible entities, timeframes, cost categories and measures of success).

EVALUATION TOOLS AND GUIDELINES

The Playbook provides evaluation tools and guidelines as well, that can be used to evaluate whether proposed projects, initiatives, policies or developments are aligned with the city’s Vision and Goals. For example, city staff, boards and commissions can use the plan’s guidelines to help evaluate the suitability of requests for new development or public improvements. The Goal Supporting Criteria provide a quick way to determine whether a proposed project, policy, funding request is generally consistent with the Playbook. These guidelines and criteria can also be used to help support a request by demonstrating consistency with the comprehensive plan.

The following tools in the plan are used to help evaluate projects and guide the design and delivery of projects and services:

• Goal Supporting Criteria Used to determine consistency with the Playbook’s 10 Goals
• Global Design Guidelines Guidelines that apply to all areas of the city, regardless of context or setting
• Development Form and Context Guidelines More detailed and site-specific guidelines that apply to specific development form and contexts throughout the city

GOALS

The Vision describes how we want Kansas City to look, feel, and function. The Goals provide guidance on how to get there.

The Goals are the major themes and statements of philosophy that are essential for the city to achieve its vision. They are the foundation of the city's character. All city actions are measured against progress toward these Goals. Previous city area plans and the FOCUS plan were the starting point for creating these Goals, which were refined and augmented with a wealth of ideas that Kansas City residents generated during the comprehensive planning process.

The Playbook provides specific strategies and recommendations, and those strategies are identified with the specific Goals they support, as well as related Topics and Objectives. The Goals are therefore a way to access the Playbook according to your needs and interests, whether you're looking for information on cultural resources, housing, green spaces, or any other aspect of the city's future.

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Connected City: Increase mobility options and create a more connected city

Diversity and Opportunity: Ensure the built environment strives to eliminate disparities, embrace diversity, and create economic opportunity

Environment for People of All Ages: Create a better environment that will attract and retain young people and allow residents to age-in-place

Healthy Environment: Promoting a healthy city through environmental sustainability and resiliency

History, Arts, and Culture: Preserve and celebrate our community character, history, arts and culture

Parks and Open Spaces: Protect and expand a system of parks, boulevards and open spaces

Smart City: Create a smart city through innovation and new technology

Strong and Accessible Neighborhoods: Create strong and desirable neighborhoods and ensure housing choice and affordability

Sustainable and Equitable Growth: Target physical investments strategically and ensure that growth and revitalization are sustainable and equitable

Well-Designed City: Promote high quality design in public investments and development

CITYWIDE GOAL:

CONNECTED CITY

TO INCREASE MOBILITY OPTIONS AND CREATE A MORE CONNECTED CITY

Cities exist to connect people to one another economically, socially, and culturally. They are shaped by the patterns of those connections.

A connected city provides the physical infrastructure that gets people to the places they want to go in a safe, convenient, accessible, and inviting way. Connected cities promote equity by enabling connections between neighbors of different backgrounds, providing improved access to opportunities, and mitigating the harmful aspects of major barriers, such as highways, which have disproportionately displaced and disconnected low-income households and minorities in the past. A well-connected city typically has a highly connected street system with pedestrian-scale blocks that connect adjacent neighborhoods and districts (see Connected City Objective).

The city’s transportation system is a complex and connected network of streets, sidewalks, bus lines, streetcars, trails, and bicycle facilities. Parkways and boulevards are critical pieces of the overall mobility and traffic-circulation system. How the city’s transportation system is built and managed impacts how people and goods move around the city (see the Transportation Topic and the Mobility, Complete Communities, Public Transit and Access to Jobs Objectives). The transportation system also has a major influence on land use and development patterns.

After decades of public and private investment, it is exceptionally easy to get around Kansas City by car. But there has been less investment in other transportation modes, such as walking, biking, and public transit. The city’s original public streetcar system was removed and replaced with buses to make room for personal vehicles. Limited investment in public transit and increasing sprawl in the region has made getting around Kansas City increasingly difficult for people without access to a personal vehicle. This disparity in access to the region’s opportunities creates a major equity issue. The city must continue to improve multimodal mobility and safety for people walking, biking, and using public transit while also maintaining efficient traffic flow for all vehicle types (see Mobility and Vision Zero Objectives).

The Playbook aims to re-integrate diverse mobility options into Kansas City, with the understanding that mobility means more than simply moving people around. It impacts economic growth, public health, land use, and development, and ultimately quality of life for Kansas City residents.

CITYWIDE GOAL: CONNECTED CITY

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the Connected City Goal are highlighted below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at a livable wage for our residents. A well-connected city with a variety of mobility options has improved access to housing and jobs, which gives all people choice and affordability in deciding where to live and work. Transportation investments and land use patterns that reduce dependency on vehicles can significantly reduce household monthly expenses.

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments. A well-connected city with safe and convenient mobility options will help ensure these amenities are accessible. Transportation infrastructure (roadways, bridges, transit stations, etc.) should incorporate public art and contribute to vibrant environments.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive. Desirable places are inherently well-connected, with a diverse range of safe and convenient mobility options.

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city. Transportation investments can help ensure the city grows sustainably and equitably, particularly when they improve access to daily needs, or mobility and safety for people in areas of distress and disinvestment or promote modes that help reduce greenhouse gasses. Transportation investment can also strategically direct growth and development in fiscally and environmentally sustainable patterns.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation. A well-connected city with diverse transportation options has a lower environmental impact from fossil-fuel-powered vehicles and higher use of alternative transportation modes, including active transportation that incorporates walking or biking. It also encourages more compact, efficient, sustainable land use planning and development.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage. A well-connected city with safe and convenient mobility options will help ensure these resources and landmarks are accessible to all people. The city’s transportation system can also enhance its history and culture by incorporating wayfinding, interpretive markers, historic district signs, and public art that reflects its cultural heritage.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development. Smart mobility is a burgeoning field of innovation and technology, solving transportation problems with responsive, creative, and data-driven solutions. It is valuable, if not essential, for the city to invest in, adapt, and use technology to tackle complex issues in its transportation network.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods. The city’s system of boulevards and parkways are a highly visible aspect of Kansas City’s identity and provide important connectivity throughout the city. The city should ensure all transportation infrastructure has high-quality, attractive design that enhances Kansas City’s identity.

CITYWIDE GOAL: CONNECTED CITY

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

Diverse mobility options and a well-connected city allow people to connect to jobs, education, and services with choice, safety, efficiency, and affordability.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

A well-connected city provides walkable, safe, and convenient streets, sidewalks, bike infrastructure, and transit that give people options to meet their transportation needs, whether traveling down the street or across town.

Physical Beauty: Our city will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

The city's rights-of-way, roads, bridges, transit stations, and airports all present significant opportunities to improve the physical beauty of the city through aesthetic enhancements and high-quality design.

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

Kansas City and its regional partners are more successful when they work together rather than alone. Coordinated mobility operations will benefit commerce, freight, and movement of people regionally and provide links to markets outside the region. Some transportation improvements will require regional partners.

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Transportation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change. Large paved areas needed for much of the transportation infrastructure increase stormwater runoff and exacerbate flooding. Increasing the use of public transit and reducing the use of personal vehicles in Kansas City will lead to major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. Reducing the number of surface parking lots and large expanses of impermeable surfaces will help the city manage stormwater runoff and improve water quality. Providing a comprehensive multimodal transportation network will improve public health by encouraging transportation that involves walking and biking.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers.

A thriving economy depends on the transportation system that meets the needs of a diverse range of employers, customers and employees. Robust economic activity relies on the ability of residents to reach employment, shopping and services and for businesses to ship and receive goods via truck, rail and air.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean, and safe.

A well-connected city has walkable, clean, safe environments that link people from their homes to their daily activities and communities.

CITYWIDE GOAL: CONNECTED CITY

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the Connected City Goal are highlighted below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the Connected City Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life.

To accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes, a community must meet the basic transportation needs of its residents by providing safe and convenient mobility options. These communities should be complete communities that meet all residents’ daily needs.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high-quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements.

Transportation infrastructure and rights-of-way, some of the most visible parts of the city, must be designed to be attractive and inviting and contribute to the city’s physical beauty.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Investment in transportation can steer growth and development in fiscally and environmentally sustainable patterns.

CITYWIDE GOAL: CONNECTED CITY

RELATED BIG IDEAS

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system. The transportation system provides the means for physical mobility around the city. This system must support all types of transportation and be convenient and well-connected.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions. Many new technologies are emerging in transportation, such as electric vehicles, autonomous cars, smart-parking technology, transportation communication systems, and data analytics. These systems will help Kansas City maintain safe and efficient mobility even as the climate, technology, resources, and society change dramatically over the coming decades.

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around five Topics that organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those topics directly related to the Connected City Goal are highlighted below.

Environment and Climate Change Housing and Neighborhoods Land Use and Development Public Spaces and Amenities Transportation

CITYWIDE GOAL: CONNECTED CITY

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that topic. The Objectives also set priorities for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the Connected City Goal:

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Objectives secondarily related to the Connected City Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

TO ENSURE THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT STRIVES TO ELIMINATE DISPARITIES, EMBRACE DIVERSITY, AND CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

A city’s physical form and built environment can lessen disparities across diverse communities, or it can make them worse. To eliminate disparities, Kansas City must use an “equity in all policies” approach to guide its planning efforts and policy development stemming from the Playbook.

Equitable development draws on both environmental justice and smart growth and describes how to create communities and regions where residents of all incomes, races, and ethnicities participate in and benefit from decisions that shape the places where they live. Equitable development is a way to meet the needs of underserved communities, with policies and programs that reduce disparities and foster places that are healthy and vibrant. This approach aims to provide residents of all incomes, races, and ethnicities with access to their economic, social, and health needs in a safe and healthy environment. Equitable development also requires that residents are engaged and empowered in decisions that shape their neighborhood.

Where a person lives in Kansas City can have a big impact on the level of inequity they experience. (See the Equity Mapping tool for more information on disparities between different communities in Kansas City) Disparities are greater in underserved communities, predominantly populated by people with low incomes, people of color, and immigrants. Disparities result in limited access to the essentials for economic, social, and personal well-being, such as:

• Daily needs (shopping, services, recreation, etc.)
• Jobs and economic opportunities
• Education
• Amenities (parks, public gathering spaces, etc.)
• Affordable housing
• Healthy food
• Healthcare
• Transportation
• High-speed internet
• Strong social networks and opportunities for social interaction

Economic disinvestment and the resulting disparities also lead to more exposure to things that negatively impact personal health, safety, and quality of life, such as:

• Blight and abandonment
• Dangerous buildings
• Crime
• Predatory lending and other predatory financial practices
• Poor health outcomes and shorter life expectancy
• Major physical barriers such as highways that divide communities and bring noise and pollution
• Traffic deaths and injuries
• Environmental contamination and pollution
• Incompatible land uses
• Natural hazards, such as flooding

Eliminating disparities will ensure all communities – regardless of where they are or who lives there – can thrive to their fullest potential.

CITYWIDE GOAL: DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

Playbook Equity Statements

How can the KC Spirit Playbook address these disparities? Through public engagement and discussions with the Empowerment Committee, a list of “Supporting Equity Statements” were crafted (below) that describe how an equitable Kansas City would look in the built environment.

Equitable development touches all Goals and Objectives in the Playbook, and strategies related to equity issues are embedded throughout. To achieve the goal of eliminating disparities, the city will work to:

• Improve convenient, safe, and affordable mobility options, particularly to improve access to jobs, education, and daily needs (see Access to Jobs, Mobility, Public Transit, and Complete Communities Objectives)
• Improve traffic safety (see Mobility and Vision Zero Objectives)
• Improve access to amenities (see City Attractions, Public Spaces, and Parks and Open Spaces Objectives)
• Mitigate the impacts of climate change and protect areas from natural hazards (see Environmental Health and Resiliency and Development Patterns Objectives)
• Increase neighborhood organization, capacity, and partnerships and revitalize distressed areas (see Community Development and Revitalization Objective)
• Empower neighborhoods and better engage them in decisions that affect their community (see Community Development and Revitalization Objective)
• Improve physical and social connections and bridge historic divisions and barriers (see Connected City Objective)
• Ensure quality development in all areas of the city (see Quality Development Objective)
• Prevent displacement (see Displacement Mitigation Objective)
• Ensure equitable internet access for everyone (see Access to Jobs and Smart City Technology and Trends Objectives)
• Improve access to good-quality affordable housing and increase housing variety (see Housing Affordability and Diversity and Complete Communities Objectives)
• Ensure equitable distribution of public improvements and city services. Target improvements to areas most in need (see Development Patterns and Community Development and Revitalization Objectives)
• Preserve historic landmarks and buildings in underserved communities (see Historic Preservation Objective)
• Improve health outcomes and life expectancy (see Public Health Objective)
• Ensure that as the city grows, underserved communities benefit from new development (see Development Patterns Objective)
• Mitigate exposure to poor water and air quality and contamination in underserved communities (see Environmental Health and Resiliency, Public Health, and Parks and Open Spaces Objectives)
• Revitalize distressed, abandoned, and underused areas. Improve neighborhood health and maintenance, and reduce illegal dumping and trash (see Community Development and Revitalization Objective)

To measure the city’s progress toward becoming more equitable, it must create metrics that can assess policies, both existing and future ones, on how they affect social, gender, cultural, ethnic, racial, economic, and religious equity.

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the Diversity and Opportunity Goal are highlighted in grey below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at a livable wage for our residents.

Supporting affordable communities will create diversity and opportunity through access to housing and economic mobility, which will strengthen communities and improve the quality of life for all residents.

CITYWIDE GOAL: DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments.     Cultural amenities provide a platform for community members to come together around their unique cultures, histories, and traditions. This builds community pride, promotes cultural understanding and engagement, and supports local arts.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive.     An economically thriving community has employment opportunities and is rooted in a diversity of people, viewpoints, and workforces. Facilitating access to this pool of talent is key to attract and maintain employers. And developing desirable places to live is key to attract employees for these businesses.

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.     Community engagement is the foundation of equitable growth. It reveals which reinvestments are needed in distressed and abandoned areas. Fiscally sustainable growth will ensure the city has adequate resources to provide maintenance and services equitably to all areas.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.     A healthy environment provides mental and physical health benefits to all Kansas Citians.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage.     Preserving and enhancing a community’s culture and history is essential to equitable development.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.     Promoting access to technology and innovation for everyone improves outcomes in governance and education. Technology can also greatly improve how the city provides services and guides physical development.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.     Increasing opportunity throughout the city will enhance the diverse neighborhoods that contribute to Kansas City’s individuality.

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.     To develop and maintain livable neighborhoods, the city must support affordable communities with equitable access to work, supportive services, and educational opportunities.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.     Communities that foster equitable opportunity, sustainable development and growth, and strong social ties have diverse mobility options and safe, walkable places.

Physical Beauty: Our city will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.     Improving the physical beauty and quality of development in all neighborhoods is important to removing disparities between neighborhoods.

CITYWIDE GOAL: DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

There must be a regional approach to reducing health and economic inequalities among localities. With regional collaboration, the city can improve outcomes for low-income communities while also building healthy metropolitan regions.

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Improving the city’s resiliency will help protect vulnerable populations from the impacts of climate change.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers.

Diversity in Kansas City’s workforce and businesses will promote economic growth and job creation, resulting in a growth-oriented, resilient, competitive economy. Diversity helps mitigate risk during economic downturns because with it, the city isn’t reliant on a single industry or demographic group.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean, and safe.

A safe, walkable environment that’s well-connected to other parts of the city supports public health and well-being by providing access to essential services, physical activity, community and social ties, and accessible infrastructure for everyone.

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the Connected City Goal are highlighted below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

CITYWIDE GOAL: DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the Diversity and Opportunity Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life Kansas City’s diverse communities require people-focused and place-based policies that are tailored to support their diverse needs. This means creating a diverse housing stock, providing a wide-range of economic opportunities, and targeting investments and services to meet a community’s needs.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high-quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements Policies and improvements to beautify Kansas City should benefit all communities.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner Equitable and fiscally sustainable development directs investment to areas where it’s most needed and ensures the city can provide high-quality maintenance and services. The result will be more livable neighborhoods citywide that are attractive to people of all ages.

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system The city must ensure residents in all communities, especially in economically distressed and disinvested areas, have safe and convenient access to daily needs.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions The city must ensure vulnerable populations are not disproportionately disadvantaged by future trends and events such as climate change. The city must ensure everyone benefits equitably from new technology, by promoting inclusivity and equal access to technology and innovation.

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around 5 Topics that organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those Topics directly related to the Diversity and Opportunity Goal are highlighted grey below:

Environment and Climate Change Housing and Neighborhoods Land Use and Development Public Spaces and Amenities Transportation

CITYWIDE GOAL: DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific Topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that Topic. The Objectives also set priorities and metrics for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the Diversity and Opportunity Goal:

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Objectives secondarily related to the Diversity and Opportunity Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL ATTRACT AND RETAIN YOUNG PEOPLE AND ALLOW RESIDENTS TO AGE IN PLACE

Policy decisions related to the built environment should be sensitive to the needs and experiences of all Kansas Citians. It’s anticipated that Kansas City will see significant growth in its elderly population in the future. At the same time, the city has communities filled with growing families and young professionals, plus many higher education institutions that attract students of all ages. The city must fully support all Kansas Citians so they can move through the stages of their lives with the housing, economic opportunities, and social enjoyment they need.

Kansas City must ensure it has sufficient housing stock to meet the housing needs of people in different life stages. A built environment that is sensitive to the needs and experiences of all Kansas Citians fosters social connections between different age groups, resulting in thriving, intergenerational communities. The city must also ensure that all people have access to healthcare, public transportation, education, life-long learning opportunities, recreational activities, and other programs that support aging in place.

Cities that are designed to cater to peoples’ needs at different life stages attract more economic development and employment opportunities by fostering a diverse workforce with a wide range of experiences and skill sets. This enables young people to put down roots in the communities where they grew up, reinvesting their energy and incomes in their neighborhoods. It also enables senior citizens to age in place in their community, comfortably and securely.

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the Environment for People of All Ages Goal are highlighted in grey below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at livable wages for our residents. Affordability at a variety of ages allows people choice and security in how they organize their lives long-term.

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments. Parks and open spaces offer people a variety of benefits at all ages, such as low-barrier opportunities for activity and social connections and a location for cultural expression in the form of festivals and events.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive. Kansas City must attract and retain residents throughout their lives by developing and sustaining desirable communities for people of all ages to live, work, raise their families, retire, and then continue to socially and economically benefit their communities.

CITYWIDE GOAL: ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.

Equitable and fiscally sustainable growth will result in better maintenance and city services for neighborhoods and reinvestment in distressed areas, making all areas of the city more attractive and livable for people of all ages, incomes, and lifestyles.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.

A degraded environment negatively impacts the most vulnerable populations, which typically include children and older people. These age groups are disproportionally sensitive to exposure to poor air or water quality or to extreme weather linked to climate change. Actively pursuing a healthy environment improves physical and mental health for people of all ages.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage.

Preserving Kanas City’s historic landmarks and celebrating its culture and history contributes to the city’s authenticity and sense of place. Historic places connect people to the past and make Kansas City a more compelling, attractive place to live.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.

Better access to technology, especially emerging technology, benefits all people by connecting them with helpful resources in all aspects of their lives, from education to health to employment to daily needs and services.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.

Kansas City is built around its midwestern heritage; blues and jazz roots; picturesque parkways and boulevards; and its agricultural and automotive origins. This heritage is preserved and embraced by Kansas Citians of all ages today, and it is important to continue to retain and celebrate the city’s character as it develops into a modern city.

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic, while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

The core of a robust neighborhood is a diverse, multi-generational population of people who support each other. That’s possible when there is affordable housing in a variety of types that accommodates people of various ages and lifestyles. This allows people, throughout their lives, to support younger and older neighbors and family members.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

Ensuring there are mobility options that serve people of all lifestyles, incomes, ages, and physical abilities is a core component of creating a community for all ages. A person’s mobility needs shift throughout their life. The city must plan a transportation system that accommodates those changing needs, and the needs of their caregivers, in all neighborhoods.

Physical Beauty: Our City will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

A physically beautiful city with boulevards, parkways, fountains, and historic landmarks will attract people of all ages and will help Kansas City attract and retain residents.

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

As Kansas City implements strategies to make the city more attractive and livable for people of all ages and needs, it must collaborate with regional partners to share ideas and strategies.

CITYWIDE GOAL: ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes. A resilient city will be better prepared to mitigate potential impacts of climate change and the disproportionate impacts it has on vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers. A local economy that provides economic opportunity for all residents is a critical component to creating a city for people of all ages.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean, and safe. Neighborhoods must first be clean and safe to accommodate people of all ages and lifestyles. Walkable communities promote active lifestyles, foster social connection, and are generally more desirable places to live for everyone.

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the Environment for People of All Ages Goal are highlighted in grey below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

CITYWIDE GOAL: ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the Environment for People of All Ages Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality of life.

Ensuring Kansas City neighborhoods have housing options and mobility options that give access to daily needs, so that people of all ages, incomes, abilities and lifestyles are accommodated, is perhaps the most important Big Idea related to this goal.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements.

A beautiful city will be more attractive to everyone, especially those considering this factor in their decisions about where to live, work and learn.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Equitable and fiscally sustainable development directs investment to areas where it’s needed and ensures the city can provide high-quality maintenance and services. The result will be more livable neighborhoods citywide that are attractive to people of all ages.

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system.

Ensuring safe and convenient mobility options are available for everyone is needed to create neighborhoods that support people of all ages.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions.

The city must ensure vulnerable populations are not disproportionately disadvantaged by future trends and events such as climate change. The city must also ensure everyone benefits equitably from new technologies by promoting inclusivity and equal access to opportunities and innovation.

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around five Topics that organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those topics directly related to the Environment for People of All Ages Goal are highlighted below.

Environment and Climate Change Housing and Neighborhoods Land Use and Development Public Spaces and Amenities Transportation

CITYWIDE GOAL: ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that topic. The Objectives also set priorities and metrics for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the Environment for People of All Ages Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

TO PROMOTE A HEALTHY CITY THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCY

A healthy environment is critical to a healthy city. Natural systems clean the city’s water and air, preserve important ecological functions, manage stormwater, and help mitigate the impacts of climate change. These benefits are seen in the quality of life of Kansas Citians, general public health, and in the local economy, with advantages such as lower healthcare costs and higher property values.

Kansas City faces several challenges to addressing its environmental issues. At a national and regional level, the city is responsible for doing its part to combat climate change. A more local issue is maintaining and improving air and water quality. Preventing the continued loss of crucial native habitats to urban expansion and the degradation of water systems in the region is an issue particularly tied to the city’s built environment. Kansas City has undertaken sustainability initiatives such as the Climate Protection and Resiliency Plan and programs to promote sustainable development to address these challenges.

The Healthy Environment Goal aims to use environmental planning to shape land use decisions, green infrastructure development, sustainable transportation planning, waste management policies, and climate mitigation actions in a way that allows Kansas Citians to participate in the development of a more sustainable city.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the Healthy Environment Goal are highlighted in grey below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at livable wages for our residents.

Making homes more energy-efficient can result in cost savings to families and significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments.

Restoring and preserving natural systems and growing the city sustainably can preserve historic and cultural resources located within or adjacent to natural areas.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive.

A connected system of open spaces and preserved natural areas will improve the livability and desirability of all neighborhoods. Sustainable development practices will reduce impacts of climate change and protect neighborhoods from potential hazards.

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.

Reinvestment in previously developed areas can offer opportunities to incorporate green building standards, better stormwater management, improve energy efficiency, increase clean energy production, and restore or enhance degraded natural areas.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.

The built environment significantly impacts the many interconnected systems that determine the health of the natural environment. These systems must be protected and expanded to ensure Kansas City’s long-term success and the personal well-being of all Kansas Citians.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage.

Many of the city’s historic and cultural resources are located within or adjacent to natural open spaces, rivers and streams, and sensitive environmental areas. As the city preserves and restores natural areas, it should be careful to also preserve and enhance any historic or cultural sites.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.

New technologies can be used to help mitigate the effects of climate change, clean air and water, monitor environmental conditions, and restore natural areas.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.

A clean and healthy environment, protected from hazards related to climate change, will be essential to preserve Kansas City’s city amenities, natural resources (e.g., rivers, streams, natural open spaces, habitats), and neighborhoods (e.g., urban, suburban, rural).

CITYWIDE GOAL: HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic, while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

Livable neighborhoods depend on a clean and healthy environment and protection from natural hazards and the effects of climate change.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

Well-connected, efficient, and sustainable mobility options reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They reduce the need for a vehicle and reduce vehicle miles traveled due to inefficient urban sprawl..

Physical Beauty: Our City will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

A system of healthy and clean streams, open spaces, green infrastructure, street trees, and native landscaping in public spaces will help to beautify the city.

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

Regional solutions will be required to mitigate the impacts of climate change and to create healthy environmental systems that are not confined by municipal boundaries or state lines.

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Sustainable growth balances human, societal and economic needs with environmental needs, in an effort to create thriving, resilient communities over time.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers.

Degraded environmental conditions, pollution, contamination, severe weather, natural hazards and climate change can all have negative financial impacts on the city’s economy. Resiliency is good for a thriving economy.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean and safe.

Walkable communities promote compact development, which reduces the impact of the city’s growth on natural habitats and systems. These communities more frequently use transportation that involves walking or biking and less frequently use vehicles, resulting in less traffic congestion and carbon emissions and improved air quality.

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the Healthy Environment Goal are highlighted in grey below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend..

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the Healthy Environment Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life.

To create neighborhoods that accommodate a diverse range of lifestyles and incomes, the city must ensure that all areas benefit from a clean environment and protection from potential contamination or natural hazards.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements.

Natural open spaces, native landscaping, trees, and green infrastructure can clean air and water and mitigate urban heat-island effects. They also improve the appearance of the city.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Sustainable growth helps ensure the city develops in harmony with natural systems, without damaging sensitive environmental areas.

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system.

Natural open spaces can also facilitate increased connections through trails, and landscaped streets are inherently more walkable and interesting.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions.

Future proofing the city means ensuring the city is prepared for the impacts of climate change and employs new technologies to monitor and predict environmental conditions and to clean and restore sensitive environmental areas and habitats.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around five Topics that organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those topics directly related to the Healthy Environment Goal are highlighted below.

Environment and Climate Change

Housing and Neighborhoods

Land Use and Development

Public Spaces and Amenities

Transportation

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that topic. The Objectives also set priorities and metrics for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the Healthy Environment Goal:

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Objectives secondarily related to the Healthy Environment Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

HISTORY, ARTS, AND CULTURE

TO PRESERVE AND CELEBRATE OUR COMMUNITY CHARACTER, HISTORY, ARTS, AND CULTURE

Kansas City’s identity is based on its history and a layering of diverse cultures, economies, and the prairie landscape from which Kansas City grew. This distinctive character fosters a sense of pride, identity, and social connection among Kansas Citians.

History, art, and culture is threaded throughout Kansas City, in public spaces such as the city’s celebrated fountains, parks, and boulevards, in museums, and in historic neighborhoods with distinctive architecture (see Parks and Open Spaces Objective). These places showcase the varied cultural, artistic, and musical traditions that make Kansas City unique, with a character all its own (see Public Spaces and City Attractions Objectives).

However, this shared history has not always included the experiences of all Kansas Citians. Certain groups and people have historically been either deprioritized or excluded from the accepted version of Kansas City’s history, and that must be remediated. The experiences and perspectives of all Kansas Citians should be recognized and respected in the city’s built environment.

The Playbook aims to preserve the city’s character in its architecture, landmarks, and districts (see Historic Preservation Objective). It is also important to preserve the art, monuments, and objects produced by the cultures and communities of the past (see Public Spaces Objective). The city must also preserve spaces that host festivals and events and foster their expansion over time (see City Attractions Objective).

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the History, Arts, and Culture Goal are highlighted below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at a livable wage for our residents.

The city can attract visitors, tourism spending, and business opportunities by celebrating its history. For example, by preserving landmarks that emphasize the city’s history and promoting cultural community events and attractions.

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments.

Kansas City’s diverse cultural amenities offer a variety of experiences and contribute to a vibrant environment, providing opportunity for celebration, connection, and improved well-being.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive.

A city with a vibrant arts and culture scene is attractive to employers and creative people, encourages community engagement, and supports economic and community development.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HISTORY, ARTS, AND CULTURE

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.

Fiscally sustainable growth will help ensure the city can maintain elements, such as landmarks and parks, that preserve the city’s treasured history and culture. Equitable growth will ensure everyone can access these amenities.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.

Many of the city’s historic and cultural sites are in or adjacent to natural areas. As the city restores and protects natural areas, it also should preserve these historic resources.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage.

While commemorating this cultural heritage, the city should collaborate with the groups and organizations that this heritage pertains to. These collaborations could include public education; the maintenance and adaptive reuse of buildings or places; and securing funding for preservation efforts.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.

New technologies will create new opportunities for smart city infrastructure that can preserve, enhance, and improve historic, cultural, and arts attractions.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.

To retain Kansas City’s unique character, the city must first identify and preserve the elements that define that character. At the same time, the city must balance its development needs and a growing economy over the long term.

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

Preserving and enhancing historic resources makes all neighborhoods stronger, as does access to arts amenities, events, and other city attractions.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

As the city plans for and builds infrastructure to improve general mobility, it must consider access to historic and cultural amenities, too.

Physical Beauty: Our city will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

Kansas City must protect its cultural heritage through preservation, adaptive reuse of buildings, beautification efforts, and public art that highlight the city’s historic and cultural structures.

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan..

Kansas City shares a history and vision for the future with other cities and municipalities in the region. This collective identity supports regional collaboration and encourages joint tourism initiatives and cultural exchange.

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Kansas City can grow resiliently by using history and culture as building blocks for its long-term vision. For example, adaptive reuse of buildings and spaces can preserve the city’s character while encouraging sustainable development. For example, adaptive reuse of buildings and spaces preserves character character while encouraging sustainable development that works with today’s needs.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HISTORY, ARTS, AND CULTURE

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers. Economic and community development centered around history, arts, and culture is an important part of a thriving, diverse economy. These amenities attract visitors and make Kansas City a more attractive place to live or establish a business.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean, and safe. Historic and cultural amenities and public art make a community more walkable by providing destinations people want to walk to and by making the walk more interesting.

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the History, Arts, and Culture Goal are highlighted below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HISTORY, ARTS, AND CULTURE

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the History, Arts, and Culture Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life.

Arts and cultural amenities improve quality of life for residents and make neighborhoods more attractive and complete.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high-quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements.

Beautiful places are often the result of art and architecture added to the landscape over time. This layering is visible in Kansas City’s high-quality design. It must be maintained and integrated in new, high-quality development.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner.

Preserving the city’s natural resources while expanding ways to experience them, sustainably and with environmental sensitivity, will help ensure the city can maintain historic and cultural amenities and everyone can access them.

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system.

Infrastructure for multimodal transportation should be planned to ensure safe and convenient access to historic and cultural attractions, making neighborhoods more walkable.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions.

The city can use new technologies to promote historic, cultural, and arts amenities. As the impacts of climate change are better understood, the city should develop strategies to ensure the preservation and continued maintenance of these amenities.

CITYWIDE GOAL: HISTORY, ARTS, AND CULTURE

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around five Topics that organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those topics directly related to the History, Arts, and Culture Goal are highlighted below.

Environment and Climate Change Housing and Neighborhoods Land Use and Development Public Spaces and Amenities Transportation

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that topic. The Objectives also set priorities and metrics for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the History, Arts, and Culture City Goal:

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Objectives secondarily related to the History, Arts, and Culture Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

TO PROTECT AND EXPAND A SYSTEM OF PARKS, BOULEVARDS, AND OPEN SPACES

An interconnected system of high-quality parks and open spaces is vital to the health of all Kansas Citians and the livability of the city's neighborhoods. Parks provide places for recreation, exercise, and community gathering, and they sustain the environment's resiliency to the effects of climate change.

Kansas City's growth historically has been guided by its beloved system of parkways and boulevards (the oldest portions of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places). These distinctive roadways not only serve a transportation function, but also beautify the city and help set the tone for adjacent development. By maintaining and expanding this network, the city creates open space while supporting a framework for orderly growth and development (see Development Patterns and Quality Development Objective).

While it grows, Kansas City must ensure that historically underserved communities have equitable access to parks and open spaces. That effort must be balanced with planning for parks in areas of new growth (see Parks and Open Spaces and Complete Communities Objectives).

Open spaces can be on public or private land. The city should connect its open spaces with its system of parks, boulevards, and trails and facilitate public access and recreation where appropriate. To solidify those connections, the city needs to create a citywide plan that defines the entire system and which can be refined during area plan updates (see Parks and Open Spaces Objective).

The physical development of the city will directly affect the health of Kansas Citians and the environment. As Kansas City grows, it can improve and protect environmental systems by preserving open spaces where needed to ensure everyone has a healthy, safe, and vibrant city to call home.

The city must preserve and enhance its existing open spaces as it develops. That means guiding development so it harmonizes with rather than harms the natural environment (see Environmental Health and Resiliency Objective).

As Kansas City grows, it must continue to invest in parks and open spaces to ensure recreational opportunities for residents and visitors, improve the resiliency of the natural environment, improve public health, and support economic development and tourism.

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook's Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the Parks and Open Spaces Goal are highlighted below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at livable wages for our residents.

Parks and open spaces are desirable neighborhood amenities and help make a complete community. The city must ensure that all Kansas Citians can easily access these amenities.

CITYWIDE GOAL: PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments.

Public spaces, parks, and open spaces provide cultural and natural vibrancy. They encourage community interaction, highlight cultural diversity, and foster creativity.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive.

Parks and open spaces improve quality of life for everyone. They promote physical health and community connection and attract residents, visitors, and employers.

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.

Public open spaces and trails are a low-barrier, low-cost place for physical activity. To create equitable neighborhoods, the city must provide equal access to these places.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.

Parks and open spaces protect ecosystems by preserving their ecological functions, such as infiltrating and cleaning stormwater, providing wildlife habitat, and cleaning the air.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City's history and cultural heritage.

Many historic and cultural resources are in or adjacent to parks and natural areas. As the city expands its system of parks and open spaces, it should preserve those historic resources.

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.

Kansas City can use smart city technology to track how its parks and boulevards are used and monitor the environmental conditions that affect its open spaces. The city can use data to refine plans to improve and expand these systems.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.

Kansas City was designed to include parks, boulevards, and open spaces, and these elements are still key to its unique identity. Preserving them while the city grows will keep Kansas City rooted in its origins and serve current and future residents.

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

Parks and open spaces complement and strengthen all neighborhoods and housing types by providing shared green space for recreation, community gathering, and social connection.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

Well-connected mobility options – public transit, bike lanes, trails, and pedestrian pathways – boost equitable access to parks and open spaces. The system of parks, boulevards, and open spaces also physically connects communities.

Physical Beauty: Our city will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

The landscaping, architecture, art, and general quality of parks and open spaces break up the monotony of urban landscapes and provide natural context for city architecture and infrastructure.

CITYWIDE GOAL: PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

As the city plans for parks and open spaces, it should ensure these systems are connected to adjacent communities.

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Parks and open spaces preserve natural areas, natural systems, and green infrastructure that are critical to the city’s overall resiliency to climate change.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers.

Parkways and boulevards are a major part of the overall mobility and traffic circulation system, allowing people to access jobs and other economic opportunities. Parks and open spaces also make the city a more livable and attractive place to visit, live, or establish a business.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean, and safe.

Parks, trails, and open spaces, especially the city’s boulevard system, are part of the network of walkable transportation routes that connect the city.

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the Parks and Open Spaces Goal are highlighted below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

CITYWIDE GOAL: PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the Parks and Open Spaces Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life.

Parks, open spaces, and boulevards in Kansas City are important parts of complete neighborhoods. Through them, people of all ages, incomes and physical abilities can access amenities that promote personal health.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high-quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements.

High-quality design, construction, and maintenance of parks, open spaces, and boulevards should be evident in the city's beautiful landscapes.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner.

As the city develops, it must preserve its connected system of open spaces while also making needed park and boulevard improvements.

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system.

Parks, boulevards, and open spaces are an important part of efficient and safe mobility for residents and visitors. They often contain trails and other mobility connections, too.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions.

Parks and open spaces are crucial to making the city more resilient to the effects of climate change.

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around five Topics organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those topics directly related to the Parks and Open Spaces Goal are highlighted below:

Environment and Climate Change

Housing and Neighborhoods

Land Use and Development

Public Spaces and Amenities

Transportation

CITYWIDE GOAL: PARKS AND OPEN SPACES

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that topic. The Objectives also set priorities and metrics for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the Parks and Open Spaces Goal:

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Objectives secondarily related to the Parks and Open Spaces Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

SMART CITY

TO CREATE A SMART CITY THROUGH INNOVATION AND NEW TECHNOLOGY

Smart city technology uses data-driven decision-making improve how a city functions. These technologies can be used to improve how the city provides services, designs transportation systems, protects environmental health, and much more.

By using data-driven technologies, Kansas City can become a ‘smart city’ by improving its service delivery and building infrastructure that helps the city function more efficiently and sustainably. This ‘smart’ (data-based) technology makes the most of partnerships between public and private entities, which can share data and capacity to find mutually beneficial outcomes.

Take transportation, for example. Smart technologies can use data about vehicle traffic, public transit, and bike and pedestrian traffic to improve traffic flow and safety and anticipate future needs. Data can be used to improve parking, too, or help the city adapt to emerging mobility trends such as the growth of app-based ridesharing. Mobility technologies such as autonomous vehicles may change how curb space is used and how vehicles are stored when they’re not in use.

For utility services, smart technology can improve consumption and safety in energy, water, and wastewater systems. By leveraging data, the city can foster greater efficiency in recycling, green waste practices, and waste management overall.

Smart technologies also can bolster citizen engagement, improve the city’s approach to equity and inclusion, and attract businesses and entrepreneurs in technology fields and other sectors of the economy.

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

The Playbook has 15 Vision statements for Kansas City. The Playbook’s Vision describes what we want to be and outlines how we want our city to develop in the future, in line with community values and priorities. Those that are closely related to the Smart City Goal are highlighted below:

Affordable Community: We will create and nurture an affordable community and strive for abundant opportunity and employment at livable wages for our residents.

New technologies can lower the cost of housing and transportation costs while increasing access to economic opportunities for residents.

Cultural Amenities: Our diverse cultural amenities, parks, and open spaces will provide a rich variety of experiences and vibrant environments.

Technology and innovation have the potential to enhance how the city’s cultural and public amenities are used, promoted, and accessed.

Desirable Place: Our community will attract people and employers through being a desirable place to earn, learn, live, and thrive.

Cities that use and participate in the development of innovative technologies attract companies that work in that arena, drawing employees and business to the city and driving economic growth.

CITYWIDE GOAL: SMART CITY

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Equitable and Fiscally Sustainable: Our capital investments and growth will be equitable while maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the city.

Smart technology can help the city to evaluate potential environmental and fiscal impacts of land use plans and development proposals. Smart technology also can be an equalizer; it can help uplift communities that have been historically disadvantaged.

Healthy Environmental Systems: We will promote and value the health of our environmental and natural systems and protect them from degradation.

Smart technology can gather data from complex, changing environmental systems. By using smart technology to track changes in these systems, the city can mitigate harms to the environment.

History and Heritage: We will preserve places that celebrate all facets of Kansas City’s history and cultural heritage.

Technology helps us to preserve and restore historic sites and buildings, interpret and educate the public about the past, and monitor and protect spaces and places for future generations..

Innovation and Creativity: We will cultivate innovation and creativity in our governance, business, and educational practices related to smart city technology and physical development.

Cultivating innovation in technology and transforming Kansas City into a smart city begins with a culture that supports it. This involves public and private collaboration, strategic planning, and investment at many levels.

KC Uniqueness: We will preserve and enhance those things that make Kansas City unique – the small town feel with big city amenities and the wide range of diverse environments and neighborhoods.

Smart technology can provide metrics to help the city evaluate the elements that contribute to its unique identity, like in the identification and tracking of historical assets.

Livable Neighborhoods and Diverse Housing: Our neighborhoods will be strong, livable, and authentic while ensuring diverse housing opportunities.

Smart technology can create more sustainable infrastructure in neighborhoods. It can also help to expand vital services to Kansas Citians and make these services more accessible to all residents.

Mobility Options: Our well-connected and accessible neighborhoods and districts will be walkable and served by reliable, safe, and convenient mobility options.

Smart technology can help create and maintain a well-connected city through real-time data collection, intelligent and responsive transportation systems, and integration of new modes of mobility into the urban fabric.

Physical Beauty: Our city will be renowned for the physical beauty of its streets, buildings, public spaces, and infrastructure.

Smart technologies can amplify the city’s physical beauty by enhancing lighting, green spaces, public art, environmental monitoring, and digital displays. By leveraging these technologies, Kansas City can create more engaging and attractive public spaces that inspire residents and visitors alike. The city also can use new technologies to visualize and evaluate design alternatives that enhance the quality and functionality of designs.

Regional Collaboration: Our city will continue to be the heart of the region. We will remain collaborative with our regional partners with a renewed focus on building partnerships to achieve the aspirations of this plan.

Innovative technology can help Kansas City remain collaborative with its regional partners through data sharing, joint initiatives, improved communication, and shared infrastructure. By leveraging innovative technologies, Kansas City can build stronger relationships with regional partners to create a more connected, prosperous region.

CITYWIDE GOAL: SMART CITY

RELATED VISION STATEMENTS

Sustainable Growth and Resilient City: Our community will grow in a sustainable manner and be resilient and adaptable to future changes.

Innovative technology helps communities grow sustainably and build resiliency to changes in the natural environment by monitoring environmental conditions, improving energy and water management, enabling effective community engagement, providing innovative transportation options, improving disaster response and recovery, and promoting sustainable building design.

Thriving Economy: Our economy will be resilient, inclusive, diverse, and thriving and will position our city competitively against our national peers.

The city can leverage technology to support new industries, increase economic productivity, encourage entrepreneurship, and improve access to training that propels economic growth and makes the city nationally competitive.

Walkable, Clean, and Safe: Our community will promote the health of our residents and visitors through being walkable, clean and safe.

Technology use can make traffic management more efficient and improve air-quality monitoring, waste management, public safety, and access to healthy food, making communities more livable and healthier.

RELATED EQUITY STATEMENTS

The Playbook also has a series of statements focused on equity. Those that are directly related to the Smart City Goal are highlighted in grey below:

Addressing Disinvestment: Direct investment to communities that have been abandoned or have experienced long-term disinvestment.

Citywide Accessibility: Ensure services, utilities, and transportation options are provided to everyone.

Community Collaboration: Empower people from different parts of the KC community in working together to solve problems.

Community Engagement: Empower people to shape their communities and recognize that communities value things differently.

Complete Communities: Ensure that people can meet their needs in their own neighborhood without having to travel long distances.

Housing Affordability: Ensure everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.

Inclusive Design: Ensure that development incorporates design features that consider people of all abilities.

Providing Services: Commit to taking care of the built environment and providing the same quality of maintenance and services citywide.

Welcoming Spaces: Ensure that public spaces and amenities are designed to support diverse, culturally authentic, and family-friendly activities, no matter how much money a person is able to spend.

CITYWIDE GOAL: SMART CITY

RELATED BIG IDEAS

The Playbook identifies 5 Big Ideas for Kansas City. The Big Ideas are the essential themes of the plan. They underpin all that the plan aims to do. Those directly related to the Smart City Goal are highlighted below:

Fostering neighborhoods that accommodate all ages, lifestyles, and incomes by diversifying and densifying housing choices and creating complete communities that facilitate a high quality-of-life. New technology and smart city infrastructure can improve access to economic opportunities and mobility and improve city services that make neighborhoods more livable.

Creating a physically beautiful city by promoting high-quality design in public spaces, parks, private development, and capital improvements. Smart city technology uses data-driven decision-making to promote high quality design that is functional, visually appealing, and environmentally sustainable.

Respecting land as a limited resource by balancing outward growth with infill development, preserving natural resources, and developing in an equitable and sustainable manner. Innovative technologies help planners evaluate potential development scenarios to ensure outward growth is balanced with infill development. These technologies also can ensure natural resources are preserved as the city develops in an equitable, sustainable way.

Maximizing connections and mobility options by bridging or eliminating barriers and creating new physical connections and a robust multimodal transportation system. Smart technology in transportation can show the way to bridging physical barriers. For example, the city can use data-driven planning, emphasize transportation modes that incorporate walking or biking, and adopt innovations in transportation through public-private partnerships. These steps can help the city resolve past inequities caused by physical barriers that isolated specific neighborhoods from the rest of the city and from economic opportunities.

Creating a future-proofed city by better anticipating and reacting to new technologies and evolving conditions. Technology can help Kansas City anticipate and react to new and evolving conditions. By leveraging tools like open-data platforms, adaptive infrastructure, smart city ecosystems, scenario planning, and future-oriented regulations, the city can prepare for the future and better respond to new challenges and opportunities as they arise.

RELATED TOPICS

The Playbook is also structured around five Topics that organize the plan’s recommendations around specific subjects. Those topics directly related to the Smart City Goal are highlighted below.

CITYWIDE GOAL: SMART CITY

RELATED OBJECTIVES

The Playbook identifies 21 Objectives for Kansas City. The Objectives are the nuts and bolts of the Playbook. Each one contains detailed recommendations, strategies, and initiatives for a specific topic, framed by the overall direction the plan sets for that topic. The Objectives also set priorities and metrics for their implementation and provide supporting context, including relevant data and public input. A single Objective often supports multiple Goals and Topics.

Objectives primarily related to the Smart City Goal:

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Objectives secondarily related to the Smart City Goal:

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CITYWIDE GOAL:

STRONG AND ACCESSIBLE NEIGHBORHOODS

TO CREATE STRONG AND DESIRABLE NEIGHBORHOODS AND ENSURE HOUSING CHOICE AND AFFORDABILITY

Kansas City’s vibrant neighborhoods are one of its treasures. Together they form the physical and social framework for the entire city, and the overall success of the city depends on the livability of each one. The importance of strong neighborhoods has been understood since before the city adopted FOCUS, its previous comprehensive plan, which stated, “In order for Kansas City to be the successful New American City, neighborhoods must be livable. Livable neighborhoods connect people physically and socially. They have an identity based on physical character, people, history, or resident involvement. They meet the housing needs and desires of people. And they are healthy in terms of housing conditions, neighborhood cleanliness, and the health of the people who live in them.” FOCUS emphasized that neighborhoods should be accessible, welcoming, affordable to live in, and convenient and safe to navigate.

People want to live in neighborhoods where they can fulfill their everyday needs, such as housing they can afford, education, and reliable transportation. Desirable neighborhoods can attract visitors, too, with entertainment and high-quality workplaces. Neighborhoods should have a unique identity, safe public spaces, an array of parks and other amenities, and opportunities for social interaction. Kansas City’s neighborhoods vary greatly in their density, land uses, culture, and architecture. Yet they all aim to be desirable places for people to live and visit (see also Housing and Neighborhoods Topic).

Historically, however, development patterns have led to economic, social, and other disparities between Kansas City neighborhoods. Therefore, this goal is closely tied to the Displacement Mitigation, Housing Affordability and Diversity, and Community Development and Revitalization Objectives, to ensure the city allocates its resources equitably, especially to neighborhoods with the greatest need.

To help make all neighborhoods in Kansas City desirable places to live, work, and visit, the Playbook makes recommendations in three broad areas. First, the city must provide high-quality infrastructure and services and ensure residents can access those resources to meet their daily needs (see the Community Development and Revitalization, Development Patterns, and Complete Communities Objectives).

Second, the city must take action to preserve the rich diversity of its neighborhoods. That means enhancing the individual character of neighborhoods by preserving historic sites, ensuring development is high-quality, and creating public spaces that can serve everyone (see the Quality Development, Historic Preservation and Public Spaces Objectives).

Housing is the third area. The city must facilitate a variety of housing choices that are affordable in neighborhoods that are safe and accessible. Tied to that is the aim of eliminating economic distress, especially when it leads to abandonment of neighborhoods (see the Housing Affordability and Diversity, Community Development and Revitalization, and Displacement Mitigation Objectives).