Each year, in conjunction with our Annual Luncheon, the Downtown Council honors a new class of Urban Heroes. We invite you to participate in the nomination process by submitting the name of someone who you think deserves to be honored.
From all of us at the Downtown Council of Kansas City, we wish you and yours a warm and happy holiday season. We hope your time during this season is filled with family and friends, spent making memories and celebrating traditions.
With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, the staff at the Downtown Council would like to use this week’s post to express thanks to the downtown community.
On a picture-perfect day last month as Kansas City was getting ready to cheer on the Chiefs at their home opener, another celebration was happening at 8th and Paseo. For the second year in a row, the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs, in partnership with Little Caesars, brought the Love Kitchen to the Beehive to deliver a hot meal to those in need. This is the third year that Little Caesars has been the official pizza sponsor of the NFL. In conjunction with that partnership, they have been traveling across the country with their Love Kitchen, a mobile restaurant on wheels, stopping in key NFL cities to provide pizza to communities in need.
The fish are no longer being thrown at the famous Pike Place Market, but that did not dampen the enjoyment members of the Downtown Council staff experienced when they visited Seattle last month for the International Downtown Association’s 70th Annual Conference & Marketplace. The IDA’s conference brings together urban place management professionals from across the U.S. and Canada to learn, network, and discover new ideas for their hometowns. Acronyms like BIDs, and CIDs, and SSAs could be heard in meeting rooms as over 1400 people gathered at the convention hotel.
Have you ever stopped to think about the impact that happens when you take a pencil and fill in a small bubble with graphite on a paper ballot? That small action, combined with hundreds and thousands of other filled-in bubbles, impacts the future direction of our communities, states, and country. Voters in Missouri, and throughout the country, had the chance to make their voices heard this past August 6th when the national primary election date was on the calendar.
What does the future of economic development look like in Kansas City? The mayor and city council hope to answer that question over the next four to six months with the help of a consultant team who will create a new strategic plan for equitable economic development.
It has been said that a dog is man’s best friend, but it turns out that dogs are the best friend of all of our residents and visitors to Downtown and the River Market. To keep up with this tail wagging situation, the Downtown and River Market Community Improvement Districts have created two off leash dog parks.
On May 17th, the Missouri State Legislature wrapped up their 2024 session. With as many ups and downs to rival any rollercoaster found at Worlds of Fun, the session was full of surprises, especially the last few weeks. Two record filibusters – 41 hours by the Freedom Caucus and 50 hours by the Democrats – played out during the end of the session while last minute amendments and bills were being worked on by state legislators.
On Wednesday May 15th, Garment District Grooves will return for its sixth season bringing music and food to the Historic Garment District in Downtown Kansas City. The concert series is produced by the Downtown Community Improvement District (DCID), KC Parks & Recreation, Crossroads Charter Schools, and the Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA). This year, there will be lunchtime concerts on the third Wednesday of each month from May through October from 11:30am to 1:00pm and two evening performances in the fall.
Over 1,000 Downtown KC residents, office workers, property owners, non-profits, and advocates gathered in the Kay Barnes Grand Ballroom at Bartle Hall to enjoy the 2024 Downtown KC Annual Luncheon. What has become one of the “can’t miss” civic non-profit events on the social calendar lived up to expectations again this year. The theme of the luncheon this year was, “The Evolution of Downtown, Celebrating Kansas City”. The theme was selected to allow the Downtown Council the ability to leverage the luncheon to celebrate the remarkable transformation of Downtown KC over the last 20-plus years while also highlighting the bright future that lies ahead.
On March 5, the River Market Community Improvement District (RMCID) Board assembled to celebrate another year of CID service in the River Market. 2023-2024 represents the 17th year of the River Market CID. While the RMCID Ambassadors continued with the mission of providing a high level of service focused on clean and safe, the board and staff developed new committees and programs to help make the River Market an even stronger community in Downtown Kansas City.