Recap: Last week in Midtown Kansas City (July 5 – July 12)

uptownLast week we brought you Midtown Kansas City stories about preserving historic apartments on the Plaza, development standards for boulevards, and the history of the Crestwood neighborhood.

If you find any of that Midtown Kansas City news interesting, you can read more on our website or Facebook or sign up on our website for a daily email news digest each weekday. You can also subscribe to our Twitter updates (@midtownkcposter).

As city hall prepares for a new city council to take office next month, outgoing council members pressed to finish up legislation, leading to long hearings on several important issues.

One issue the council hoped to pass was standards for development along parkways and boulevards that would apply to new development in the Northland as well as redevelopment south of the river. But developers came forward at the last minute with a substitute proposal, saying the original plan could discourage new business.

The council also faced a deadline for raising the minimum wage under state law, but as local low-wage workers and businesses tried to find a compromise, a veto by Governor Jay Nixon added to the confusion.

Fourth District Councilman Jim Glover formally asked for a recount of the June election based on an unofficial vote count that showed Katheryn Shields winning by just over 100 votes.

City officials and residents praised the neighborhood-based effort that led to the Troost Overlay District plan, a set of standards intended to help redevelop Troost Avenue.

The City Council has lent its support to a redevelopment idea that could bring 500 new residents to Midtown around 34th and Broadway.

And businesses along Broadway from Armour to 39th launched the Uptown Arts District, which they say celebrates the many arts activities already going on in the area.

On Friday, preservationists won a victory when the Historic Preservation Commission agreed to add three apartments to a Nelle Peters historic district, possibly saving them from immediate demolition.

In our weekly Uncovering History feature, we looked at a block of the Crestwood neighborhood.

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