What happened last week in Midtown?

Last week in Midtown…vacant houses go up for sale, a downtown arts campus gets a big shot in the arm, and fighting the proliferation of dollar stores on Troost. This word cloud gives a visual hint of some of the topics we talked about last week in the Midtown Post.

If you find anything interesting, you can read more on our website at www.midtownkcpost.com. Remember you can also follow us on Facebook by liking our page, or sign up on our website for a daily news digest each weekday.

We followed the happenings at city hall last week that could affect life in Midtown. The city formed a new group to coordinate transit efforts in order to coordinate buses and the coming streetcars.  The city also heard that a study to be released soon will determine if commuter rail cars could fit in the Union Station tracks that handle freight trains and Amtrak service.

The charter review commission set a July 31 deadline and is addressing the following issues:  the composition of the city council, the executive authority of the mayor and whether most city departments should be written out of the city charter.

And the long-awaited land bank opened for business with an initial listing of more than 3,600 properties for sale including homes in the Southmoreland, Volker and Manheim Park neighborhoods.

City committees also proposed changes on animal abuse and selling eggs laid by urban chickens, and prepared an anti-violence measure to send a message to Jefferson City.

Neighborhoods rallied at city hall in an effort to stop another dollar store from being built on Troost.

There was big news for UMKC and downtown last week, as Julia Irene Kauffman announced she’s pledged $20 million to move the Conservatory of Music and Dance to a downtown arts campus. UMKC celebrated, and the mayor said the campus would be a big shot in the arm for downtown as well.

UMKC had another big announcement, that the ambassador to Portugal is joined its faculty to teach on money and politics.

We began a series on the most endangered properties in Kansas City. Our first property was the Midwest Hotel, which once served working class travelers.

On the arts scene, the Nelson-Atkins opened a new exhibit about the visual language of good luck wishes.