Friday, April 17, 2009

Green Impact Zone updates

Meeting with with community leaders about the Green Impact Zone at the Mid-America Regional Council

A couple of things moved this project forward this week. I was able to attend the planning meeting on Monday at MARC, where I was proud to see nearly one hundred community leaders, neighborhood organizers and city officials reporting on their exciting progress and charting out their next steps. Later that day I joined Steve Kraske on his KCUR program Up to Date to talk about the program. You can hear the interview here (it’s in the second half of the show)>>>

I was also very glad to introduce the program at a Third City Council District community meeting Tuesday night. The idea was warmly received and the conversation focused on delivering what was promised in a timely and organized fashion. There were lots of questions after the meeting and also a great deal of excitement.

This morning, I was happy to read an endorsement of the plan from the editorial board of the Kansas City Star. They write, “The initial plan contains excellent ways to improve a part of the city — roughly 39th to 51st streets, and Troost to Prospect avenues — that has many low-income residents.”

You can read the whole editorial here >>>