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Demolishing Shoppers Parkade garage indicative of Downtown parking insanity

July 6, 2009 | 6 Comments

Kansas City seems to have a bizarre split personality when it comes to parking. On one hand, there are perpetual complaints that there isn’t enough parking.  On the other hand, the city is busy tearing down multi-level parking garages and replacing them with surface parking lots.  Last year it was two garages around 10th and Main.  This year it is the old Opera House garage and the Shoppers Parkade garage at 11th and Grand.

Downtown is already littered with awful surface parking lots that contribute to blight and a hostile pedestrian environment. If the powers that be insist on taking down this garage, it ought to be replaced with something that enhances the quality of life in the neighborhood. Various studies and master plans have identified a need for additional green space and fewer parking lots, so how about turning this property into a public park, plaza, dog park, rain garden, play ground, etc?


Comments

6 Comments so far

  1. jferg on July 6, 2009 3:01 pm

    You’ve obviously never parked in the Shoppers’ Parkade garage. Parking there was taking your vehicle’s life into your own hands, what with the chunks of the roof of the above floor that liked to randomly fall onto vehicles and the plethora of pigeons.

  2. jferg on July 6, 2009 3:03 pm

    (That said, I do agree that replacing it with surface parking is a lame move.)

  3. john on July 6, 2009 3:40 pm

    jferg, yeah it’s in bad shape, but why not spend the money fixing it rather than tearing it down? People are always complaining that there isn’t enough parking, yet we let our existing garages fall down and get replaced with surface lots that hold a lot less cars. Nothing about that makes any sense.

  4. MC on July 6, 2009 11:02 pm

    Talk to the people at Professional Building Lofts across the street; they own it. Residents asked about starting a community garden there, no word on how that’ll pan out. I just want that ugly dangerous place gone. Drug activity on that corner is awful. Surface lots make it easier for the cops to patrol areas…lots of space to hide shady activity by Shoppers Parkade

  5. kip on July 6, 2009 11:07 pm

    the city can’t even take care of the walkways around city hall.

    have you seen the south side of city hall. it’s a disgrace. big chunks of concrete and tile missing.

  6. john on July 7, 2009 9:22 am

    demolishing the building isn’t going to get rid of the shady activity. Cops on foot patrol walking around Downtown is the only way to discourage the bad element.

    A surface parking lot detracts from the safety of pedestrians. Some street level retail businesses would be much better for getting positive activity in this spot.

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