Mayor Walks Four Miles to See Northeast Streets

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas walked Independence Avenue on Friday morning with more than a dozen Historic Northeast residents.

The route ran nearly four miles and took about two hours. Neighbors showed the mayor what they value about the corridor and where they say the city has fallen short. The walk began in the neighborhood and ended at Columbus Square Park.

Joseph Flores, a longtime resident, said the walk turned up a shortage of public trash cans. He carried an empty coffee cup for several blocks before finding a bin, and he said he located the first receptacle of the walk near Benton Boulevard, about halfway through the route. "Not everybody's gonna hold on to that cup like me for two, three blocks," Flores said, adding that people would drop litter without a place to put it. "You have to make stuff accessible for people," he said.

Letitia Torres, who lives south of the avenue and belongs to the Lykins Neighborhood Association, pointed to vacant and boarded-up buildings near Hardesty Avenue. "What has happened to this specific area is insane," she said, and she suggested comparing older Google Maps images with current views to see the change. East of Van Brunt Boulevard, she indicated an empty lot near a BP station where food trucks once parked and drew crowds. Carlos Ruiz-Finch, executive chef for Tiki Taco in Kansas City, said the area's international markets and grocery stores are among its strongest features, and he described the storefronts along the avenue as "You've either got gas stations or you've got car dealerships, like small-town car dealerships, and cash loans." He grew up in the Northeast and has relatives there, and he said the neighborhood has "some really strong bones." He said he hoped the gathering could produce ideas for revitalization.

Residents raised crime and nuisance activity with Lucas during the walk. He said a neighborhood policing model could address those problems without requiring people to call 911. Lucas also said the condition of the infrastructure stood out to him most. It marked his first time experiencing Independence Avenue on foot. On the far east end, he said, "it just didn't feel safe," and he cited a narrow sidewalk alongside fast-moving cars. He named widening the path as an immediate step City Hall could take.

Lucas said officials should get out and talk with residents more often. He said he met people who have lived in the community for generations as well as newcomers. "This is the sort of perspective you need," he said. He also said the city owes the Historic Northeast greater attention and investment, pointing to its diversity, large immigrant population and growth. He said the area should be central to "our next phase of what Kansas City is," with density and more children attending schools near Independence Avenue and Truman Road.

No date has been set for work on the sidewalk or other changes discussed during the walk.