Brush Creek Community Partners-Monthly Newsletter

The population and purchasing power of several Brush Creek Corridor neighborhoods are higher than census data would indicate, uncovering stronger market size and strength that are untapped by businesses that could do well in the area, says a study by Kansas City Urban Market Assets (KCUMA).

A study of Kansas City with a focus on three urban market corridors indicates more people live in the city and these corridors than was estimated in the 2000 census and subsequent estimates. Further, the average income is higher with households commanding higher purchasing power.

Kansas City, Missouri's population is 15 percent higher, or includes 71,000 more residents as indicated by the DrillDown conducted by KCUMA as compared to the census. Average household income is 20 percent higher than the census estimate with the purchasing power per acre across the city at $46,457, or 34 percent higher.

The DrillDown reveals a significant census undercount of population and households -as much as 50 percent - in the Swope Parkway/Elmwood, Vineyard, Oak Park, 49/63 and Ivanhoe Neighborhoods. The DrillDown also uncovered a substantial informal economy, boosting eastside neighborhood household incomes. The density in these and other neighborhoods like them yields considerably higher purchasing power per acre across the Corridor than the census estimate.

The purpose of the DrillDown is to support stimulation of investment and to provide better asset data for Kansas City's urban core. KCUMA is a public-private partnership between the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the City of Kansas City, NonProfit Technologies, local development organizations and Social Compact. Social Compact is a national not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to help strengthen neighborhoods by prompting private market investment in underserved communities. Studies like the Kansas City DrillDown in other urban markets across the country have uncovered billions of
dollars in untapped buying power and retail leakage that also results in residents having a lack of access to basic goods and services at competitive prices.

The DrillDown employs multiple data sets that help to provide a more accurate number of households in a region or area through any recorded transaction for a household, such as utility bills. Income estimates are derived from examination of several sources of information and weighting this data. These analyses provide alternative and fuller assessments of population, income and housing that do not rely on outdated and potentially inaccurate decennial census data. These comprehensive measures of a community's size, strength and economic potential in other markets has led to businesses finding new markets for their products and increased commercial development supported by new sources of capital for investment.

"Brush Creek Community Partners and our partners will be looking at this information to enhance our case for revitalization, rehabilitation and resource allocation from a position of strength," said BCCP Executive Director Carol Grimaldi. "We always knew the potential for successful investment in the Corridor existed; now we have the data to back it up."

More information about KCUMA and the data from the DrillDown for Kansas City and the Brush Creek, Troost Avenue and Main Street corridors are available at www.KCUMA.org.

Saint Luke's Hospital Foundation has realized record and goal-exceeding fund raising results of $85 million with its "Campaign for the New Saint Luke's". The campaign, which started in 2003 and publicly launched in 2005, sought to raise $75 million. Of its 9,600 contributors, 1,600 were employee payroll donors. The drive raised $12 million for capital improvements and equipment. It also focused on enhancing Saint Luke's specialized care services, investing in medical and nursing education, furthering clinical research, and sustaining services for the underserved in the community.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City Athletics Department has received a $5 million pledge for the construction of a soccer stadium in the heart of the Volker campus. The leadership gift from the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation and its trustees represents the largest single commitment to UMKC Athletics. The competition venue of the Stanley H. Durwood Stadium is anticipated to be completed for the new UMKC women's soccer program's first game in 2009. The entire complex, including a premiere four-lane track, is slated to open in the spring of 2010.

Bob Berkebile, principal, BNIM Architects has been honored with a Regional Leadership Award for his pioneering efforts in the field of sustainable design and his social, economic and environmental contributions to our region. The award was presented by the Mid-America Regional Council at its 12th Annual Regional Assembly. Berkebile, co-chair of Kansas City's Environmental Management Commission, is a board member of the U.S. Green Building Council, the Center for Global Community and the Nature Conservancy. Among his work reflective of his values along the Brush Creek Corridor is the Anita B. Gorman Discovery Conservation Center at 4750 Troost Avenue.

Kevin Z. Truman has been named dean of the School of Computing and Engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Truman comes to Kansas City after 28 years of teaching and research at Washington University in St. Louis, as well as from his work as a consultant with such organizations as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, GEI Consulting, Inc., and Washington University Technology Associates. He joins UMKC August 1.

Alan DuBois, a founder and the executive director of Genesis School is retiring. Since 1975, Genesis has served as an alternative middle school for primarily African-American urban youth ages ten to 15 who have been unsuccessful in traditional public schools. The average student enters Genesis performing four grade levels below expectation. Through its educational, special education, mental health and counseling services, the students are prepared to enter high school to succeed. DuBois has served as executive director since 1977. In that time Genesis School has earned Presidential Citations from three different federal executive agencies and became the first alternative, community based, middle school to receive the U.S. Department of Education's Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Recognition for 1990-1991.

New Letters, a literary journal published at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, won the National Magazine Awards competition for publishing the best essay in 2007. Edited by UMKC Assistant Research Professor Robert Stewart, the journal beat out the New Yorker and Harpers for the personal essay, "I Am Joe's Prostate," which was published last summer about prostate cancer by Thomas Kennedy, an American writer living in Denmark.

One year after it was installed, civic leaders gathered to dedicate the KCAI-Brush Creek Community Raingarden in Theis Park in May. Among the officials on hand was former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes (center in blue), whose 10,000 Rain Gardens initiative was among her efforts to kick off the city's work on sustainability and climate protection. The rain garden was designed and built by Kansas City Art Institute students with support from the community. Of the project, Barnes said, "This rain garden serves as the poster child for how partnerships can create a lasting benefit for the community. It represents so clearly what foresight, creativity, and old-fashioned hard work can do to sustain a combination of visual beauty and practical benefits."

Brush Creek Community Partners was recently awarded a $10,000 grant by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The funding supports and strengthens BCCP's work to
revitalize Kansas City's Brush Creek Corridor.

"We are delighted to recognize the important work that Brush Creek Community Partners does," said Kansas City Bank of America President Spence Heddens. "Our support along with that of others helps ensure that the revitalization of the
midtown area of our city, including the Brush Creek Corridor, will continue."

"This award by Bank of America is greatly appreciated by BCCP and its members," said BCCP Executive Director
Carol Grimaldi. "This year marks the 15th year of the
partnership's founding. We look forward to continuing our work to benefit the Corridor Community through our
advocacy, communications and programming."

The five Olive Street Homes stand where there was once a vacant, overgrown block on Olive between 49th and 50th Streets in the Blue Hills Neighborhood.

Developed by Blue Hills Community Services, the affordable three-bedroom homes are Energy Star® Qualified and exceed strict energy efficient guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The development was made possible with a loan from M&I Bank originating from the bank's receipt of $75 million in New Market Tax Credits, representing the first use of the program in Kansas City. Bryant Real Estate is agent for the properties.

Phase II of the Blue Hills revitalization commences this summer with the Park Avenue Project. It includes the construction of three new Energy Star® single-family homes and three home rehabilitations with one upgraded to Energy Star® efficiency.

The Blue Hills, Hyde Park, Ivanhoe, Town Fork Creek and West Plaza Neighborhoods in the Brush Creek Corridor are enjoying the benefits of enhanced code enforcement. They are among the target areas selected by the City Council for the City of Kansas City's Rental Registration and Inspection Program

In addition to annual systematic-or every property-proactive enforcement of housing codes in these areas, inspections of the exteriors of owner-occupied properties also will occur. Interior inspections only will be conducted on vacant rental properties.

If a property fails inspection, the owner will have a specific time period within which to abate the code violation. Rental property owners will be charged $100 for re-inspections after the initial re-inspection is made to see if the violations have been abated.

Systematic property inspections, stronger housing code enforcement, and rental property registration have long been advocated by Kansas City's neighborhood leaders.

"Having worked closely and continuously with the city's Neighborhood Preservation Division for decades, the Blue Hills Neighborhood Association is thrilled to participate in this new program," said association Vice President and Brush Creek Community Partners board member William Hart. "We believe this will increase efficiency and thoroughness of codes enforcement, leading to higher quality housing with healthier and safer neighborhoods."

Not professionally produced in Kansas City in more than two decades, Othello is the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s 2008 offering.

In its 16th season, the Shakespeare Festival has offered free, professional theatre each summer in Southmoreland Park and
educational programming around the community throughout the year.

Othello is presented nightly, except July 4, through July 6; gates open at 6:00 p.m. with the performance beginning at
8:00 p.m.

Iago (Bruce Roach) whispers deceptions to Othello (Damon Gupton)
to catalyze great destruction.

Great love results in great tragedy for Othello (Damon Gupton)
and his wife Desdemona (Cassandra Schwanke).

STACY'S INTEREST IN BRUSH CREEK CORRIDOR
STEADY FROM CHILDHOOD TO CAREER

Brush Creek Community Partners board member Jim Stacy remembers the neighborhoods around Brush Creek as an idyllic "Our Town" kind of setting when he was growing up - and now joins BCCP in a commitment to their continual improvement.

Stacy, who joined the BCCP Board of Directors in 2006, has a background in real estate development and currently works on special projects for DST Systems, Inc. He also serves on the Broadway Westport Council and MainCor boards addressing
business and neighborhood issues. But Stacy says the Brush Creek area was his first real home. He grew up here and still lives within a mile of the site of his family home, now part of the Rockhurst University campus.

Jim Stacy

"When I was a child, the Rockhurst College and University of Kansas City campuses were our playground. Bike hikes on Brush Creek's paved bed from the Plaza to the Paseo were an all day summer excursion." Stacy said. He recalls that the decline in the area in the late 1960's prompted his involvement in founding the 49/63 Neighborhood Coalition.

Stacy's personal interest in the Brush Creek Corridor dovetails with DST's 30 plus year history of commitment to improving the working and living environment in Kansas City. In this area DST Realty recently developed (with partner PFS Holding Company) the Residences of Kirkwood and is currently exploring the possibility of mixed-use redevelopment property they own on Main Street between 49th and 51st Streets. It's only natural Stacy volunteered to pitch in on BCCP's Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative.

The initiative's goal is to achieve observable, measurable and sustainable improvement in ten "vital signs" that define healthy
neighborhoods in the Brush Creek Corridor. The project will begin with a public-private Healthy Neighborhood Summit, followed by development of action plans, an interactive website to exchange ideas and information, and regular updates and meetings to review progress. Stacy says the BCCP Healthy Neighborhoods model can serve other neighborhoods throughout Kansas City using the same web-based platform.

Stacy says he is optimistic that such a plan has a good chance to succeed in 2008. "The stars seem to be aligning," he says. "With high gas prices, and a city council, mayor and city manager focused on urban neighborhoods, we have the best opportunity in decades for success in this initiative."