Today is our Main Street Mingle at The Children's Center for the Visually Impaired at the Children's Center Campus at 31st & Main. Their newly-renovated facility provides a truly unique, positive environment where children with significant visual impairments become prepared to reach their highest potential in the sighted world. They provide an invaluable service to Kansas City's families and contribute greatly to the strength of our Main Street community. 

Come get to know your neighbors and see what's new on Main Street!

Thursday, July, 18 5:30 - 7:00pm The Children's Center for the Visually Impaired 3101 Main Street

DEVELOPER WANTS TO DEMOLISH, REPLACE ARMOUR APARTMENTS

A developer has a new plan for several buildings on West Armour between Broadway and Main in the Old Hyde Park neighborhood.

MAC Properties, the developer of many apartments on Armour, is now proposing to  tear down one existing apartment and three duplexes and replace them with a new 40-unit building.

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The next step is for the developer to meet with the neighborhood. That meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday, July 24 at 7 p.m. at the MainCor offices, 3215 Main. Then the city Historic Preservation Commission will hear a request from the developer to move ahead with the project on September 27.

WHAT IS CYCLOVIA?

Cyclovia is an event that closes off selected major streets to automobile traffic and opens them up exclusively to cyclists and pedestrians.  Originating as Ciclovía in Bogotá Columbia in the mid- 1970s, this type of event has seen a near-exponential growth in popularity. Today, there are 33 cities that now have weekly Cyclovia events, and an additional 75 cities that host Cyclovias every year.

In Bogotá Columbia, where it originated, the event attracts as many as 1.8 million cyclists every Sunday on over 70 miles of busy arterials.

The most notable one in the United States is Los Angeles’s biannual CicLAvia. Starting in 2010, the last four CicLAvias saw over 100,000 participants and is growing.

In the US, Ciclovia goes by a variety of names. In St. Louis it’s called Open Streets. In Chicago, Sunday Parkways. In New York, Summer Streets. And in Atlanta it’s called Streets Alive.

Kansas City is known for its iconic parkways and boulevards, but rarely do residents have the opportunity to utilize these streets as places for community building and social interaction. On September 7th, we are partnering with BikeWalkKC to bring you the first of many Cyclovias in Kansas City that celebrate the vitality of the urban core and emphasizes the importance of public spaces and built environments that foster healthy lifestyles and activities.

Following the 6th annual MA1N STREET M1LE, Main Street will remain closed to cars and open to people, activated by live music, local food vendors, yoga, dancing, theater, and more, transforming Main Street into a public space that will provide local residents new opportunities for healthy living, active transportation, and social engagement.

New for Bike Month 2013: ALL Metro buses have bike racks, including the small MetroFlex buses.

In a  message for Par Electric Contractor working on the Google Fiber project in KC, we were alerted that there may be imposters asking folks for money up-front for various Google Fiber services.

"Around the neighborhood at 59th & Grand, a woman was approached by a man (Craig) that said he was working for Google and was an inspecting the lines for tree clearances so that the crew could pull the fiber. He told the home owner that it would cost them money up front before the fiber could be installed."

  Google Fiber has their own Tree crews hired by Par Electric Contractor and KCPL that clear the lines. They will never ask for money from the home owner. They will contact the homes ahead of time to let them know where they will be working, but there should be no fee to anyone other than Google for the installation of services, particularly in person, door-to-door.

Traffic alert! A series of bridge and ramp improvements to highways around the Downtown area will begin as early as April 15 and run until December of this year. The first and most significant of these will be improvements to I-35 from 20th Street to State Line, which will close many of the exit and on-ramps and reduce 3 lanes of traffic to 2 going both north and southbound. A full list of traffic impacts associated with this project:

I-35 (both directions) will be reduced to 2 lanes from Cambridge Circle to the Downtown Loop from April 15 to Mid-December

The On-Ramp from Broadway (near Penn Valley Park) to NB I-35 will be closed April 15 to Mid-December

The On-Ramp from W. Pennway to SB I-35 will be closed April 15 to Mid-December

The On-Ramp from Broadway (near Bartle Hall) to SB I-35 will be closed April 15 to Mid-December

Parking lots under the bridge will be closed at times during construction

MoDOT has worked with Garmin and TomTom staff to ensure real time navigation reflects ramp closures and will help to route traffic around the closures. Additionally, there is a MoDOT Traveller Information App available for smartphones that will provide information regarding current and up-coming traffic impacts.

Tomorrow is election day! Educate yourself on the issues and vote vote vote! You can learn about Ballot items 1, 2, and 3 on the MidtownKCPost and listen to stories on Items 1 and 3 on KCUR.

MainCor Business-to-Business Networking Luncheon With the Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City's Book Project

11:30 - 1:00pm Thursday, February 21

The Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City (RIKC) exists to help those we serve achieve greater independence at home, school or work, and in the community. A comprehensive team of professionals provides the support, encouragement, knowledge, and skills needed to help individuals succeed in their rehabilitation process.

The Rehabilitation Institute of Kansas City has recently begun a recycling project that involves both reusing and recycling discarded books and employing people with disabilities.  Partially funded by the Mid-America Regional Council's Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, this book de-binding project is the first of many social entrepreneurship projects beginning 

at RIKC.

Let YOUR voice guide the future of land use, zoning, public improvement, transportation, housing, and economic development in the Midtown/Plaza Area at this first public meeting.