KC bets on streetcar to help revive Midtown
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The Westport Streetcar stop. Photo: Midtown KC Now.
Kansas City's $352 million streetcar extension opens to riders Friday — a milestone that leaders with Midtown KC Now say is a reset for one of the city's most historic neighborhoods.
Why it matters: The free 3.5-mile extension, bringing the KC Streetcar to nearly 6 miles end-to-end, links downtown, Midtown and UMKC, offering easier access to jobs and businesses along Main Street.
- It's the first time it has traveled south of Pershing Road since 1957, according to Tom Gerend, executive director of the KC Streetcar Authority. Advocates see it as a catalyst for responsible growth.
The big picture: Midtown KC Now, a nonprofit founded in 1981, has focused on making Midtown ready for new growth, managing improvement districts along Main and Broadway and supporting small businesses as the streetcar expands.
What they're saying: "We expect this to take some time," Midtown KC Now executive director Kevin Klinkenberg tells Axios. "We've got two major apartment projects under construction, at 31st Street and Westport Road, and this is just a small taste of what's coming."
- "Once we enter the period of full streetcar operations, we expect demand to pick up more," Klinkenberg said. "A lot of people will use the streetcar to go to businesses on 31st Street, east of Main."
By the numbers: Ride KC reports that the streetcar has provided 15 million rides since its launch in 2016.
- More than 1,400 apartment units have been proposed or built along the entire corridor since 2017, per the Beacon.
- 98% of businesses along the route reported a positive impact from the streetcar, according to a 2021 public presentation from Ride KC.
- The system, including the new extension, will remain fare-free and continue running zero-emission electric streetcars.
Between the lines: Klinkenberg says Midtown's goal is population growth, as the area has dropped from 73,000 residents in 1950 to about 28,000 today.
- "We've got more than enough room for a lot of different people to co-exist at different prices," he says. "We just need partners to help make it happen."
- The organization has worked with city planners, public works officials and the KC Streetcar Authority on street-level upgrades like lighting, landscaping and crosswalks to make Main Street more walkable.
What's next: Friday's celebration begins at 10am at the Plaza stop.
- Long-term, Klinkenberg expects Midtown to see more people, new storefronts and a walkable core like the one built around the original streetcar — but says they need partners and developers to make it happen.