Long regarded as the ‘Paris of the Plains’, Kansas City, Missouri’s storied fountains and ornamented boulevards capture some of the elegance made famous by our European counterpart. Despite the acclaim our city receives for the beloved parks and boulevards system, such ambiance hasn’t always been the benchmark in Kansas City. Riddled with the grime and lewd behavior associated with the stockyard industry, one who found themselves in Kansas City before the turn of the century would see a much more savage environment than that of which our parks evoke today.

Kansas City, Missouri Livestock Auction: Although amassing great wealth for the region, the industry was unsightly and riddled the city with transients and crime at the turn of the century.
Source: Missouri Valley Special Collections

The reincarnation of our city can be attributed not from the wealth or power of the stockyards but is the work of one man: George Kessler. Kansas City’s first landscape architect, Kessler was a jack of many trades and titles. Architect, planner, civic leader, and even lobbyist, Kessler’s early triumphs include petitioning Missouri state law to establish a city parks board and begin the issuance of municipal park bonds. Armed with the bureaucratic power and funding necessary to carry out his aesthetic desires, Kessler designed a parks and boulevards system for the city that came to consist of 2,668 acres of parks, 90 miles of landscaped city boulevards, and 38 miles of manicured park boulevards. The planning and construction of the park’s system faced an uphill battle at the time of conception, but eventually came to be beloved by citizens and envied by the rest of the nation. Today, however, Kansas City’s parks system face an entirely new set of challenges. Problems aided by decades of population decline and further fueled by the urban issues of the 21st century American city.

 

West facing view at 12th and Paseo Blvd. Many of the neighborhoods surrounding Kessler’s boulevards are tormented by issues of crime and depopulation. Source: Photo by Brady Brewster

Almost 120 years after completion of Kessler’s plan, the dynamics of our city has changed. Although the parks are still beloved,  many citizens today choose to enjoy the parks system through the lens of their automobile rather than from personal experiences within the spaces. As population and housing demographics have changed, the effect on Kansas City’s parks and boulevards has been devastating. Many of the historic parks are now found in areas perceived as crime-ridden and impoverished. Combined with population loss of the central city of Kansas City, Missouri, the vibrancy of the urban core is much different from when Kessler set his jewels of parks in the boulevard-laced necklace of the city. Despite issues of increased automobile usage and poor utilization by residents of the city proper, Kansas Citians still champion the legacy of Kessler’s parks and call for the creation of more. Through straightforward observation, the lack of users in our parks is clear. Even in an automobile-entranced city such as Kansas City, is it really the case that users don’t want to leave their car to enjoy a system so greatly praised and useable?

Budd Park in Northeast Kansas City: Devoid of users despite it’s setting in a dense neighborhood near multiple schools.
Source: Photo by Brady Brewster

Paradoxically, two parks from Kessler’s original plan have seen a degree of developmental resurgence in the areas surrounding the parks rather than decline. Washington Square Park and Hospital Hill Park lie separated by the large scale master planned development of the Crown Center District. Union Station restricts the western boundary at Washington Square Park and the eastern boundary by Hospital Hill Park has developed into the sprawling complex of the Hospital and Academic institutions on the hill. In the changed dynamic of neighborhoods and park users in 2015 Kansas City, one wonders why even these parks lie empty at peak times of the day. With thousands of white collar and healthcare workers surrounding both parks which capture pristine views of the Kansas City skyline within just steps of their workplaces, such behavior speaks to utilization issue of Kansas City’s parks. Perhaps less people use the parks today not because they are bound to their auto or because they view the parks as dangerous but for other reasons. Looking more closely at Washington Square and Hospital Hill Parks, the issue is not with the density of residents or workers within walking distance to the parks but rather a problem of isolation and connections. A lack of accessibility via parking is especially evident at Hospital Hill Park. Combined with increased vehicular traffic in the area and lack of pedestrian connections, portions of the park that were once lively green space are now destined to mere median space dissecting two directions of traffic on Gillham Ave. Washington Square Park has the opportunity to be a showcase park for the Crossroads neighborhood, but poor connections to the street and office skyscrapers of Crown Center render the park isolated from the surrounding fabric of the area. The Link, a man made skywalk system meant for the sole purpose of connecting the Crown Center Complex to the surrounding areas, actually functions in a reverse role, creating a barrier between the park and Main St. Once served by historic streetcar lines, the reintroduction of rail to Main St. parallel to Washington Square Park will be an interesting study as to how model rail transit influences the park.  In further study of Kessler’s parks and boulevards systems, I would like to examine how connections: transit, vehicular, and pedestrian influence utilization at the parks and what type of intervention needs to take place to restore these park’s to former glory. In greater focus, I would like to further explore how large scale development such as the Crown Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital developments have negatively impacted the park by neglecting such connections…..

Washington Square Park lies at the heart of a highly dense and developed mix of office, retail, and residential yet lies empty for most of the day. Connections such as The Link (pictured), lack of vehicular parking and pedestrian connections that are oddly placed relating to the surrounding fabric of the area may play a role…

Source: Google Earth Viewer