Tag Archives: Main Street

Main and Linwood 2022

What’s next for a key crossing in Midtown?

Main Street between Downtown Kansas City and the Country Club Plaza has a mixed character. At 39th Street and Westport Road it is the entry point of Westport. At other times, Main Street has little or no character – other than that of an arterial trafficway. Concentrations of auto-based uses and parking lots adjacent to the street create a hostile environment to pedestrians. With the advent of the streetcar connection coming in 2024/2025, these voids may soon be targeted for redevelopment. This semester we are asking about the future for Main and Linwood.

What should this corner look like in the future?

How do we build anew without harming existing businesses and residents?

Can we address important issues of inclusion and social justice at this site while increasing neighborhood security and wealth?

Tucson Streetcar

Tucson Sun Link Streetcar

The Sun Link Streetcar system opened in July 25th 2014. It has 23 Stations (17 per direction) with daily ridership around 4,000 (Arizona Daily Star). The length of the line is 3.9 miles, servicing the University of Arizona, Downtown and Mercado.  The estimate from the city was 3,600 weekday riders, it exceeded expectations.

One-way full fare is $1.50, a day pass is $4. There is a SunGO card that works for the bus and streetcar and allows a transfer between the two vehicles.

In order to build the Sun Link System, Tucson secured a $63 million federal grant for its modern streetcar. This included the price of tearing up the existing roadway and the laying down of tracks for the streetcar. Currently, fare boxes are on course to bring in $1.2 million per year. With annual operations costs at about $4.2 million, that’s in line with cost recovery ratios for most transit systems.

Zoning Around Downtown Streetcar (MapTucson GIS)

Much of the initial ridership was due to novelty of a tram/streetcar in the downtown area. (Patrick McNamara) According to the Monthly Operations Report, in January 2017 average weekday ridership was at 2,857, which was is an increase from the January 2106 average of 2,757. Both of which are below the projections,  however in September and March ridership was at am average of 3,800 on the weekdays. This could be partially due to the large amount of University Students who utilize the streetcar. The ridership for the summer months of 2016 was also comparatively low. 

The proposed route of the extended Kansas City Streetcar, terminates at the UMKC Campus. Similarly to Tucson, the KC Streetcar could see an increase of riders during the school semester. However it is important to note that the University of Missouri – Kansas City has a total enrollment of 16,000 and the University of Arizona has a total enrollment of 43,000.

Route Maps:

Route Map for Tucson

 

Route Map for Kansas City.

Sources:
McNamara, Patrick”Tucson’s Streetcar Exceeds Ridership Expectations.” Tucson’s Streetcar Exceeds Ridership Expectations. Arizona Daily Star, 29 Sept. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

O’Dell, Rob”US Grants Tucson $63M for Streetcar.” US Grants Tucson $63M for Streetcar. Arizona Daily Star, 02 July 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

“Route Map.” Sun Link – The Tucson Streetcar. Web. tucsonaz.gov

Historical Analysis: Transit-Oriented Development on Main

Historical analysis of sections of the Main Street corridor (39th to 41st, from Walnut to Baltimore)

Four maps, a 1925 Sanborn, 1957 and 1991 Jackson County aerials, and a modern GIS layer of present conditions, give insight into the changing dimensions of the corridor throughout time.  A common scale of each map allows one to readily see  the spatial changes of the built environment.

The intersection of Westport Road and Main provides an interesting analytical starting point.  At this node, the built environment stayed largely intact between 1925 and 1951.  The structures immediately on the corner of Westport Road and Main, now housing the Oddly Correct coffee shop, are intact from 1925.

According to the 1940 tax assessment photos, the building housed Foster’s Shoe Store, seen below.

Another significant significant building at this intersection was the Hyde Park Christian Church, seen below in 1940.

.

This structure was constructed in 1905, yet was demolished in the late 1950s.  The church’s activity relocated to 3801 Wyandotte.  A structure of a similar footprint is evident from the 1957 Jackson County aerial.  However, since the building’s destruction, no new structures have been erected in its place.

Furthermore, this stretch of the Main Street corridor is noted for other prominent demolitions.  Throughout time, commercial structures that lined Main approaching 39th street have been destroyed to accommodate car-oriented uses (such as the CVS and surface parking lot at the southwest corner of Main and 39th street).  Additionally, in the earlier 20th century, there was significantly more housing directly on or adjacent to Main Street.  According to the 1925 Sanborn, a development known as “Weaver Place” contained 5 3-story apartment buildings.  These appear to have been of the 6-plex brick typology commonly seen throughout Kansas City.  Across the street, 12 2-story apartment structures lined 40th Street Way.  These structures are evident in the 1957 Jackson County aerial, yet were demolished before the 1991 aerial.  Presently, 40th Street Way is a one-way street with relatively little activity.  Commercial uses and surface parking flank the formerly residential district on the north and south sides.  Weaver Place appears to have been destroyed as St. Paul’s Episcopal Church expanded its institutional footprint in ensuing decades.  This expansion included destroying the Rollins School, originally constructed in 1904.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School erected a new structure on the site of the former Rollins building.

Another culturally significant change along the corridor involves the iconic Katz Drug Store at the corner of Westport Road and Main.  Seen below in 1940, Katz’s personifies an Art Deco charm.

An Osco pharmacy most recently inhabited this structure.  The structure has been largely vacant since 2006, however.  Recently, art pop-ups have given new life to the vacant building.

Undeniably, this stretch of Main has experienced significant change throughout the decades.  The preservation and adaptive reuse of the buildings that survived, however, has contributed to the charms of this Midtown area.

Main Street in 1952, below:

Similar extent more recently: