Mili Mansaray
Mili Mansaray is a freelance reporter for The Beacon and was a summer 2020 intern. Follow Mili on Twitter @MansarayMili.
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The influx of soccer fans to Kansas City is expected to hike prices for short-term rentals, possibly pushing up rents and making permanent housing less affordable. But if Kansas City officials use the opportunity to invest in affordable housing, experts see a chance for long-term benefits.
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Advocates say that Kansas City won't be able to end chronic homelessness without a low-barrier shelter — a place without religious teachings, that doesn’t require guests first to take job training or get sober. But after pushback from the neighborhood, Kansas City Council is starting from square one.
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A year after the Kansas City Police Department reinstated its missing persons unit, in response to criticism that officers weren't taken cases of missing Black people seriously, community members are still frustrated by a complicated reporting process.
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New federal rules will adjust Section 8 subsidies so that Kansas City families can gain access to neighborhoods they've been essentially shut out of, including downtown neighborhoods like Quality Hill and midtown neighborhoods like Hyde Park.
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The Kansas City housing market is tight. Lower-interest mortgages signed during the pandemic discourage homeowners from moving on and taking on higher rates, and new construction isn't keeping up with the demand.
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KCPS said it landed a guarantee that it would not lose property tax funding if voters pass the stadium sales tax extension on April 2. But libraries and mental health services also stand to lose tax revenue, and say they haven’t been approached by the Royals.
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Several labor and community groups, including Kansas City Public Schools, are demanding more concessions from The Kansas City Royals before they support a 3/8-cent sales tax renewal that would help fund a new ballpark. Building trades unions endorsed the project after securing promises.
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Kansas City residents who want to buy a single-family home have to bid against mega-corporations that own hundreds or even thousands of properties. That shrinks the number of houses available for people to actually live in, and raises prices for homebuyers and renters alike.
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Toll boxes may soon be revamped on all RideKC buses if the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority reinstates fares to address a multi-million-dollar budget shortage. That would especially hurt the low-income residents who rely on free buses most, and could lead to a drop in ridership.
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Kansas City, Kansas, currently has no permanent emergency shelter where people can stay for the night and find showers, hot meals and referrals for health care — even as homelessness increases on that side of the metro.