Posted by Marty Kraft on January 14, 1999 at 11:54:42:
SUSTAINABLE NEIGHBORHOOD/SUSTAINABLE UMKC
A WIN/WIN EXPANSION ALTERNATIVE
A Working Idea By Marty Kraft, UMKC Alumnus and 49/63 Neighborhood Resident
This idea arose from my work with the 49/63 Neighborhood EcoKids as we began to build a model of a sustainable block. Why not actually do it?
This idea has been circulated to a small number of people in the University and in the neighborhood. The response so far is favorable. There is no way that sustainable community can be built by one person. It will take the cooperation of all involved persons and institutions or it risks being neither a community nor being sustainable. So far this idea is just a suggestion, a seed. It awaits the input of all involved before it can go further.
Note
(I wrote this document as a proposal to all potential members of the community involved, the residents as well as UMKC and the suggested partners. I envisioned a public meeting to take the next step in the ideašs development by inviting all involved to discuss it and to make sure that no one was left out. At this point in the text there would be an invitation to a public meeting to explore the possibilities. I would like to have some response from you before I procede. Nothing is planned at this time.)
Letšs create a model educational program on the neighborhood properties that the university owns from Troost to Holmes and from 53rd to 55th. No one would lose their homes or be forcibly moved. The neighborhood would be enhanced. And the University would gain an educational program worthy of its world class ambitions.
Polls show that most people want to live their lives in a way that is easier on the environment. Looking around, things seem pretty much the same as they did in 1970 when we had the first Earth Day. We have made some progress but over all we are using more resources and polluting more than ever. Why? It is difficult for us to change. Many environmentalists believe that it will take a major disaster before people really walk their talk.
Disaster does elicit change but so does education. Why donšt we take the vacant houses UMKC owns and make them as sustainable* as modern technology allows? Offer adventuring eco-oriented people a rent to own deal to live in a ŗgreen˛ subdivision** of the 49/63 Neighborhood. Some of the houses could be held by UMKC as homes for urban studies students interested in participant observation studies in sustainable community living. Adjoining back or front yards could be made into garden/nature learning areas. A building along Troost could become a farmers market and neighborhood food coop for natural or organic foods. Harrison and Charlotte could be narrowed for more pedestrian access. People who worked within walking distance of the area could be given preference. UMKCšs counseling department could be available for employment counseling, finding jobs for people along bus lines or in the immediate area. Some homes might be turned into block community centers for meetings and entertainment. Residents could be encouraged to use other Troost properties to create cooperative resident owned businesses so they would have a stake in neighborhood life. These businesses could be helped by the Bloch School of Business and provide valuable learning for students. The neighborhood could experiment with vehicle ownership so that everyone did not have to own an automobile.
All existing residents would be cordially invited to become active participants in their community. A wide range of communication tools would be used to explain the possibilities of sustainable living. Since one of UMKCšs essential missions is communication, this would provide a wonderful learning laboratory for students in all areas of communication. Residents would always be welcome, but not required, to participate. They would continue to receive all communications and be invited to all functions of the neighborhood.
This would be an experimental community, exploring various alternatives to make community sustainable. Those who chose to spend their lives here could. Those who wished to leave could. There would be a large educational component to orient new residents and inform existing ones of new possibilities. The educational component would be the main tool for community organization making the assumption that residents, being well informed, will make the best choices for the community. A wealth of data would be there for the collecting and sharing around the world, putting UMKC in the forefront of this exciting and necessary field of study.
Natural partners for this community could include the following. I have also made suggestions of how each might gain.
The 49/63 Neighborhood Coalition and included plat organizations
+ They would gain stability and security, knowing UMKCšs intended use of the land.
Heartland All Species Project, a 49/63 Neighborhood based has sustainable neighborhood educational projects already in place in the neighborhood.
+ Many opportunities for environmental and community building education would be created.
Permiculture Institute has pioneered small scale ecological land use education and could present resident workshops. Refer to http://www.permaculture.org.au
+ Their advantage in having an affiliation with UMKC would have to be explored.
Missouri Department of Conservation will be locating just to the north.
+ Their new facility will unique in the nation. Their role in conservation education in the neighborhood would provide them an opportunity that is unique in the nation.
Kansas City Missourišs Department of Environmental Management
+ This neighborhood effort would provide a working sustainable neighborhood model for other neighborhoods to learn from.
Kansas City Missourišs Focus Plan
+ This plan seems a perfect fit.
Kansas City Missourišs Neighborhood and Community Services Department
+ This neighborhood effort would provide a working sustainable neighborhood model for other neighborhoods to learn from.
Neighborhood Housing Services
+ This plan would provide opportunities for their community block building programs.
UMKCšs department of Architecture
+ Their would be plenty of houses that could use solar installations, greenhouses and landscape planing.
Rockhurst College
+ The same educational opportunities would be available to Rockhurst as to UMKC.
St. Francis School, Troost Academy and the proposed 49/63 Neighborhood charter school
+ Their neighborhood would grow stronger and they would be provided with subject material that could be a unifying factor for students in bringing specialized subject matter together in a very practical way.
These are some of the possibilities of what might take place. What are your ideas? What other partners would be good?
Can our cities be made sustainable? Will people be able to consume less and have an even better quality of life? These are vital questions. Who ever has answers will become equally vital to a world that must change.
*A sustainable community is one that satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of future generations and does not further degrade the natural world.
**This ŗsubdivision˛ should be more like an idea zone with permeable boundaries so that people outside the immediate area could be included.