Tag: Downtown Wichita revitalization
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Kansas historic preservation tax credits should be eliminated
It’s time to recognize historic buildings for what they are: a premium feature or amenity whose extra cost should be born solely by those who chose to own them or rent them. Supporters of historic buildings tell us that renovating them is more expensive than building new. Likewise, building a home with granite kitchen counter…
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Urban planning: Wichita should reject the fads Portland has followed
Urban planners say they can make our cities more livable, our downtowns more vibrant, and our traffic calmer. The problem is that urban planners do not understand how cities work, so all of their plans often turn out disastrously wrong. Many urban planners are quite capable of planning a sewer line, a road, a bus…
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Randal O’Toole discusses urban planning in Wichita
Last week Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole was in Wichita. He delivered a public lecture Thursday evening to a crowd that braved poor weather to attend. O’Toole said he spent 15 years studying urban planning. He said he’s learned this: “Urban planners promise us paradise on earth, but first we have to give them…
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Urban planning discussed on Kansas Week
Economist, author, and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole discusses urban planning and redevelopment on the KPTS Television public affairs program Kansas Week. Tim Brown is the host.
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WaterWalk hotel subsidy passes
Not that it matters much now since the measure has passed, but here are a few things that haven’t been discussed much regarding the subsidy to a proposed hotel in Wichita’s WaterWalk development.
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Wichita’s pursuit of convention business: a wise strategy?
One of the reasons Wichita city leaders say we need to provide subsidy to a proposed hotel in the downtown WaterWalk development is that the rooms are needed to support the city’s effort to gain convention business. On its face, this pursuit of convention business seems like a noble effort by city leaders. Vast streams…
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Urban planning to be explored in Wichita
As Wichita is presently engaged in a downtown planning process that holds the promise of more centralized planning, more government spending, and tax increases, Wichitans need to be aware of alternatives. Noted author and Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole will be in Wichita next week for several events. O’Toole is author of The Best-Laid…
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With downtown Wichita hotels doing well, why the need for subsidy?
At a recent presentation by Wichita’s downtown revitalization planning firm Goody Clancy, data was presented that is at odds with the city’s plans.
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More questions surround WaterWalk hotel proposal
Yesterday the Wichita Eagle printed a letter from citizen activist John Todd concerning the proposal for City of Wichita subsidy for a hotel in the downtown WaterWalk development. This is the unabridged version of the letter. In 2002 elected city officials leased a prime 20-acre parcel of city owned downtown land known as the East…