Unleashing the Power of Small Scale Development

Making a Great City
Jim Kumon, president of the not-for-profit Incremental Development Alliance, points out that smaller scale, infill projects are fundamental to financially self-sustaining communities and also a hedge for maintaining affordable housing. Kumon explores how current zoning and development conventions make these small-scale projects difficult, if not illegal, then highlights the ways his organization helps provide individuals and community partners with the skills needed to overcome these challenges and build sm
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Reception: 
6pm
Program: 
6:30 pm
Event Audio

Recent economic successes in Los Angeles, Denver, and Minneapolis, among other cities, have been fueled by the resurgence of small-scale urban neighborhoods. That same potential, urban designer Jim Kumon says, exists in the lots and blocks of Kansas City and every other medium and large municipality in the Midwest.

Kumon, who heads the Minnesota-based Incremental Development Alliance, offers a roadmap for pulling off such small-scale development projects – from managing the cost of infrastructure to creating affordable housing, gaining access to financial capital, and training new entrepreneurs – in the third installment of the Making a Great City series.

The series is co-presented by the Hall Family Foundation, the planning and design studio of Gould Evans, Greater Kansas City LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), the local council of the Urban Land Institute, the Mid-America Regional Council, Newmark Grubb Zimmer, and the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors.
 
Making a Great City programs:

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Strong Towns: The Profits, and Losses, of Growth

Thursday, March 8, 2018
The Smart Math of Urban Development

Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Unleashing the Power of Small-Scale Development