Thunderstorms, some heavy during the morning hours, then skies turning partly cloudy during the afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: September 22, 2023 @ 5:07 am
You know what I was struck by in the city government’s discussion this week about downtown Manhattan? I was struck by how small the problems seemed.
Most towns in Kansas have problems like: How do we get any stores to come back to downtown? What are we supposed to do with all these empty buildings?
The discussion here was about, oh, I dunno, how to better use the empty parking lot on the other side of the mall.
The reality is that downtown Manhattan has hardly ever been better. It’s full of life. There are locally owned stores, offices, restaurants, bars and apartments. There’s movement afoot to get a live entertainment venue in the Wareham. We redeveloped what had been a steel warehouse into a strong retail district, and we re-did the south side with hotels and a museum. There’s another museum going in there now, too.
It all started, of course, with the decision in the 1980s to put the mall downtown – a decision fraught with political conflict, sacrifice by local leaders, and some real cost. Redevelopment on 3rd and 4th this century also had its own costs, in terms of the closure or relocation of businesses, and the government took some risk.
Both of those gambles have paid off. They won’t pay off forever, and the trends in brick-and-mortar retail don’t bode well for either the mall or the big-box stores in the area. I don’t mean to be Pollyanna here.
But nearly every community in Kansas, perhaps all of them outside Johnson County and some parts of Wichita, would gladly trade their problems for ours. Mostly, our issues relate to growth, and to opportunity.
There could be more done with the riverfront, certainly. Props to Phil Anderson for pushing that forward for years. The concrete plant property to the south could possibly be put to other use, although that’s complicated. Downtown could use a better connection to the Linear Trail. Parking is an issue. Parking is always an issue, until driverless Ubers take over.
Also, none of this is to say that planning is irrelevant. It is not to say that the government should just forget about it. That’s not at all true. In fact, the reason we’re in this enviable position is precisely because of planning, attention, and intentional action. The world marches on.
All I’m saying is that the problems are relatively good problems to have, and it’s worth reflecting on that.
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