As a studio, we’ve been developing proposals for different segments of the Greenline, organizing our work into four key areas: North, East, West, and South. This structure has helped us break down the larger system into more manageable pieces while still thinking about how they connect as a whole. This week, we focused on connecting our design work to real people and real places across Kansas City.

Rick Usher, Crossroads Community Improvement District

We welcomed Rick Usher from the Crossroads Community Improvement District to our studio. He spoke to us about the ongoing work in the Crossroads and other neighborhood developments. He talked about new bike lanes along Southwest Boulevard that could possibly be integrated into the Greenline and efforts to increase the number of trees in the Crossroads. He gave feedback on different ideas for alignment along the southern portion of the Crossroads. The Southern segment team is currently looking at two different streets for their segments, one of them being a commercial trail along 18th street. Hearing directly from a neighborhood leader like Rick gave us a clear understanding of the potential impact of our project and how to incorporate other community efforts.

Later in the week, we took a short studio trip to the Berkley Riverfront. Walking the site allowed us to see recent developments firsthand and observe how public space, infrastructure, and recreation come together along the river. The visit wrapped up with a stop at Two Birds One Stone, giving us time to reflect as a group in a more casual setting.

Overall, this week was about learning from the community, experiencing sites in person, and continuing to develop our Greenline proposals with a stronger connection to context.

Written by Brian Medina, Architecture Student