Strategies
Since its inception in September 2009, the Green Impact Zone initiative has focused its efforts on eight priorities identified by neighborhood leaders as priorities for community transformation: housing, weatherization, employment and training, infrastructure, energy efficiency, urban agriculture, public safety and community services, and youth.
As the initiative kicked off its third year, staff and neighborhood leaders revisited each of these areas, and reorganized the priorities into three key strategy areas: housing, public safety and community services, and employment and training.
Key achievements — accomplished by the zone and its partners — in the strategy areas include:
Housing
- 50 new affordable housing units in the Bancroft School renovation
- 30 units in development in Phase I of Ivanhoe’s 39th Street Gateway project
- Model block plans for the block adjacent to Bancroft school
- A property condition survey of 3,969 properties, yielding 57 interactive maps
Neighborhood Capacity Building
- New community space in three renovated facilities
- 275 participants in the Community Leadership Training with 59 graduates
- $271,226 in neighborhood capacity grants
- 67 trained in the Roots for Success environmental literacy program
- Community Capital grants secured for two neighborhoods
Outreach
- 99,443 telephone contacts
- 45,766 door-to-door contacts
- 3,629 participants in zone-wide events
- Two Citizen’s Police Academies
- 10 Kansas City Police Department neighborhood roll calls
- Four homebuyer tours with 162 participants
Employment
- A jobs pipeline offering regular updates on available jobs with 627 participants.
- Eight Essential Employability Skills Workshops with 133 graduates
- Six interview fairs
- 151 job placements
Job Training
- 435 training referrals
- 395 training certifications in deconstruction basics, environmental remediation, construction business management, small business planning, OSHA-10, customer service and certified nursing assistant programs.
Business Development
- A new small business/contractor incubator at 5008 Prospect
- Plans for a Troost Community Improvement District
- Business plan development assistance for five small businesses
Transportation Infrastructure
- 11.1 miles of new sidewalks
- 22.9 miles of street resurfacing
- New passenger amenities at 18 bus stops
- 12 new traffic signals and 14.1 miles of signal interconnection
- New Troost Avenue bridge and pedestrian walkway
- Troost MAX bus rapid transit
Energy and Water Conservation
- 329+ homes weatherized
- The new KCP&L Smart Grid, with 14,000 smart meters, 1,000 in-home displays and 1,800 residents using the energy management portal
- Two solar installations
- Energy retrofit and financing referrals through EnergyWorksKC
- 147 small concrete repair projects at 83 homes by 15 youth trainees
- Two new rain gardens
