Page 75 - KCMO Parks Master Plan 2032

TakeAways

It’s clear that KCMO has a very large and
developed park system. There are few amenities The level of service provided by the current
listed in Figure 5.3 that show shortcomings now Kansas City, Missouri park system meets most
or in the future. NaNaturtural pal parkarks or grs all standards across amenity types now and well
or greeneenwwaayyss show a shortage, but into the future. The only areas of concern from a
when one considers the many hundreds of acres quantity standpoint are trails and large shelters.
of natural and wild spaces in developed parks The department should consider converting
around the city, this is not a concern. If anything, small shelters into larger shelters that residents
the department should consider adding access can reserve. Such picnic shelters will be a
and limited amenities in some of these spaces welcome amenity to adjacent neighborhoods
to handle other shortcomings. For instance, and will provide additional revenue to the
the system shows a shortfall in both paved and department. The department should focus
natural trails, to the tune of 60 miles. Perhaps on developing more trail miles. Many of these
the some of the 364 acres of nanaturtural pal could come within existing neighborhood and
parkarks or grs or greeneenwwaayyss can help community parks. Survey results indicate that
satisfy that need. The matrix suggests that the residents want the department to prioritize
system needs more large shelters. Perhaps some development of trails and nature preserves. A
of the existing “small” shelters can be renovated, focus on the selective development of trails in the
if necessary, and turned into reservable “large” many acres of natural parks or greenways could
shelters. be the answer to these needs.

Distribution

The level of service matrix can only examine
the system as a whole based on raw numbers.
It does not account for the quality of existing
%
amenities or their distribution across the broad portion of the KCMO
and diverse geography of Kansas City. The map 88 88% population living within a
shown in figure 5.4 highlights all parkland in the 10-minute walk of a park
city (orange) and provides 1/2-mile and 1-mile
service radii for each. The 1/2-mile service radius
364
in the dark teal color most closely represents the
10-minute walk. This 10-minute walk figure has
become the standard KCMO and other cities 364 acres of completely
across America now strive to achieve in terms undeveloped parkland
of park equity. Currently, 88% of Kansas City
residents live within a 10-miute walk from a KCMO
park, trail or facility. That is an impressive statistic

and not hard to believe when viewing this map.
The largest gaps on the map are found in areas of 60 60 additional miles of trail
very low population density. There is not a need to needed to bring the
expand the geographical footprint of the system. system up to standard
As maps in previous sections of the report
suggest, the need will be to improve the existing
system with the assets already on hand.

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