Northeast Sustainability Town Hall

Learn about sustainability issues impacting Kansas City’s historic Northeast neighborhood at the Northeast Sustainability Town Hall event.

Hosted by Jerusalem Farm, the free event will be held on Saturday, February 11 from 2 – 4 p.m. at the Independence Boulevard Christian Church, 606 Gladstone Blvd., Kansas City, MO.

A panel featuring five representatives from different organizations doing work in the Northeast will discuss sustainability-related topics and take questions from attendees.

The panel will include the following speakers and topics:

Lara Isch, sustainability manager for Kansas City, MO, will discuss the Climate Protection & Resiliency Plan that the city adopted in 2022, and what it means for residents of the Northeast. The plan provides a roadmap to improve public health and the climate while drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

A representative from the city will be discussing bike infrastructure and electric bike options in the Northeast. In November of 2022, a partnership between Independence Avenue CID, Kansas City University, and Jerusalem Farm brought a new RideKC bike hub to the corner of Independence and Woodland Avenues. RideKC hopes to add additional bike hubs to other locations in the Northeast in the future. In addition, the city recently installed protected bike lanes on Lexington Ave. and Truman Rd.

Stephen VanRhein, Kansas City, MO Parks and Recreation environmental manager, will discuss parks in the Northeast. Independence Plaza Park recently received $1.2 million worth of improvements and reopened to the public in October 2022. Improvement plans are also currently in the works for Cliff Drive State Scenic Byway and Kessler Park.

Adam Rossi, an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer will discuss residential solar. Rossi is working with Jerusalem Farm to develop a program to provide low-income homeowners in the Northeast with free PV systems. Solarize Kansas City, a metro area-wide group purchasing program, helped hundreds of area residents save money on PV systems in 2022, and the program included funding for a small number of free installations for low-income Kansas City residents.

Jeff Soltis, co-director of Kansas City Regional Clean Cities for Metropolitan Energy Center, will discuss plans to engage with the community in listening sessions to help identify EV charging and sustainable transportation needs in the Northeast.

The event is free and open to anyone in the public. Light refreshments will be provided. Childcare will also be available. Although not required to attend, it is encouraged to RSVP via Facebook. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Featured image: Cliff Drive located in the George E. Kessler Park in historic Northeast Kansas City neighborhood.