As promised, this is the post where I finally answer the question of WHY IN THE WORLD the Orion Pictures Building was demolished a couple of months ago in spite of significant local opposition. Remember a previous post in which I listed 15 things to know about historic preservation? Basically, the Orion was demolished because Kansas City failed on three of those 15. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, I firs

The recent demolition of the Orion Pictures Building in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District left us scratching our heads. How could the legitimate objections raised by the historic preservation community lead to … nothing? We set out to investigate the process by which historic landmarks are protected, and (with the help of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) we’ve boiled it down to a handy “15 Things To

Last month began the demolition (now over) of the Orion Pictures building at 118 W. 17th St. The Orion was part of what is known as Kansas City’s “Film Row District,” which consisted of 18 buildings that were used by Hollywood studios to store films for distribution in our area. Opponents of the demolition pointed out the character of the building, the piece of Kansas City history it told, and the fact that it

Jim and I like to think we’re idealists.  We love cities, and we love Kansas City, and we think this great city could be much greater if only … “If only” is where we get in trouble sometimes, for two reasons. REASON 1: our frequent undecided voter moments. By “undecided voter moments” we mean moments in which we, with great confidence and ignorance, propose unoriginal solutions to the world’s problems. Here we

Dear MAX, When I first moved to Kansas City about two years ago, every morning I drove six minutes to work along your route on Main Street. I was proud of my choice to live in the urban core and proud of a commute time much shorter than the Kansas City average of 20 minutes. But every time I saw you at the stop right around the corner from my apartment, and every time I saw you dropping off passengers a couple of blo

  Now that I have your attention … Every year important things end up buried under a ton of holiday cheer. It happens. But let’s start clearing the backlog and consider We Are Superman, shall we? Specifically, and somewhat bipolar-ly, I need to celebrate the two people who completely steal the show, and lament the reasons why the film’s title is heartbreakingly wrong. If you haven’t seen it, We Are S

Opening tomorrow, a new butcher shop at 3828 Broadway. A locally-owned, old-school, bona fide, oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening butcher shop right next door to Gomer’s. Like others who have heard the news, I wonder how good the shop’s products will be. Already mentions of chicken from local Amish farmers and sustainably farmed fish are very promising, but you never know. No matter what, t