Robert Frazier was incarcerated at age 22 for selling crack cocaine. Years later, Anton’s Taproom gave him a second chance.
Frazier now works as a dishwasher at the local Kansas City, Mo., steakhouse and butcher shop. He calls his boss, Anton Kotar, a hero.
“I’ve got family who won’t do what he did for me,” says Frazier.
Since opening his farm-to-table restaurant in 2012, Kotar has employed approximately 23 former inmates, but his service to others doesn’t stop there.
Watch the video above to see additional ways that Kotar invests in his community.
Tag: kansas city
Your Great-Grandma’s Public Transport Is Making a Comeback
When Elon Musk announced his plans to build a Hyperloop that would travel between New York City and Washington, D.C., in 29 minutes, Twitter had a field day, with users imagining the ways the technology could be used in their cities (take a bow, NYC subway).
But in the more immediate future, there are a number of cities that have taken up something old as a way to bring about the new: streetcars.
Streetcars — which differ from light-rail systems in that they share the right-of-way with cars, pedestrians and bikes — were used heavily post–WWI in cities like New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia. These urban hubs found that the electric wiring of cars for mass transportation was more effective than the mechanical cable cars of the the previous century. But after General Motors financed a national campaign in the 1930s for the use of buses, streetcars went the way of the buggy. By the mid-’50s, they were considered obsolete.
But then something strange happened: Since 2000, streetcars have seen a resurgence in popularity. Cities like Portland and Seattle set off a national trend by using streetcars less for tourism, as they are in San Francisco and New Orleans, and more for general public use. Most are currently financed by federal and state grants. And the benefits have been measurable, from rejuvenating formerly blighted neighborhoods to offsetting carbon emissions.
But President Donald Trump recently argued to cut federal funding for streetcars, saying they should be built using local dollars. As more cities plan to lay tracks and federal funding appears uncertain, here’s what to consider before ordering a whole fleet of streetcars.
Neighborhood Renewal
For any government official interested in implementing streetcars, the gold standard can be found in Portland, Ore., which launched its system in 2001.
There, streetcars connect two major universities and hospitals, and have been credited with building up the artsy Pearl District, a former industrial neighborhood that saw millions of private-investment dollars pour into the development of mixed-use buildings along the streetcar line (though PolitiFact pointed out that a sizable chunk of those buildings were already in the works).
Former Portland Mayor Charlie Hales paid tribute to the streetcars’ effect on the Pearl District’s popularity in 2013, saying that the city “no longer [has] to provide subsidies for downtown development.”
Other cities have reaped similar rewards. Since announcing the launch of its KC Streetcar system, which began operations last year, Kansas City, Mo., has seen an increase in businesses, such as hotels and restaurants, that line the route, along with a sales tax growth of 58 percent.
Kenosha, Wisc., built its system in 2000 with a $6 million grant, and has seen its downtown perk up in the years since. A hotdog shop owner told the Associated Press in 2013 that before the streetcar, the area “was very dark. Now it’s lit up more, there are businesses,” with shops, bookstores and cafes bordering one side of the line.
Not hailed by all
Despite their popularity and proven economic benefits, not everyone is on board with the streetcar.
Less expensive than putting down light rail systems, a Federal Transit Administration report found that Portland’s streetcar system — the one lauded by transit advocates — cost $60 million per mile to build. The same study, though, gave an example that Little Rock, Arkansas’ streetcar helped spur $800 million in development between 2000 and 2012.
Jeffrey Brown, a Florida State University professor and public transit researcher, told Future Structure that investing in streetcars is “just the latest variance of that downtown revitalization agenda” and that buses — though not as trendy — would be more effective in keeping transportation costs down.
Another study done by students at the Florida State University found that compared to other modes of public transportation, streetcars underperform in bringing in transit revenue.
And streetcars are also more expensive to operate compared to buses. The Federal Transit Administration in 2014 found that streetcars cost $1.50 per passenger for every mile they ride. That cost is cut to $1.05 for buses. Another FTA report said that “regular bus service improvements are likely to be the least costly of all measures to increase transit capacity.”
So why the appeal? In Kansas City, for example, they were cheaper to build and more environmentally friendly than traditional buses. When its LEED certified streetcar started service, the system was lauded by local and state press for bringing an “eye-popping” edge to the city’s developing downtown area, and for being part of a larger city infrastructure plan committed to eco-friendly design and development.
Want more? Check out these reads on the challenges and rewards of streetcars:
All-American Streetcar Boom Fuels Urban Future
Tram wars! Why streetcars are back — whether you like it or not
Homepage photo courtesy of Courtesy of Portland Streetcar
Building the Future: Sustainable Infrastructure
President Trump has pledged $1 trillion to rebuild America’s systems, but the proposed infrastructure bill relies heavily on private financing to fund sorely needed waterworks and transit projects.
This poses a problem because private companies “only work on projects that create revenues,” says Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), ranking member on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “The vast majority of the national highway system, and our bridge problems and all our transit problems, do not generate revenues. It will not help them.”
A BETTER FINANCIAL MODEL
Sustainable infrastructure is often understood to be a bridge built from recycled materials or an electric plant powered by wind, for instance, but it’s also infrastructure whose upkeep expenses are included in its building costs so that there aren’t social or environmental costs later on.
The ability to fund maintenance prevents massive failures, like the Flint water crisis or the year-long shutdown of certain lines of the Washington, D.C., metro, from ever happening.
“For years, there’s been this separation of costs for building a bridge versus actually making sure that bridge stays up, and over time, it’s created a really weird recipe for a lack of consideration for operational costs in state budgets,” says Anthony O. Kane, managing director for the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. “If you build a road one way and it has to be built again in 20 years. Why not build a road in another way and give it a longer lifespan?”
For the close to 30,000 rural local bridges that are deficient across the U.S., sustainable infrastructure is a solution with longevity.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES
Leading the way in sustainable infrastructure projects are New York City, Chicago and Kansas City, Mo. The use of recycled materials, a reduction of carbon emissions and sound pollution are often key elements of building plans.
In Los Angeles (another city at the forefront of the environmental movement), the Metro system is being revitalized by utilizing solar panels for alternative energy and adding 6.6 miles of new train tracks using recycled materials.
“It’s not the classic 1950s definition of infrastructure anymore,” says Rick Bell, executive director of New York City’s Department of Design and Construction. “Transportation isn’t just highways and bridges. It is just as important to create a bike lane for people to get around the city without a car.”
“BRANCHING” OUT
Some of the most successful sustainable projects are ones that citizens might not even view as infrastructure. In Chicago, trees are used as infrastructure to help reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage. A 2014 Friends of the Park report found the 70,000 trees that were planted over a 20-year period have reduced carbon emissions in the Windy City by 25,000 tons each year — the equivalent of 15,100 automobiles. The tree canopy also reduced air temperature, saving $360,000 annually on residential utility costs.
CATCH UP ON THE FUTURE OF SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE WITH THESE DEEP READS:
The Role of Public Policy in Sustainable Infrastructure, Brookings Institute
The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative, The New Climate Economy
The Next Generation of Infrastructure, McKinsey & Company
Homepage photo by Rick Tomlinson / Volvo Ocean Race via Getty Images.
Allergy-Friendly Food Is Expensive. This Pantry Feeds Families That Can’t Afford Special Diets
At just 12 months of age, Emily Brown’s daughter was diagnosed with allergies to peanuts, eggs, dairy, wheat and soy. Because allergy-friendly food can cost two to four times the price of regular food, Brown’s family quickly became overwhelmed by its ever-increasing grocery budget.
Neither the federal nutrition program Women, Infant & Children (WIC) nor a local food pantry provided any financial relief to Brown since few of the available food products were safe for her daughter to eat. After meeting Amy Goode at a food-allergy support group, the two mothers launched the Food Equality Initiative, aiming to make food that’s safe to those with allergies more affordable and accessible to those in need. In 2015, the inspirational duo opened Renewed Health, the country’s very first allergy-friendly food pantry. In just a year, it’s provided assistance to more than 70 clients and has distributed more than 12,350 pounds of allergy-friendly food.
Watch the video above to learn how the pantry provides a safety net to low- and middle-income people with food allergies or Celiac disease.
Despite a Major Setback, This Young Woman Continues to Fight for At-Risk Youth
It’s tough running a small business, especially for a 24-year-old.
But one Kansas native refuses to lose when it comes to achieving her dream of running a boxing gym. At only 5-foot, 3-inches, E-Lisa Moreno may be small in stature but she knows how to pack a punch.
Moreno first launched her gym, RNE Boxing, three years ago in the Kansas City suburb of Merriam, Kansas. After realizing her passion for boxing and teaching youth, Moreno convinced her father to help her open shop.
“I love seeing a kid who people saw as ‘bad’ become someone who has accomplished something,” she told the National Journal. More than 10 of RNE Boxing’s members are at-risk youth.
As a teenager, Moreno found her love for sparring while passing time at a gym where her two younger brothers took boxing classes. A coach allowed the 17-year-old to slip on a pair of gloves that would eventually lead to her destiny. After just a few months, Moreno dropped almost 50 pounds, and soon, she began spending more time at the gym while her father assumed the role of her coach, traveling with her to compete throughout Kansas.
Her hard work paid off. Moreno took second place in her weight category at the 2010 National Women’s Golden Gloves tournament in Florida. While attending community college on a scholarship from the Kansas City Golden Gloves, Moreno pursued her professional boxing career and coached children as well.
But it was her belief in a 13-year-old girl that inspired Moreno to open a gym. After coaching the tween to three national championship titles, her student passed away in a traffic accident. Instead of returning to the gym where she trained the girl, Moreno decided it was time to open her own place to coach.
In memoriam of the young girl, Moreno named the gym after her student’s initials, RNE. Business was booming when they first opened. Just six months after RNE Boxing opened its doors, the gym boasted around 500 members.
But within a year, local regulations for a sprinkler in case of a fire led Moreno and her father to downsize. The building owner refused to pay for the upgrade, and the Morenos had no choice.
“The cheapest estimate we got was $20,000,” Moreno said. “So we started looking for another place.”
Now, RNE Boxing is run out of a smaller building that can only hold around 60 people, which led to members abandoning the once spacious gym. But that hasn’t stopped this twenty-something from chasing her dream of working with troubled teens.
Moreno now works a day job as a waitress at a Mexican restaurant while her father has also taken a day job. When she thinks about whether she should have made another career choice, she remembers, “It’s all about the kids,” she said. “It’s always been about them.”
How the Other Half Logs On
Troost Avenue runs north-south through the center of Kansas City, Mo. Like 8 Mile Road in Detroit and Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis, Troost Avenue segregates a city: Whites live to the west, blacks to the east. Troost is a racial and socioeconomic dividing line, but it is also the marker of a digital divide. Families to the west have high-speed Internet and computer skills; many to the east have neither.
At a busy intersection on Troost Avenue, in an office above an Eastern Orthodox church, a nonprofit is working on closing this gap. It’s called Connecting for Good, and it provides free Internet access and computer classes to Kansas City’s poor and elderly. Since 2011, Connecting for Good has expanded Internet access to more than 500 low-income families. Its ultimate goal is to get free Wi-Fi to everyone who needs it.
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Michael Liimatta, co-founder and president of Connecting for Good, says his ambitions weren’t this big when he and Rick Deane, co-founder and chief operating officer, were starting out. “Our original issue was trying to help the nonprofits that found themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide,” he says. Liimatta and Deane were preparing classes for local nonprofits when, in 2011, Google announced that Kansas City would be the second pilot city for its high-speed broadband project, called Fiber.
Liimatta and Deane were thrilled. A citywide Internet upgrade would aid nonprofits tremendously, but not only that, says Liimatta. “We thought it’d open up the Internet to families too.”
Today, about one in four Kansas City residents do not have Internet connections at home, according to a survey by Google. About 54 percent of residents who lack a connection are black or Hispanic, and 56 percent are elderly. The people who lack a home Internet connection don’t have a computer, can’t afford a connection or simply don’t know how to get online. When it comes to important life matters like finding a job or getting health insurance, not having access to the Internet can put you at a severe disadvantage.
Liimatta and Deane hoped that the Google Fiber gigabit connection would be the “backbone” on top of which they would build wireless networks for low-income housing units. They said that in 2011 they spoke with Google officials and proposed that they pay for the company’s flagship service — $70 a month for a gigabit connection — to deliver to a low-income housing unit. The idea was to use one connection to serve multiple families at a time. Liimatta was told that this couldn’t be done, however, because Google’s policy is to deliver only one wired Fiber connection per household.
Liimatta and Deane realized this meant that Google Fiber would not be the ISP for Kansas City’s poor. “We had to find our own way to do it,” Liimatta says.
To determine the areas of Kansas City to which it would bring Fiber, Google divided Kansas City into 202 “Fiberhoods” and asked residents to preregister for the service by making a $10 deposit any time between July 26 and Sept. 9, 2012. When a Fiberhood got enough preregistrations, it turned green on Google’s map. If the company didn’t know the significance of Troost Avenue before it came to town, it quickly found out. As the preregistration period came to a close, this is what the Fiberhood map looked like:
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People living west of Troost Avenue signed up in droves, while residents to the east scarcely did at all. Liimatta believes this was a reflection of the digital divide: Residents who live east of Troost Avenue lack the digital awareness and financial means that those to the west enjoy. But he also believed that these deficits shouldn’t prevent those people from getting Fiber. “Fiber was an awesome opportunity. Seven years of Internet at $300 upfront is incredibly generous,” Liimatta says in reference to the initial cost to each Fiber customer to drill holes and lay the required cable. “We didn’t want anybody in this town to miss out on this opportunity.”
Liimatta and Connecting for Good volunteers joined a neighbor.ly campaign called Paint the Town Green to raise money to cover preregistration deposits for residents, especially those east of Troost Avenue. Just days before Fiber preregistration ended, the campaign reached its goal of $5,000. In the end it would raise more than $11,000 — enough to cover the sign-up fees of more than 1,000 residents. “There’s this concept that urban poor people don’t care, don’t want to be online, don’t want to participate in the digital revolution,” Liimatta says. “We’re finding out that they do — they just don’t know how.”
This is what the Fiberhood map ultimately looked like:
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The parts of the city already running on Fiber are turning to gold, but there are many neighborhoods that Google Fiber isn’t likely to reach. The Paint the Town Green campaign did not achieve citywide preregistration: 20 percent of neighborhoods did not qualify, many of which contain low-income housing units.
Jenna Wandres, a Google Fiber spokeswoman, says Google has signed up multifamily buildings, but doesn’t reveal where they are or how many. Liimatta says the only multifamily residences that have Google Fiber are high-end apartment buildings (including the one he lives in). Their residents are willing to pay for installation and service, and landlords can advertise gigabit Internet to attract prospective tenants, according to Liimatta.
Because Google Fiber couldn’t do it, Connecting for Good became its own ISP. But to build and broadcast its own Wi-Fi Internet connection, the nonprofit needed money. So it started refurbishing and selling used computers. To help lay the infrastructure for Wi-Fi, Liimatta then sought guidance from the Free Network Foundation, the nonprofit that provided Internet access to Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Connecting to Wi-Fi doesn’t require physical installation, so once a network is set up at a low-income apartment building, its residents can gain access without paying for cables. So far, Connecting for Good has provided free wireless service to 500 Kansas City families in two large housing projects and one senior-living home. Liimatta says there are several other networks in the works. “We’re socially-minded geeks with missionary zeal. That’s who we are,” Liimatta says.
This doesn’t mean that Google played no role in Kansas City’s technological expansion. Since it touched down in Kansas City, Fiber has boosted the local startup scene considerably. In November 2012, the Hanover Heights neighborhood, southwest of Troost Avenue, became the first one to connect to Fiber. Dozens of entrepreneurs flocked there right away. Startup Village, a startup incubator in that neighborhood, was founded by four entrepreneurs who met in Hanover Heights after Fiber arrived. According to Startup Village’s co-leader Brittain Kovac, the space now hosts 23 local companies — one of which used to be Connecting for Good, which resided in Startup Village’s office space before it moved to Troost Avenue.
Last November, Connecting for Good also received a $35,000 grant from the Kansas City Digital Inclusion Fund, a foundation that supports nonprofits and startups, to which Wandres says Google has contributed (an undisclosed sum). The money helped Liimatta’s team upgrade their computer-refurbishment program and renovate their workshop — in 2013, Connecting for Good was able to renovate 600 computers; this year, its output has increased to 200 computers a month. And it’s hired a full-time manager. “We went from no staff at the beginning of January 2013 to five staff at the beginning of January 2014,” Liimatta says.
Google supports Connecting for Good directly as well: The company donated 20 Chromebooks and some money, which Liimatta says paid for part of the nonprofit’s computer drive this past fall. Employees at Google’s spaceship-like Kansas City office, which is near the Kansas-Missouri border and far west of Troost Avenue, occasionally help teach Connecting for Good’s computer classes.
Nancy Andreasen, 38, who lives east of Troost Avenue, is one beneficiary of such education. Originally from San Francisco, Andreasen comes from a “lower-middle-class Navy family” that did not own a computer when she was growing up. In high school, a couple of her friends had computers at home, “but they were from wealthy families,” she says.
Andreasen’s high school computer class didn’t teach much more than typing, so in 2003 when she enrolled in Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, Calif., she signed up for a computer course expecting to learn basic skills like word processing. The course was “so frustrating and so technical that it didn’t feel like I was even being taught computer skills,” she says. She dropped the class. From then on, if she had a written assignment, she used what she’d used in high school: her grandfather’s old typewriter.
Last July, a friend told Andreasen about Connecting for Good’s computer refurbishment program. The nonprofit offers refurbished PCs for $50 each to qualifying students in its digital literacy class. Andreasen signed up for a class that same week. As it turned out, she was too advanced for the beginner course, having learned her way around a computer at various jobs since college. But when her instructor noticed that Andreasen was spending most of her time helping the woman next to her, he asked if she would be interested in volunteering.
Now Andreasen teaches a digital literacy class herself. Almost all of her students are below the poverty line or past retirement age, or both. In one of her first classes, she taught a recent immigrant from Kenya how to use Google. “He was so excited that he could look up his home newspaper on Google, and look up online what was going at home,” she says. “He wouldn’t have to spend the money to get the paper shipped now.”
In October 2013, the nonpartisan New America Foundation reported that Internet access in the United States still lags far behind other developed countries. “In comparison to their international peers,” the report stated, “Americans in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., are paying higher prices for slower Internet service.”
The Kansas City model could change this. The town’s Internet access beats the service offered in major cities in two areas: speed and price. Google, which recently announced an expansion of Fiber to nine new metropolitan areas, including Atlanta and Portland, Ore., is pushing the borders of Internet connectivity, while Connecting for Good, which set up a second office in Kansas City, Kan., last month, is opening that boundary to more and more people. Kansas City’s digital infrastructure, built by the collective efforts of these two organizations, could soon be the model for every American city.