Kansas City cannot move forward if entire neighborhoods are left behind. For too long, we have treated housing as a reaction instead of a strategy. We have allowed vacant land to sit idle, watched costs rise out of reach for working families, demolished salvageable structures and accepted a system that makes it harder to build where investment is needed most. That approach ends here. 

 

My vision is simple: every neighborhood in Kansas City should be a place where families can afford to live, build wealth, and stay rooted for generations.

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That starts with fixing the foundation. We have thousands of vacant lots across our city, many of them on the east side, sitting unused not because people don’t want to build, but because the process is too expensive, too complicated, and too slow. Contaminated land, red tape, and upfront costs have made it nearly impossible for builders and families to move forward. We are changing that.

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Through the Housing Accelerator, we are turning vacant land into real opportunity. By preparing land for development upfront and removing barriers to entry, we are making it possible to build faster, build smarter, and build homes people can actually afford. The focus, however, isn't just housing units. It is about rebuilding neighborhoods. It is about bringing families back to blocks that have been overlooked for decades. It is about making sure teachers, working families, and longtime residents can afford to stay in the communities they helped build. It is about creating stability, because stable housing is what allows everything else to follow: stronger schools, safer neighborhoods, and real economic opportunity.

 

It is also about being intentional. We must support a range of housing options that meet people where they are, whether that is first-time homeownership, workforce housing, or preserving the affordability that already exists. We must partner with residents, not build around them, ensuring that development reflects the vision of the people who live there.

 

And we must move with urgency. The work underway in Washington Wheatley is just the beginning. The goal is a model we can scale across Kansas City, neighborhood by neighborhood, until vacant land is no longer a symbol of disinvestment, but a sign of what is possible. Because when we get housing right, everything else follows.

 

That is how we build a Kansas City where growth is shared, neighborhoods are strengthened, and every family has a place to call home.