A Gem Theater gathering enthusiastically showered urban development ideas on an economically parched area of the city. The fact that officials even asked caused buds of hope to sprout in the long-neglected community.</p><p>The goal is to devise a Vine Street District Economic Development Plan for the 20 square blocks bounded by Ninth and 29th streets, the Paseo and Troost Avenue. Its hubs would be 12th and 18th streets. It includes the Negro Leagues Baseball and American Jazz museums and the best barbecue restaurants in the nation.</p><p>&ldquo;What people want to get back to is a real neighborhood retail center,&rdquo; said Vicki Noteis, president of Collins Noteis and Associates, who helped lead community discussions last week. &ldquo;The new urbanism concept is not new.&rdquo;</p><p>People often point to Brookside as an example.</p><p>&ldquo;But the history is here,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You still have the unique draw that is not going to be any place else.&rdquo;</p><p>In the 1950s when the area was segregated, the Vine district had 450 businesses and 45,000 residents. But the years have not been kind.</p><p>In 2008, the Vine Street District had about 40 businesses and only about 3,500 residents. Integration caused many black families and businesses to leave, seeking better housing and opportunities.</p><p>The area today includes historic churches, The Call newspaper, the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, Gates Village, Alvin Ailey, Lincoln Prep, the Black Archives, the Full Employment Council, the Gem Theater, the Negro Leagues and jazz museums, the Mutual Musicians Foundation and historic housing. The new plan must brand the best of the district, creating for the Vine unique themes and symbols.</p><p>Noteis explained that the area could be developed using a rich blend of incentives including tax abatements, tax credits, enterprise zones and a sales-tax-free zone. Products and services offered in the area would cost people nearly 10 percent less than elsewhere. That would be like having a back to school sales-tax holiday every day.</p><p>The incentives would be only for the Vine development, just as $200 million in federal stimulus money is the goal for the urban area to the south that&rsquo;s called the Green Impact Zone. Each will improve long-neglected and mostly black parts of town.</p><p>The incentives would spur a mix of new housing and business development around the jazz district. The bad economy puts a damper on things now, but officials want the plan ready so when the recession ends developers will come to the Vine district first.</p><p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re poised to take advantage of that,&rdquo; Noteis said.</p><p>Interstate 70 carries east and westbound traffic to the Vine. Bruce Watkins Drive brings in traffic from the north and south. The Vine development is a convenient residential location for people who work downtown.</p><p>The area will offer walkable space, neighborhood services, businesses and restaurants, affordable housing and cultural attractions. In addition to the Gem Theater and the baseball and jazz museums, the plan could include a journalism school tied to The Call, Disney studios, a genealogy center, a performance venue such as a pavilion for concerts, a barbecue museum and a black history education center.</p><p>Tax breaks would encourage businesses to hire people who live in the area. A light rail system or shuttle could connect Vine amenities with those downtown and elsewhere. More highway signs would direct people to the district.</p><p>&ldquo;New Orleans and Detroit use music to define the cities,&rdquo; said Darryl H. Daniels, managing partner with Jacobsen/Daniels Associates LLC, who led a lot of the public discussion in the first meeting in June. He encouraged people to consider such &ldquo;bones and connecting tissue&rdquo; for the Vine Street development.</p><p>The final public meeting is Oct. 20. The plan will be completed later this year and go to the City Council for approval in 2010.</p><p>Political will and interested developers are the missing ingredients.