Up North dispatch: 200 new homes could come to growing Clay County
Editor’s note: The following is from this week’s Up North newsletter, published weekly on Mondays. You can sign up here to get them delivered to your inbox.
Good afternoon, Northland!
I’m Jenna Ebbers, back with your roundup of the biggest Northland stories from the past week. I hope you all had a happy and safe Fourth of July!
Today, we’re diving into a nearly 90-acre proposed development that could build hundreds more homes across the street from a fast-growing Northland high school.
A local developer is looking to build 200 single-family homes on an 87-acre parcel of land along Shoal Creed Parkway directly across from Staley High School, where enrollment has been growing rapidly in recent years.
“This is a development that the area really would like to see happen, especially as we’re trying to build up the parkway,” Councilman Nathan Willett said.
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What’s new in the Northland?
🍝 Platte City isn’t known for its Italian food scene — and maybe hasn’t ever been home to an Italian restaurant — but a new pasta joint is hoping to change that.
⚽ One of KC’s only Bosnian bakeries decked its front lawn out in yellow and blue to unite the Northland community for the World Cup. “It’s like our own little Bosnia,” one attendee said.
🚜 Months after a popular craft store shut down all 800 locations nationwide, a former JoAnn Fabrics in Kansas City’s Northland may finally be getting a new tenant.
⚖️ A former KC police officer could face life in prison after shooting and killing a man in a Walmart parking lot. Now, the victim’s family hopes to find peace in the verdict.
My favorite reads
🚑 Fourth of July fireworks were the culprit behind more than a dozen injuries for people of all ages reported at hospitals across the metro this holiday weekend.
♥️ In case you missed it, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce got married this weekend. In honor of the wedding, these diehard KC Swifties say she has become “an unexpected ambassador” for the city.
Northland through my eyes
Kansas City’s time in the limelight hosting World Cup matches and extravagant watch parties is quickly approaching its end.
But even as this global phenomenon packs up and leaves KC — taking with it the temporary pitch in Arrowhead and international fans who traveled to the heart of the country to celebrate this event with us — I know I’ll remember it forever.
No, I won’t remember the rush of going to a match or cheering with strangers in Power and Light. Because I didn’t do either of those things.
All of my memories have taken place north of the river, where families gathered at sports complexes to cheer on Argentina as their kids played pick-up games of soccer. Where an Argentinian restaurant brought Argentina to KC. Where a Parkville bar was plastered in bright orange in support of the Netherlands and a group of students created an animatronic Lionel Messi. Where a small Bosnian community cheered for their home country, but celebrated when Team USA won the match.
But most of all, I’ll remember the way the Northland came together to soak up this crazy, exciting World Cup summer.
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That’s all for now! See you next week.
