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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
Urban designer. Writer. Skeptical Optimist. I love to study, plan, design and build Messy Cities. Tweets here are not views of
@MidtownKCNow
Kansas City, MOkevinklinkenberg.substack.comJoined November 2008
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Kevin Klinkenberg’s Tweets

Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
Food halls have successfully changed the image of mall food courts. Can someone now change the image of malls, taking inspiration from historic examples? Imagine transforming networks of alleys in urban areas to this.
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The Cultural Tutor
@culturaltutor
This is not a royal palace — it's a 19th century shopping mall in Milan, Italy. So here's a brief history of malls, and why they don't have to be soulless places:
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
It’s wild how everything on Twitter is a crisis and a battle for the future of western civilization, but IRL it’s just a lovely Monday night and people seem to be enjoying themselves and smiling a lot.
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
I love it when worlds collide, and have many thoughts about this post. I might just do a podcast episode on it, to give myself time to elaborate. In the meantime check out the episode where I interviewed Dan Parolek of
@OpticosDesign
- the designers of culdesac Tempe (next)
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Mr. Money Mustache
@mrmoneymustache
Less Cars, More Money: My Visit to the the City of the Future mrmoneymustache.com/2023/04/07/car
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
These folks do really great work. If you're looking for designers who understand smaller scale and missing middle, check them out.
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Fabric[K] Design
@design_fabric
Density shouldn't also mean extremely tall buildings. You can gently introduce density without changing the core character of a neighborhood. Our latest project - cottage court - seeks to prove that. #missingmiddle #gentledensity #detroit #cottagecourt
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
Making some tweaks to our little intervention at 40th/Walnut. We didn't like how the original construction was draining and looking, so we added a french drain and some stones to help retain the landscaping. Now we need some rain to see how it all works.
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
The urban core in KCMO still has less than half its 1950 population. In Midtown, we have 1/3 of what we used to have. We can't have anything we say we want without significant population growth - i.e., more housing at all prices. And we can't take for granted we will grow.
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Tom Gerend
@TomGerend
An unfortunate reminder that housing and development choices are made in the context of broader regional market, and a warning sign that we need to redouble efforts across board to stem loss and encourage growth in region’s core. Outward only growth grows our divide. twitter.com/kcur/status/16…
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
The more I reflect on this, the more I realize it’s the perfect symbol for our time. It’s an expensive, techy solution, created no doubt by highly intelligent people…. To a problem that actually has very inexpensive, time-tested solutions that anyone can do themselves: a tree.
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
This is brilliant. People aren’t cartoon villains or cartoon heroes.
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Tim Urban
@waitbutwhy
Whenever I get to know someone who seems perfect, I end up disappointed. Whenever I get to know someone who I think is the worst of the worst, I'm pleasantly surprised. Angels and demons aren't real.
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
The officials have just been way too involved in March Madness this year.
@NCAA
needs to fix this going forward. Too many fouls, too many key players fouling out or in trouble, too many late-game calls. It really ruins the enjoyment of the game.
Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
Equally heartbreaking and maddening #UrbanRemoval
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UrbanLab KC
@urbanlab_kc
Kansas City cut many of its great neighborhoods in half by running highways directly through them. No neighborhood suffered as much as the area southeast of downtown, which was entirely demolished for the most inefficient and egregious use of space conceived for an urban core.
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Kevin Klinkenberg
@kevinklink
This was a very fun conversation. I appreciate
@abbykatkc
allowing me to take this in a direction not often heard on the topic of 15-minute cities. Hopefully we can redirect this to be something productive for everyone.
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Mike Christensen, MCMP, CNU-A, AICP
@MRC_SLC
Is the hype over 15-minute cities warranted or not? strongtowns.org/journal/2023/3 via @StrongTowns, @abbykatkc, and @kevinklink
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