Kansas City Bus Tour: Community, History & Housing on the Move
Understanding Kansas City: Community, History & Housing on the Move
Are you attending ReFrame Conference 2025 and eager to learn more about Kansas City? Whether you’re visiting for the first time or have lived here for years, this half-day bus tour offers a powerful opportunity to explore KC’s neighborhoods through the lens of history, housing, and community development.
Kansas City carries the weight of complex history: geography, infrastructure, and policy have shaped its neighborhoods and continue to influence challenges today. On this guided tour, we’ll visit key sites and hear directly from local leaders working at the intersection of housing repair, racial equity, and neighborhood revitalization. Along the way, you’ll gain insight into how decisions made decades ago continue to affect communities and how Kansas Citians are working to create a more equitable future.
Led by local experts, this tour will offer historical context, real-time stories, and tangible examples of impactful housing and repair work. You’ll come away with new perspectives and ideas to bring back to your own community.
Participating in the Kansas City Bus Tour
We are offering one tour time slot option on Thursday, November 13th at 1:30pm, immediately after lunch.
Because the tour will take place during the general conference, some breakout sessions will occur at the same time as the bus tour. You can view this year's session schedule here.
To participate in the tour, you must purchase a tour ticket. Hit "Register Now" on the right hand side to purchase your ticket!
This immersive experience will highlight how infrastructure, history, and community development work intersect—and how these lessons can inform housing repair strategies across the country.
Tour Highlights:
- Main Street Corridor – View KC’s Streetcar and major cultural landmarks like the WWI Museum and Union Station. Learn how infrastructure and public space shape urban life.
- West Side Housing & Downtown – Pass by the T-Mobile Center and City Hall. Explore how geography and highway construction have affected housing access and civic growth.
- Northland – Northland Neighborhoods, Inc. (NNI) – Visit this vital organization serving KC’s expansive Northland area. Learn how NNI leverages partnerships to meet diverse housing and community needs.
- Troost Avenue Corridor / Health Department – Discuss the lasting impact of redlining and disinvestment along Troost Avenue, long considered Kansas City’s racial dividing line. Learn about current efforts to address food insecurity, housing needs, and public health partnerships.
- Blue Hills Neighborhood – Hear from community leader Ms. Linda at the Blue Hills Building, located in the heart of the city’s largest targeted area for housing and home repair efforts.
Key Discussion Topics:
- How highways like I-35 and 71 were constructed through communities of color—and the lasting impact of those decisions
- Troost Avenue’s legacy of racial division and current efforts to promote reinvestment and healing
- The scale and strategy of serving large geographic areas, like the Northland, through cross-sector collaboration
- How community-rooted initiatives, like those in Blue Hills, address housing inequities and support long-term repair programs
- Cultural assets and public institutions that shape civic identity in Kansas City
Registration Options
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Registration Options
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Price |
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Bus Tour Member Ticket
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$50.00 |
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Bus Tour Non-Member Ticket
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$75.00 |
FAQs
Will the tour be taking place at the same time as breakout sessions?
Yes, the tour will be taking place at the same time as some breakout sessions. You can review the full conference schedule here to view the sessions that overlap with the tour.
How do I buy a ticket to the tour?
Tour tickets can be purchased here. Please note that tour tickets are separate from the general conference tickets and must be purchased separately.
Additional questions about the tour or the conference? Email Megan at megan@coalitionforhomerepair.org.
For More Information:
