One of the first things a potential real Estate agent learns in class is that real estate is about Highest and Best Use.  You can see that happening in Overland Park, Kansas right now in this story in today’s Kansas City Star.

Most people do not like change.  Me?  I love it when our cities become better utilized. Bringing life to communities through proper zoning and use creates a better living experience and uses our resources (land, gas, utilities, infrastructure) in a more economical way. Mixing living quarters with offices and retail allows a building and all its infrastructure to be utilized 24 hours a day, rather than 9 or 10.  An added benefit is that residents don’t necessarily have to get in a car and drive a mile just to get our of their subdivision and then another mile, or two or three, to their destination for a gallon of milk or a quick meal.

Anyone remember downtown Kansas City in the 1970’s and 1980’s and well in to the late 1990’s?  It was a concrete ghost-land after 5:30 pm before apartments and lofts began to trickle in.  Later that trickle became a tsunami.   This is the reality of our cities across America.  And I for one am all for it.