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Sold out$370.00+ $15.72 feeNon-APA Member ticket
Sold out$400.00+ $16.89 feeAPA Member - Wednesday Only (Does not include reception.) ticket
$150.00+ $7.14 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityAPA Member - Thursday Only ticket
Sold out$150.00+ $7.14 feeAPA Member - Friday Only ticket
$150.00+ $7.14 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityNon-APA Member - Wednesday Only (Does not include reception.) ticket
$230.00+ $10.26 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityNon-APA Member - Thursday Only ticket
Sold out$230.00+ $10.26 feeNon-APA Member - Friday Only ticket
$230.00+ $10.26 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityExtra Reception Ticket ticket
$40.00+ $2.85 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Changing Currents on Mill Street: Walking Westport’s Stormwater Transformation ticket
Westport’s flooding problem is not just a stormwater story; it is a planning, design, business, communications, history, and public-space story. This walking field session will take participants through the Westport Stormwater Improvements project, showing how an urban neighborhood with chronic flooding is using underground storage, green infrastructure, streetscape reconstruction, park improvements, and stakeholder communication to reduce flood impacts while keeping one of Kansas City’s busiest districts active. Along the route, participants will pause for short field prompts that connect what they see on the ground to planning decisions: reading hidden drainage patterns, balancing gray and green infrastructure, protecting business access during construction, and communicating disruptive but necessary public investments.
Westport’s flooding problem is not just a stormwater story; it is a planning, design, business, communications, history, and public-space story. This walking field session will take participants through the Westport Stormwater Improvements project, showing how an urban neighborhood with chronic flooding is using underground storage, green infrastructure, streetscape reconstruction, park improvements, and stakeholder communication to reduce flood impacts while keeping one of Kansas City’s busiest districts active. Along the route, participants will pause for short field prompts that connect what they see on the ground to planning decisions: reading hidden drainage patterns, balancing gray and green infrastructure, protecting business access during construction, and communicating disruptive but necessary public investments.
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Dividing Lines: A Mobile History of Segregation in the Kansas City Metro ticket
Participants board a bus for a guided journey through the Kansas City metro tracing how segregation was intentionally built through redlining, restrictive covenants, zoning, infrastructure investment, and real estate practices that continue to shape the region today. Developed as part of Johnson County Library’s Race Project KC, this interactive mobile workshop combines place-based storytelling, historical context, and facilitated dialogue as participants reflect together on how planning and housing policies created lasting patterns of division, disinvestment, and inequity. Conversation continues throughout the tour and in a facilitated debrief connecting these histories to present-day planning practice and community engagement.
Participants board a bus for a guided journey through the Kansas City metro tracing how segregation was intentionally built through redlining, restrictive covenants, zoning, infrastructure investment, and real estate practices that continue to shape the region today. Developed as part of Johnson County Library’s Race Project KC, this interactive mobile workshop combines place-based storytelling, historical context, and facilitated dialogue as participants reflect together on how planning and housing policies created lasting patterns of division, disinvestment, and inequity. Conversation continues throughout the tour and in a facilitated debrief connecting these histories to present-day planning practice and community engagement.
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Eating Your Way through the Crossroads ticket
Take a walk and explore the Crossroads and its many local restaurants and coffee shops that have become neighborhood and city staples since the Crossroads of Kansas City has transitioned from a warehousing and manufacturing area, to an arts district, to an entertainment district. Participants will traverse about 2.5 miles by walking or Streetcar. Along the way, there will be up to four stops. At these stops, participants will sample a bite or a drink from a local business, with the hope that participants from the Crossroads CID, business owners, and Kansas City Planners tell the story of the changing neighborhood from public infrastructure projects, to the history of buildings and subdistricts, and where the Crossroads is heading in the future. Think of this session as an orientation tour like you would find at a national conference, but on-foot with snacks and drinks.
Take a walk and explore the Crossroads and its many local restaurants and coffee shops that have become neighborhood and city staples since the Crossroads of Kansas City has transitioned from a warehousing and manufacturing area, to an arts district, to an entertainment district. Participants will traverse about 2.5 miles by walking or Streetcar. Along the way, there will be up to four stops. At these stops, participants will sample a bite or a drink from a local business, with the hope that participants from the Crossroads CID, business owners, and Kansas City Planners tell the story of the changing neighborhood from public infrastructure projects, to the history of buildings and subdistricts, and where the Crossroads is heading in the future. Think of this session as an orientation tour like you would find at a national conference, but on-foot with snacks and drinks.
$40.00+ $2.85 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: From Farm to Floodplain: Conservation Easements and Urban River Restoration in Action ticket
Join us for a practical mobile workshop examining the intergovernmental coordination and legal frameworks behind establishing conservation easements on municipally owned land. Using Kansas City’s historic Municipal Farm (MF) and the adjacent Renewing The Blue (RTB) tract as on-site case studies, this session explores how local governments, contractors, and non-profits partner to secure long-term protection for urban restoration sites and floodplains. Designed for mid-level and experienced planners, this workshop moves beyond theory to discuss the administrative realities of urban land protection. We will walk through the structure of a recent 28-acre conservation easement executed on KCMO municipal land, analyzing the legal mechanisms, title considerations, and monitoring agreements necessary to satisfy AICP CM Law criteria. Presenters will share candid lessons learned regarding the challenges of balancing municipal oversight, public utility needs, and permanent conservation restrictions. The session aligns with the APA Trend Report’s focus on integrating nature-based tools and green infrastructure into local planning. Rather than reviewing abstract policies, we will reference practical applications from regional resources like the Riparian Restoration Manual to show how post-restoration easements are used to protect public capital investments and grant funding over time. Departing from standard slide presentations, this session utilizes an interactive, "unconferenced" mobile workshop format. While walking portions of the MF and RTB sites, attendees will participate in peer-to-peer field dialogues with an interdisciplinary project team. Presenters from the Heartland Conservation Alliance and the City of Kansas City will be joined by the site's restoration contractors, Habitat Architects, to discuss on-the-ground engineering realities. Representatives from Bridging The Gap (Kansas City WildLands and Heartland Tree Alliance) will detail long-term maintenance and volunteer coordination, while local advocate Bonny in Time will share insights on pocket pollinator habitats. Attendees will leave with a realistic understanding of how to plan, execute, and maintain multi-partner urban conservation projects in their own jurisdictions.
Join us for a practical mobile workshop examining the intergovernmental coordination and legal frameworks behind establishing conservation easements on municipally owned land. Using Kansas City’s historic Municipal Farm (MF) and the adjacent Renewing The Blue (RTB) tract as on-site case studies, this session explores how local governments, contractors, and non-profits partner to secure long-term protection for urban restoration sites and floodplains. Designed for mid-level and experienced planners, this workshop moves beyond theory to discuss the administrative realities of urban land protection. We will walk through the structure of a recent 28-acre conservation easement executed on KCMO municipal land, analyzing the legal mechanisms, title considerations, and monitoring agreements necessary to satisfy AICP CM Law criteria. Presenters will share candid lessons learned regarding the challenges of balancing municipal oversight, public utility needs, and permanent conservation restrictions. The session aligns with the APA Trend Report’s focus on integrating nature-based tools and green infrastructure into local planning. Rather than reviewing abstract policies, we will reference practical applications from regional resources like the Riparian Restoration Manual to show how post-restoration easements are used to protect public capital investments and grant funding over time. Departing from standard slide presentations, this session utilizes an interactive, "unconferenced" mobile workshop format. While walking portions of the MF and RTB sites, attendees will participate in peer-to-peer field dialogues with an interdisciplinary project team. Presenters from the Heartland Conservation Alliance and the City of Kansas City will be joined by the site's restoration contractors, Habitat Architects, to discuss on-the-ground engineering realities. Representatives from Bridging The Gap (Kansas City WildLands and Heartland Tree Alliance) will detail long-term maintenance and volunteer coordination, while local advocate Bonny in Time will share insights on pocket pollinator habitats. Attendees will leave with a realistic understanding of how to plan, execute, and maintain multi-partner urban conservation projects in their own jurisdictions.
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Incremental Development in Practice: Lessons from the 18th & Vine Historic Jazz District ticket
This session is a guided, immersive walking tour that explores the evolution of Kansas City’s historic 18th & Vine district through the lens of incremental development, cultural stewardship, and racialized patterns of investment.
This session is a guided, immersive walking tour that explores the evolution of Kansas City’s historic 18th & Vine district through the lens of incremental development, cultural stewardship, and racialized patterns of investment.
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Lots of Hope (Our Fields of Dreams): Four Stories of How Visionary Organizations Turned Blank Canvases into Community Legacies ticket
"This is a mobile workshop that shares tangible examples of the relationship between land use, economic development, community arts, environmental justice, and neighborhood empowerment through reactivating vacant land into Community-Based Assets. (Community-based assets are the resources, strengths, or tools found within a local area. Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is the strategic, citizen-led methodology used to map, connect, and mobilize those specific resources to create sustainable change.) During the bus ride to the first site, he will describe the impacts of redlining in KCMO, how we ended up with so many vacant lots, and the role of our city's Land Bank. Land Bank lots in areas zoned for commercial uses are ripe for artistic and local economic development, and this mobile workshop will share some of the impactful ways that visionary community members have transformed these vacant lots into ""Lots of Hope."" Tour leaders will describe and provide a handout on the projects, programs, and people the mobile workshop participants will have the opportunity to interact with at each stop. At each stop, participants will hear from the founders of community-based organizations about what it takes to create a community-based asset from Land Bank parcels, including vision, funding, educational models, challenges, and partnerships. On the way back to the conference center from the fourth stop, tour leaders will pass out gridded paper, clipboards, and markers, and ask the participants to turn to those they are sitting closest to, and work in small groups to discuss ideas for Lots of Hope/community-based assets in their communities. 5 minutes away from the conference center, Carl will ask participants to share their ideas and how they will apply this to their planning practice and engagement processes going forward."
"This is a mobile workshop that shares tangible examples of the relationship between land use, economic development, community arts, environmental justice, and neighborhood empowerment through reactivating vacant land into Community-Based Assets. (Community-based assets are the resources, strengths, or tools found within a local area. Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) is the strategic, citizen-led methodology used to map, connect, and mobilize those specific resources to create sustainable change.) During the bus ride to the first site, he will describe the impacts of redlining in KCMO, how we ended up with so many vacant lots, and the role of our city's Land Bank. Land Bank lots in areas zoned for commercial uses are ripe for artistic and local economic development, and this mobile workshop will share some of the impactful ways that visionary community members have transformed these vacant lots into ""Lots of Hope."" Tour leaders will describe and provide a handout on the projects, programs, and people the mobile workshop participants will have the opportunity to interact with at each stop. At each stop, participants will hear from the founders of community-based organizations about what it takes to create a community-based asset from Land Bank parcels, including vision, funding, educational models, challenges, and partnerships. On the way back to the conference center from the fourth stop, tour leaders will pass out gridded paper, clipboards, and markers, and ask the participants to turn to those they are sitting closest to, and work in small groups to discuss ideas for Lots of Hope/community-based assets in their communities. 5 minutes away from the conference center, Carl will ask participants to share their ideas and how they will apply this to their planning practice and engagement processes going forward."
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Mobile Tour: Lenexa City Center – Implementing the Vision Over Time ticket
"Take a walk through Lenexa City Center and step beyond the typical “tour of a successful development.” This mobile workshop invites participants into the story behind a multi-phase, mixed-use city center that is still evolving today. As we move through spaces that are built, under construction, and still conceptual, participants will explore how long-term vision is translated into reality over time and the challenges that come with it. Discussion will focus on the tension between market realities and community goals, including the role planners play in advocating for outcomes like density, height, and cohesive urban design. At each stop, participants will be prompted to reflect, react, and share their own experiences navigating similar tradeoffs. This is not a passive tour, but an interactive conversation about what it actually takes to implement a vision, when to hold the line, and how to balance collaboration with persistence. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding that building great places is not a linear process. It requires patience, iteration, and, at times, a willingness to push back in order to achieve outcomes that support long-term community success."
"Take a walk through Lenexa City Center and step beyond the typical “tour of a successful development.” This mobile workshop invites participants into the story behind a multi-phase, mixed-use city center that is still evolving today. As we move through spaces that are built, under construction, and still conceptual, participants will explore how long-term vision is translated into reality over time and the challenges that come with it. Discussion will focus on the tension between market realities and community goals, including the role planners play in advocating for outcomes like density, height, and cohesive urban design. At each stop, participants will be prompted to reflect, react, and share their own experiences navigating similar tradeoffs. This is not a passive tour, but an interactive conversation about what it actually takes to implement a vision, when to hold the line, and how to balance collaboration with persistence. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding that building great places is not a linear process. It requires patience, iteration, and, at times, a willingness to push back in order to achieve outcomes that support long-term community success."
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: Saving Elements of an Historic District without an Historic Designation* ticket
This tour will explore how to save character-contributing architecture and architectural elements in an area without an historical designation using Kansas City Missouri's Country Club Plaza as a case study. Learn about the Country Club Plaza, its long history and recent development approvals, and assist your KCMO colleagues in cataloguing character-constributing elements that could be included for consideration in the Plaza's new Master Plan District. This will be an interactive tour of the Country Club Plaza, history, recent development approvals and assist with identifying character contributing elements that appear worth placing in the new Master Plan District.
This tour will explore how to save character-contributing architecture and architectural elements in an area without an historical designation using Kansas City Missouri's Country Club Plaza as a case study. Learn about the Country Club Plaza, its long history and recent development approvals, and assist your KCMO colleagues in cataloguing character-constributing elements that could be included for consideration in the Plaza's new Master Plan District. This will be an interactive tour of the Country Club Plaza, history, recent development approvals and assist with identifying character contributing elements that appear worth placing in the new Master Plan District.
FreeUse arrow keys to change quantityMobile Tour: The Bus Stop Balancing Act: Design, Tradeoffs, and Transit on Grand ticket
Step beyond policy and into practice with this interactive walking tour of KCATA bus stops along the Grand corridor. Guided by updated Bus Stop Guidelines, participants will visit a series of stops to see how planning frameworks translate into real-world decisions about accessibility, amenities, and rider experience. Along the route, the session will highlight a range of stop types, from legacy shelters to newer installations, to show how bus stop design evolves over time and how incremental updates shape the system. Participants will see firsthand how different amenity combinations of shelters, benches, trash cans, and new designs reflect how agencies balance reinvestment with systemwide needs. The session will also unpack how agencies decide what belongs at each stop, looking beyond ridership to factors like accessibility, context, and available resources, and how elements like seating, lighting, and wayfinding are applied in practice. The tour introduces how public art and placemaking can elevate stops beyond basic infrastructure, including a visit to a creative installation that reimagines what a bus stop can be. A central theme of the session is the tension agencies must navigate between competing public expectations. Participants will explore “Do More!” vs. “Do Less!” feedback related to bus stops, discussing requests for expanded amenities alongside concerns about cost, maintenance, and safety. Through guided discussion, attendees will gain insight into how agencies balance these demands, communicate trade-offs, and make strategic, equitable decisions across large transit networks.
Step beyond policy and into practice with this interactive walking tour of KCATA bus stops along the Grand corridor. Guided by updated Bus Stop Guidelines, participants will visit a series of stops to see how planning frameworks translate into real-world decisions about accessibility, amenities, and rider experience. Along the route, the session will highlight a range of stop types, from legacy shelters to newer installations, to show how bus stop design evolves over time and how incremental updates shape the system. Participants will see firsthand how different amenity combinations of shelters, benches, trash cans, and new designs reflect how agencies balance reinvestment with systemwide needs. The session will also unpack how agencies decide what belongs at each stop, looking beyond ridership to factors like accessibility, context, and available resources, and how elements like seating, lighting, and wayfinding are applied in practice. The tour introduces how public art and placemaking can elevate stops beyond basic infrastructure, including a visit to a creative installation that reimagines what a bus stop can be. A central theme of the session is the tension agencies must navigate between competing public expectations. Participants will explore “Do More!” vs. “Do Less!” feedback related to bus stops, discussing requests for expanded amenities alongside concerns about cost, maintenance, and safety. Through guided discussion, attendees will gain insight into how agencies balance these demands, communicate trade-offs, and make strategic, equitable decisions across large transit networks.
Sold outFreeStudent ticket
Sold out$60.00+ $3.63 feeStudent - Wednesday Only (Includes reception.) ticket
$60.00+ $3.63 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityStudent - Wednesday Only (Does not include reception.) ticket
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantityStudent - Thursday Only ticket
Sold out$30.00+ $2.46 feeStudent - Friday Only ticket
$30.00+ $2.46 feeUse arrow keys to change quantity