Murdock, at the north end of the study area, is also a well-traveled corridor that provides an attractive 'front door' to Via Christi because of recent public improvements. However, evidence of the hospital's presence is clear to the south of Murdock because of the predominance of surface parking lots that serve the hospital. These expanses of concrete open space do very little to further neighborhood development goals.
Northwest corner of Market and Pine. |
Property conditions in the neighborhood are inconsistent and some significantly detract from the overall neighborhood character. The Sedgwick County Appraiser's Office has identified two structures that are 'unsound' and several more that are in 'poor' to 'very poor' condition (see Center City Neighborhood CDU map on following page). The CDU map represents conditions, depreciation, and utility of buildings and was prepared using information from the Sedgwick County Appraiser's Office by the Metropolitan Area Planning Department. The values reflect a combination of factors including building conditions, depreciation, and market desirability.
Zoning classifications in the study area generally allow a variety of commercial and industrial uses, although there are concentrations of multi-family zoned properties along Market and Topeka (see Center City Neighborhood Zoning map on page 22). If significant new residential development is going to occur in this area, a 'down-zoning' will most likely be necessary so that risk of adjacent incompatible uses is reduced. Currently no properties are zoned for single-family use within the study area. Rather, the area has an abundance of commercially- and industrially-zoned properties.
C.O.R.E. has a central mission and focus, which is to revitalize and improve the Center City Neighborhood by initiating physical development projects that spark new investment. The commitment to "creating a new neighborhood" with the investment of existing and new resources is to a great degree influenced by the current neighborhood environment. Today's composition of the neighborhood is primarily commercial and to a much lesser degree, residential. For this reason, Center City does not really have the feel or look of a "neighborhood." Interestingly enough, there are a number of religious institutions and social service/health care agencies located in the neighborhood, but their constituencies are not necessarily those few individuals and families who reside in the neighborhood. Moreover, though commercial establishments are plentiful, most do not exist for the purpose of the immediate neighborhood. If a new neighborhood is to emerge, certain basic neighborhood-oriented services must be readily available and accessible to maintain current residents, as well as those who will likely be attracted to the area once more housing opportunities are provided.