Friday morning's session of the First Tier Suburbs Council meeting in Mission, Kansas, was jointed attended by the Kansas City-area First Suburbs Coalition and members of the Urban Land Institute.

 
In June, I attended the summer meeting of the Steering Committee of the First Tier Suburbs Council held in the Kansas City area. Most of the meetings were in Mission, Kansas, but we toured numerous communities in Kansas and Missouri and had reports from even more. The current chair is Mayor Laura McConwell of Mission.
 
The FTS Council is a part of the National League of Cities. I currently serve as one of two Vice Chairs. My appointment to the steering committee followed several years of service by former mayor Bob Day so Garland has had a good record of participation for most of the history of the council. The meeting was enriched by participation of the local First Suburbs Coalition of the Mid-America Regional Council, similar to our North Central Texas Council of Governments.
 

Christy McFarland of the NLC provided these notes of some of the speakers and activities:

• Martin Rivarola, Lawrence Andre, Mike Scanlon, and Dean Katerndahl
  Using Mission as case study, the Steering Committee discussed how community visioning plays a role in redevelopment projects. Citizen engagement, form-based codes, and regional cooperation were key topics in a group discussion that helped lay the ground work for the days that followed.
• Scott Cannon, Duncanville, Texas
  Duncanville is rebuilding their main street downtown district. Committee Member Cannon explained to the group his city's vision of a mixed-use downtown that will help transform the city’s main corridor into a vibrant district.
• Bill Hudnut, Bill Ebel, Martin Rivarola, Jeff Berg, and Tom Valenti
  In collaboration with the Urban Land Institute and Mid-America Regional Council, speakers led an informative discussion related to first-tier suburbs and the opportunities for redevelopment. Urban scholars, city staff, and private redevelopers were represented on the panel, giving the committee and other guests a full-circle view of what the redevelopment process can entail.
• Bus Tour of the Kansas City-area first tier suburbs
  During an eight-stop bus tour, the committee was able to closely see some of the exciting redevelopment projects happening throughout the Kansas City region. Council members, mayors, city staff members, and developers were some of the speakers that helped guide the tour.

Next steps: The overriding themes that emerged from the meeting were the political elements of redevelopment, including community engagement/input, neighborhood associations, and the importance of political will; regional collaboration; and small business development.
 
The next FTS meeting will be during the fall conference of the NLC in San Antonio. We expect the meeting to be addressed toward the community engagement and input process, certainly one of my favorite topics.
 
Another note on MARC's First Suburbs Coalition: some of the publications compiled by the FSC are outstanding and certainly examples of best practices. Their Idea Book shows innovative ways to remodel typical American home types to add space and to modernize. It can be ordered online for a modest fee or downloaded free. Also the Green Idea Book goes further to show ways to remodel and to stay green.