Submitted by VaderTower t3_zkitd5 in springfieldMO
Keeping positive terms (it's easy to complain, hard to come up with real viable solutions to make your community better), what's one thing you'd like to see or one thing you think would make Springfield a better place.
I'm shooting for the fence with one more rule: One sentence max for primary threads!
Honestly, I think we're about to see more of this. Especially with the "Basecamp of the Ozarks" branding we have established.
We're likely on the path to a mini NWA with their trials, however we need to solve our own branding so that it's unique to us.
I agree with this. I know MU Extension (specifically the woman who heads up 4H) has been asked by SPS to teach all kindergartners and 1st graders how to ride a bike. Her hope is that this will help raise a generation of cyclists that will help fuel our growth in that area.
That sounds interesting, I don’t suppose you have a link?
I’ll see if I can find info!
We need a solution to the unhoused situation. All of our lives would be better if we took better care of our most vulnerable.
Thank you. The Missouri Hotel on Commercial got closed and now everyone wonders why the "homeless problem" downtown got worse. This city does as little as possible for the unhomed, commits to clearing out "encampments," then cries about the results while offering no solutions.
Maybe get your head out of your ass, Springfield government and general voters, and try to solve problems insead of pushing them around.
I worked for harmony house for awhile so I have seen how hard it is to find shelter. I understand the troubles with this community, but there has to be a better solution. Who owns the bible Baptist college? It's been vacant and there are dormitories. This is necessary.
We absolutely need to utilize this, that place is absolutely perfect
I worked for the census a couple years back and had to verify there was no one living on the properties. There is just so much vacant space while people are sleeping outside.
The things that bothers me is every time the city tries to build an Eden village type thing or places like the little camp trailer park on west chestnut it’s always in already struggling neighborhoods or terrible locations(heavy industrial). I feel like the city is all for it as long as it’s north of sunshine.
While I don't disagree, there isn't just free money anywhere.
To do the level of support we need additional taxes, bond measures, or some avenue for additional revenue to earmark for these programs.
If you don't have billionaire money. Write your council person, state representative, and state senator. Seriously, it makes a difference. Don't use premade forms, write a letter or call their office directly. They truly love to hear from passionate and non crazy constituents.
All good suggestions. May I add that another desperately needed resource is PEOPLE who are willing to volunteer? It’s so easy to say, “ They need to do something,” or throw a few bucks here or there at a problem, but the people who are trying to help our unsheltered friends right now need HELP. The staff at Connecting Grounds is working literally around the clock to run their emergency family shelter and outreach center, and so much more help is needed. Volunteers who are willing to get their hands dirty, to sit with vulnerable folks when they are going through their darkest hour, serve food, clean toilets, play with kids. If you care about the unsheltered in our community, we need you to step up and help. Look up Connecting Grounds on Facebook and learn what you can do (or go to any other social services agency in town and volunteer … but do something … everyone can do something.)
Agree with this! There's a lot we can do without needing to wait for what the city can or won't do.
Any person can help our unhoused neighbors. You can collect donations and hand them out, hold food drives or cook for the local community, get a group and you can achieve a lot.
Pessimistic to say, but our system is not going to always be there to provide. We can step up to help and provide support without any government official giving us the okay or waiting on the tax support.
I don't think Hotel Missouri is safe for residency any longer, and if I'm remembering correctly, an investor looking to buy it as a business venture said it would be something like ten million to make it a usable building.
The person has owned it since 2017 so it sounds like his goal is to neglect it enough the city will let him tear it down.
I mean, that building really just needs to be torn down at this point, the renovating costs would be more than new construction.
Significant investment in public transit like installing a light rail and increasing the number of bus routes; particularly from north to south.
It makes me sad to see the old timey photos of downtown Springfield and the nice Trolley system that brought people there.
That’s a thought. I haven’t been to Kansas City, MO lately, but they have a trolley that will take you from Union Station to the farmers market district just north of I-35 but still south of the river. The trolley may even be free.
Trolley is free, and runs pretty much on time from what I can tell from my visits. It’s good for pretty much that direct route and a maybe one or two interesting spots in between, but could definitely use some work.
All public transit in KC is free.
They had more reasons to go downtown than overpriced bars.
I’m on board with all the cycling trail and green space improvements as well as unhoused support so I’ll add another: a larger and more functional convention center. Either add on to the current or build new. The amount of revenue that would bring to the area is potentially huge. It’s been on the last few Field Guide or Forward SGF plans I’ve seen but no real movement.
Second idea: if O’Reilly, Bass Pro, Prime, and Jack Henry among others continue to expect in-office workers then use your considerable financial influence to improve the area they live and work. Johnny Morris for example doesn’t seem to do any sort of investment that doesn’t also personally enrich him. Use Bentonville as a blueprint, Walmart knows it’s an uphill battle to get world-class talent to move to Arkansas so they invested heavily in schools, infrastructure, culture, and so on. Hell even that shit would enrich Morris, just less directly.
The O'Reilly family has been a huge supporter of the local trails and greenways. Matt O'Reilly founded TrailSpring, which helped give us Two Rivers and Dirt 66.
I believe Morris could do more. I don't know of anything he's done locally that benefits the citizens without cost.
This. So much this!!
>what's one thing you'd like to see or one thing you think would make Springfield a better place.
...less conservatives, if we're being honest here.
But not really viable.
a man can dream.
I feel ya.
Particularly after Trump won, and after having countless arguments with close friends and family about our differing political views, I pretty much settled on empathizing with them as it was the only way I could even get my foot in the door for an actual conversation rather than us just regurgitating what we've heard from our own sources.
It kind of sucks, because I have pretty strong views on certain issues, but the same talking points that make so much sense to me also come across as attacks toward them. I realized presenting issues the way they were presented to me is completely ineffective in changing their minds without first empathizing with them.
Edit : e.g. the other response to your original comment will lead to nothing but a back and forth of your opinions without empathizing first. Redditors might back one of you more than the other, but it's not going to change either of your minds.
This 100%.
So much of this reddit and particularly the MO reddit basically is "Why wont those horrible backwards ism/ist/phobe bigots vote the way I tell them to?!?!" The disdain is enough to immediately turn those people off to any points of agreement and often makes them want to do the exact opposite.
There were so many comments I ran into on this subreddit for the voting up to prop 3 (whatever the recreational weed legalization one was) about bashing ignorant MAGA types that were going to vote against the prop. I know quite a few MAGA types who are heavy pot users and were 100% voting to legalize here. That could have been an opportunity to talk and find something in common, but of course hard lefties here couldnt get out of their own head.
I know at certain points I've been so irked by some of the hard lefties on here when they toss out the various ist/ism accusations that I want to do/vote for whoever they oppose out of spite. Sometimes I stop myself and try to think about their points/overall message and separate it from who is saying it, but that's pretty damned difficult - and most people won't bother to do that.
Absolutely. This seems like a weird analogy, but I've been obsessed with interrogation videos recently. I often see interrogators who are ineffective and effective, and then during one of the videos I learned a famous interrogation quote along the lines of "If you're arguing with them, you've already lost."
It psychologically makes a lot of sense. And I feel it's the same with everyday interactions.
Of course the interrogator empathizing with a murderer/rapist/child porn criminal finds it disgusting and worthy of punishment. Also not for a second am I relating someone with differing views equitable to these criminals. However, the point is they can have an ongoing discussion with them, even though they have the exact opposite views. Their motives are different than you or me, and even in the conversation they're clearly against those views, but they can understand how they came to have these views.
Through conversational techniques, they can inform someone of their rights that they don't need to talk to them in any capacity (in fact an interrogation would be thrown out in a second if there's any indication they don't understand their rights), but over and over and over the criminals disregard their rights to try and talk their way out of a situation, due to the interrogators technique. Then, the same criminal insistent on hiding their crimes, over and over and over, completely confess to the crime, their motive, and how they did it.
I find it fascinating, and not too dissimilar to talking to someone with a different viewpoint. Of course it's often not as black and white as these criminals, as in the basis of their views have merit in one way or the other, and often I learn things I never would have discussing things with them, but ultimately it just goes to show empathizing is 10000x more effective than just attacking someone, as it opens the door for actual conversation rather than instantly attacking the other person.
And how would that improve the city?
It's so crazy how people are so radical/dumb and don't even realize it. Let's look at all the democratic cities and states. They are ran so well aren't they? So much less crime, homeless, drugs..... just an all around utopia. Why are dems fleeing their beloved cities in such a fast manner? 🤔 MUST be the fault of someone else and not their idiotic choices right??
i'm sorry i have no idea what you're trying to say, you type like how crazy people sound.
Must be that top notch University of Phoenix education that makes you so much better.
out of the millions of sperm... you were the fastest one, huh?
I'm right there with you. I'll never understand the left's undying cry for more governmental control when the facts point to it being a failure every time. All they can do is just call us crazy, they can't argue from a position of strength
Don't like mega churches not even located in Springfield have a say in Springfield city policy.
Here's a more realistic one. Turn downtown into a pedestrian zone by barricading off South Avenue at Walnut to the Square (make the Square pedestrian only as well) on Friday & Saturday nights and allow open alcohol containers on the street.
Not even in the same COUNTY.
i’d really love to start community gardening so we can eat more food locally grown since it’s the best food we could eat
We actually have at least half a dozen neighborhood gardens and at least one cropshare farm (Millsap out by fellows lake). I think the Grant Beach neighborhood alone has 2 or 3. One is across from my parents house. Hit up Google when spring gets here. They're always looking for volunteers. My neighbor has one too but they usually just do it themselves and put a sign up inviting people to partake when it's harvest time. There's more of that in town than most people realize. Come summer and fall I don't buy a lot of tomatoes or eggs.
More biking lanes, less criminal punishment for illegal drugs with more focus on rehabilitation.
A real push to light, specialized, manufacturing. Many cities compete to be a tech hub. So promote something we can be competitive with.
Also, all the other things people have said.
Oh man, I'm not in the manufacturing space. But that's something new I sure could get excited for.
Just being curious, what are some specific examples of specific light manufacturing for a laymen?
Think of specialized parts somewhat like what Loren Cook does (fan/exhaust systems). Refrigerators m, etc
This would be great. We'd likely need to shift the academics a bit as a lot of these types of jobs need more mat/engineering skills than they used to.
I would think to partner with someone bringing that type of facility in, and somewhere like OTC, it would only take a couple years to get people prepped for that. Abut the same amount of time it would take for a buildout.
OTC actually just finished an advanced manufacturing training building that does exactly this. It's the big new place at the corner of national and division. MSU and Rolla have been working on their engineering coop program as well. You can now get a mechanical engineering degree there as well as electrical or civil. And don't quote me, but I believe otc offers a couple of years free as part of missouri's A+ scholarship program, which is pretty easy to get for high schoolers. The opportunities are there.
There's a lot of good paying light manufacturing work around here. People seem to overlook it. I worked those jobs through college then spent time in the local manufacturing community as an engineer when I graduated. In fact a lot of manufacturing employers will actually pay for your college if it's a degree that benefits the company. I worked with plenty of engineers who gor their degrees that way.
Tax churches.
we could do a lot with that sweet downtown property tax the AG HQ doesnt pay.
Less meth and higher wages relative to the rest of the country would solve most problems.
City beautification efforts, like removing billboards, planting trees and landscaping along medians, and creating more public "third places." Would also like to see more mixed use zoning and for the love of god no more fucking carwashes.
I suppose this is a minor thing but cleaning up trash in and near our creeks. There and along Kansas Expressway.
Saw someone mention Community Gardens which would be cool, but I'd like to see more neighborhoods garden in their own backyards / balconies etc. It would be nice to be able to share fresh food with your neighbors and help take care of each other as opposed to markets.
I'd also argue we need more walk-ability. Sidewalks turning into dead ends, bus stops without benches or shelters etc. are all forms of hostile architecture that should be reformed. More Bike lanes too.
It would be nice to maybe get a group together and start "Free Stores" for our local houseless population, maybe something our local Food Not Bombs could take inspiration from "Operation Safe Winter" up in Colombia MO. A "Free Store" is gathering donations from the community and then setting up in a public area (like a park) and letting the houseless population get much needed things like clothes, tents, shoes, food, etc.
I know you said mention one thing but there's a lot of good ideas we could try and be a part of!
Ah, for sure this! Community gardens are the coolest part of living on the north side, there are a lot of them, but not nearly enough, my neighborhood used to have one (supposedly) I would love to see it make a comeback. I think every neighborhood group in Springfield should have at least one ran by the community.
I’ve said for years that “they” should turn the mall into a KC plaza style outdoor mall/shopping district. Bring in more biz from around the country. So much empty parking lot space. I know it’s kind of like that with the East side of the mall and Brentwood, but it could be so much bigger and better- and make Springfield much more desirable to visit/live.
A rail line to STL or OKC.
Or even a quick cheap flight like Southwest does.
More roundabouts and increasing the momentum of adding bike routes and sidewalks.
Genuinely asking, what advantages are there for roundabouts in your opinion? My experience with the newer ones here have made me want less of them lol.
Statistically they are proven to improve traffic flow, reduce accidents, and significantly reduce injury from accidents. People say they don’t like them because they slow down traffic and are less safe. The data says otherwise.
Keeping traffic moving is the key point in this too. There's virtually zero idling at roundabouts as well, improving fuel economy and being better for the environment.
I see. I dislike them because most drivers seem confused by them and don’t use them properly. Both here and in Oklahoma I’ve seen people drive the wrong way around them or stop unnecessarily. Hopefully that’s something that changes over time.
Yeah…I’ve seen that too. I hope it changes over time as well, but I’m not holding my breath. The stopping unnecessarily complete defeats the efficiency benefit. The driving the wrong part is, well…
😂😂
Statistically maybe but go drive the new one at Glenstone/Republic/60 and see the cluster mess that is now.
A "homeless village" ie a collection of small homes for them to stay in, providing a roof and resources (mainly rehab since most homelessness in Springfield is drug related) would be a massive step towards improving the area.
As others have mentioned, some actual transportation infrastructure would be fantastic
Bonus "it would be nice" ideas:
renewables power company to compete with CU
Addition of more green spaces/plants/vertical gardens around town.
We actually have several of those villages. One of them is near my house, Eden Village. Tiny houses paid for by social security benefits with an onsite social worker.
CU actually gets almost half of their energy from renewables. I think it's 45%. They buy from an energy coop they belong to, and for years they've increased the wind and solar in that portfolio. They've also got a solar farm of their own, customers can choose to have their power come from that.
Definitely agreed on the green spaces and vertical gardens. The most attractive cities I've been in all have that in common, they seem to go from city to forest and back again seamlessly. It's one of the reasons I chose my neighborhood, though sadly they've been taking out a lot of the forested areas lately.
A concerted effort to beautify main traffic ways. Starting by burying utility lines. Creating and enforcing developer guidelines (signs at a minimum feet away from streets, height of said-signs), retaining trees rather than mowing them over.
A holistic traffic plan that includes alternative transportation methods like cycling and bus lanes. Eliminating access to/from neighborhoods off of Expressways, eliminating non-residents and improving efficiency of said Expressway.
Continued development of greenway trails that incorporate neighborhoods
I know it would be a huge undertaking but if we buried all the power and telephone lines on N Glenstone along with stricter signs ordinances it would go along way. It's many peoples first impression of the city and it looks terrible.
Remove minimum parking restrictions, mandatory setbacks, and mandatory single-family zoning (at least in a few neighborhoods). This will allow neighborhoods to naturally densify and become more walkable, which has the dual benefit of being more desirable for a lot of people and also costing less (as long as supply isn’t artificially constrained), both for homeowners to buy and for the city to serve with services.
Two of my biggest disappointments with Springfield are the endless strip malls ugly/suburban sprawl that are completely devoid of character (with a very few small-scale exceptions like C-Street and Cherry/Pickwick) and the fact that there’s virtually no housing options for purchase (not rent) that are not single-family homes. I don’t WANT a 1/3-acre lot that I have to landscape and mow every week. I’m jealous of my aunt and uncle who live in the beautiful small town of Stillwater, MN in a gorgeous 3-story condo building right on Main Street that is dripping with historical character and walkable to two dozen restaurants, bars, coffee shops (plus a beautiful riverfront) and they don’t have to worry about maintaining a yard or even the exterior of their house, which means their time is much freer and they can travel for extended times without worrying about their yard. The same thing COULD be possible here but it’s actually illegal to build a neighborhood like that here thanks to parking/setback/zoning laws.
Flowing out of that kind of a neighborhood (one not so dependent on a car) would effectively automatically come with a greater demand for cool neighborhoods with character and beautiful trails and public spaces like so many other comments here mention.
YES!!! I would love a good condo. There's a lot of people that don't understand that a picket fence isn't everyone's goal.
If we got a Trader Joe’s, I’d be a happy camper haha.
Need more of these threads. Its easy to complain, but takes alot more time to brainstorm, organize, etc actual solutions.
Affordable rent.
More sidewalks !
It's more that the sidewalks need to go somewhere.
further removal of the homeless. I am tired of waking up to screaming crack addicts just because I live downtown and they wont clean themselves up.
You're going to get downvoted to hell by the white knights on Reddit that never volunteer their time with the homeless in town but sure think we should help them out, but I'll give you your one upvote for this.
Well, we have a Costco now, so what more could we ask for?!
IKEA? Micro Center? Decent pizza?
Can we suggest keeping something that we already have? I'm afraid that we're going to lose the Springfield Cardinals in a couple years.
I think a REI would be pretty swell but Bass Pro would never let that happen.
increased turn signal usage
We should rumor that Brad Pitt is filming something at an undisclosed location. And the rumor festers and festers until Hollywood sees the spike in trends, to which they respond by actually sending a team on location to film Brad Pitt doing something. And the event will culminate so much interested traffic for such a long period of time that an entire economy blooms in its wake. And the area, for a time, celebrates the energy and thrives. And this goes on for maybe 6 months or so, after which B listers may have capitalized on the event, and Springfield has lifted out of its depths for a moment and achieved a level of commerce which was previously impossible.
And a statue will be built to commemorate the occasion.
Leave Brad Pitt alone! If you want traffic, recent trends show all you need to do is build a Whataburger.
Brad Pitt's going to be at the Whataburger opening?!
That's what I heard
Holiday themed utility pole mounted christmas lights.
I would love to see more skateparks, mountain bike trails, bike jump parks, pump tracks, RC car tracks, and an RC airplane flying field with a runway.
I would prefer to see more owner-occupied residential, of all types.
I would love to see (or hear) enforcement of excessively loud mufflers.
Better reflective road paints or line reflectors for night/rain driving.
Bulldoze all the churches, replace them with something that is less harmful to the community, like a payday loan store or pawn shop.
Better yet require churches to house the homeless population just like Jesus would actually want them to.
Zoning laws in pretty much every city and suburb across the country literally prevent this. Churches literally can't do this. The closes they can probably come is what Warnock in GA was doing, but as we all know, there was some less than stellar behavior from the management company involved on his behalf.
Less abandoned strip malls! I would rather see empty lots than dilapidated buildings all day.
I’d like to see more businesses come to c street, as well as just more grocery stores that aren’t big box stores. My neighborhood is kind of a food desert with the closest store being the price cutter on commercial which sucks
Actually connect and improve the greenways like they’ve been saying they are going to do for the 11 years I’ve lived here.
Add, Improve, and police bicycle lanes so it’s somewhat safe to use them.
Give us the option to be rewarded for greener power options. E.g., tax break for solar panels, etc.
Stay on top of crime.
I thought of another, let's pass a city ordinance banning the house on National near Grand from putting out any more of their idiotic messages.
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Move away to the country is the best option…..RUN!!!
I don't know why this is downvoted. I grew up here and love the place just fine, but if I had the money to do it I'd buy a small farm just north of town somewhere.
Whereismymind3 t1_j005k14 wrote
Further, continued investment in trails and usable green space in general. The Springfield greater area has tons of potential for nature based investment and activities relative to a lot of cities our size. Pairing this with biking trails for commuting would be an added bonus.