In 2021, the city of Wichita created a land bank to acquire vacant or run-down properties and sell them to housing developers. The city is facing a housing shortage, especially of low-cost units. But four years later, the program is struggling. Only two properties have come into and out of Wichita’s land bank – far from what’s needed to make a dent in the city’s blight issue and affordable housing challenges. KMUW’s Celia Hack reports on the obstacles it faces.
Plus we have more on these stories:
- Downtown Wichita will host a program where people can offer feedback on the next 10-year plan for the city’s core area.
- Permits pulled to build new housing units in Sedgwick County hit a six-year high in 2024.
- Republican Kansas Senator Roger Marshall ended a rural town hall meeting early this weekend after a crowd repeatedly interrupted and shouted at him. People were vocal about job cuts, funding freezes and other actions by President Donald Trump.
- Landowners have decided to permanently protect about 9,000 acres of threatened prairie in western Kansas.
- Missouri lawmakers are working out a deal to provide tax incentives to keep the Chiefs and Royals on the Missouri side of Kansas City.
- Law enforcement and first responders will participate in a training exercise at Century II next week.
- The Kansas Supreme Court will meet in Logan this spring as part of its ongoing outreach program.
Producers: Beth Golay
Editors: Beth Golay and Tom Shine
Contributors: Celia Hack, Celia Llopis-Jepsen, Calen Moore, Frank Morris, and Tom Shine
Theme music: Torin Andersen
Digital editor: Beth Golay
