Image from GoSmartBricks.com
KC Urban Heat Community Workshops in Kansas City, KS Neighborhoods
For many families living in the Midwest, hot, humid summer months entail pool parties, visits to the ice cream shop, and cranking up the air conditioner to escape the unbearable summer heat. Unfortunately, summer months often look and feel vastly different for neighborhoods in another part of town, even a few streets over—especially in dense, urban areas.
With more buildings concentrated together in cities, there is less shade from trees and more asphalt and concrete around buildings, creating clusters of heat-absorbing surfaces. These areas of concentrated heat are called Urban Heat Islands (UHIs). The Kansas City metro has some of the worst hotspots in the U.S., wreaking havoc on residents’ physical, mental, and economic wellbeing. As we see far too often, underserved communities shoulder the brunt of these problems.
The community workshops, which are funded by the EPA Environmental Justice Small Grants Program, will bring together neighbors from the Argentine and Armourdale and surrounding neighborhoods. They will learn about the Urban Heat Island effect and then talk about their own experiences during high heat days in the community. They will participate in activities such as heat mapping and coming up with their preferred solutions to combat the effect of heat on their daily lives and determine how they can best be incorporated into new and existing initiatives in their communities.
Project Partners:
- J Gordon Community Development Corporation
- Argentine Betterment Corporation
- Armourdale Renewal Association
For additional information on how you can get involved, contact Brittanie Giroux or call our main office at 816-531-7283.
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement EQ-97791101 to Metropolitan Energy Center. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.