The idea that a fast car and a thick wallet are useful when looking for a house in Lawrence got reinforced with a national report released on Tuesday. A new ranking by the trade journal Construction Coverage found that Lawrence in 2023 had one of the slowest rates of new housing construction of any community in the country. Lawrence ranked 286th out of 370 U.S. metro areas in the report. That’s the fast ...
Let’s look at some news and notes from around town: — The eastern edge of Lawrence doesn’t have a welcome sign, but if it did, it should include a message that says “we’re glad you are here, but we are really glad you brought all your stuff.” The area along east 23rd Street near the city limits already is home to two large self storage businesses, and now plans have been filed for a third. This ...
The tiny houses that are providing shelter for the homeless in Lawrence aren’t growing any bigger, but they are set to grow in number. As we’ve reported, the Lawrence Community Shelter has been discussing the idea of placing some of the small structures behind its homeless shelter in eastern Lawrence. Now, the organization has filed plans with City Hall to do so. The Lawrence Community Shelter is seeking ...
It was a bad month at a bad time for Lawrence sales tax collections. Sales tax collections in Lawrence were down 5.3% from a year ago, according to the August report recently released by the state. That decline was significantly higher than the statewide average, which checked in at a decline of 2.1% for the August reporting period. But the more troubling number is Lawrence’s year-to-date sales tax ...
We’ve reported several times how the proposed 3.6 mill property tax rate increase at Lawrence City Hall would be the largest for the city in at least 50 years. But if you are into history — or counting dollars — there is another part of that story you should know too. It is happening just a few blocks south of City Hall at the Douglas County Courthouse. The County Commission is proposing a big tax rate ...
From a chatbot to an angel investor, the University of Kansas has won a $500,000 state grant to kickstart some outside-the-box programs aimed at spurring the creation of new businesses. The Kansas Department of Commerce has awarded a FORGE grant to the university that is intended to “bridge the gap between academia and industry,” the university announced on Friday. Think of that bridge building in a ...