Swift City: How Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Are Transforming Kansas City

In honor of Taylor Swift Week, I decided to delve into how the buzz on Taylor Swift's and Travis Kelce's romance is influencing city life in Kelce's backyard. Sightings of the dynamic duo are not unique to Kansas City, there's plenty of them in LA or on vacation, the difference is that Los Angeles and the Bahamas are no strangers to celebrities and paparazzies, and now Kansas City is getting it's own taste of the "Swifties" and is becoming the place to catch the latest "Tayvis" or "Traylor" (Taylor + Travis) dates.

The Taylor and Travis show has the whole town doing a double-take. So, what exactly does that mean for Kansas City? Buckle up, because we're about to take a whirlwind tour of Swift City's transformation.

1. Traffic Jams in "Swift-Lane": If you've noticed traffic has gotten heavier, it's because the Swifties have taken over the roads turning the fast lanes into "Swift-lanes."

2. Hotels: No Vacancy, but Plenty of Heartbreak: Taylor boosts hotel occupancy rates during her Eras Tour and increased Chiefs ticket sales. It's like every Swiftie is hoping to catch a glimpse of their idol in the hotel lobby, guitar in hand, singing about their latest ex. Fingers crossed that Kansas City won't become the backdrop for the next big break-up ballad.

3. Coffee Shops and Cupcakes: Local businesses are cashing in on the hype. Every coffee shop is offering Taylor-themed drinks. "Love Story Latte," anyone? And let's not forget the cupcakes—if there's one thing Swifties love more than Taylor, it's sugar.

4. Real Estate: Swift Investments: Looking to buy a house in Kansas City? Good luck! Real estate agents are using Taylor Swift lyrics to sell homes. "This house is your 'Blank Space'—write your name!" Property values are skyrocketing, afterall who needs a beach house when you've got a city where Taylor Swift might just buy the house next door?

5. Infrastructure: New Bridges and an Airport Terminal: With all the hype, the city has had to step up its game. New bridges, new roads—everything's getting a Swift upgrade. Just in time for over 12 million Swifties to get their fix on the romance tour a new $1.5 billion airport terminal opened up last year after 4 years of construction and a few more in the planning.

The dynamic duo has brought a fresh wave of excitement and attention to the city, boosting business for hotels and real estate while driving infrastructure developments like new bridges and a cutting-edge airport terminal. Kansas City has become more than just a Midwest stopover—it’s a destination buzzing with star power. And with Taylor Swift's new album drop, "Tortured Poet's Department," the city is bound to keep its newfound spotlight as fans eagerly await the next chapter in this unfolding pop culture love story. Get ready, Kansas City: the Swift effect is just beginning.

Brooklyn Bridge Noir

I always have my ears perked up to learn something new, it's a habit I leaned into as I explored New York neighborhoods in college. Every corner offered something new. I learned not to underestimate the potential of learning something from wherever or whomever. The City has a way of teaching you things you never knew you wanted to know, but are good to know.

I recently stumbled across a bit of New York architecture and women's history noir while watching the HBO hit series, The Gilded Age that was not on my radar. In Season 2, episode 5, the young Larry Russell learns and lets the viewers in on the secret that the Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge is actually the wife of the commissioned Chief Engineer and not who the bridge's board thought was the person in charge.

Knowing that the series is a mixture of historical facts and fictional twists I was not sure if what I heard about the Brooklyn Bridge was actually true, or if it was just the writers retelling oral histories with partial truths that couldn't actually be verified with a few Google searches. So of course I went to Google to see if what they mentioned about the Brooklyn Bridge indeed happened or not. While I didn't want to get my hopes up, I was hoping it was true even though I was a little surprised it was new information about New York architecture and women's history that I didn't know already. It turns out it was TRUE.

Both the New-York Historical Society and Wikipedia acknowledge Emily Roebling as one of the Chief Engineers of the Brooklyn Bridge. Regrettably, New York City's Department of Transportation only mentions the designer of the bridge, her father-in-law. They make no mention of the chief engineer even though when it comes to bridges, engineers are kinda of a big deal. I'm not sure what to make of it, NYC is usually good about giving credit where credit is due, perhaps the updates are backlogged in some bureaucratic purgatory stalemate.

In my opinion what makes the +1.1 mile long bridge so special is it's ability to handle various transportation forms. More than 4,000 pedestrians, 3,100 bicyclists and 120,000 vehicles cross the Brooklyn Bridge every day.

The other thing that makes it extra special is that pedestrian access is a focal point of the design. After all its popularity among pedestrians has contributed to the Brooklyn Bridge's notoriety and put it in a class of its own. No other bridge in NYC has as many people visit it to simply walk across it and take pictures commemorating their visit to one of New York's crown jewels. And if you've ever walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's grandeur is exhilarating and breathtaking, it has always one of my favorite places to visit.

Interestingly, according to the show, when the bridge was completed they didn't want to give credit to Emily because they feared people would think the bridge would not be safe to cross, yet 140 years later the bridge's engineering has stood the test of time and then some. In the show Larry calls it the 8th wonder of the world and today it has become a UNESCO World Heritage site. Historian David McCullough has even famously called it the "Eiffel Tower of America," and earlier this month, on January 11th, the City of New York unveiled a new LED light system to light up the bridge's iconic towers, and so its story continues.

If you've never walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, think about it, you'll see what what the hype is all about.

Land Use Gifts: Holiday Markets

'Tis the season for holiday markets, they are full of sparkle and wanderlust. If you know, you know. If you haven't been to one yet, know they bring a new dimension to the holiday shopping experience and to their host cities.

Growing up in Southern California I didn't really know much about holiday markets, or that they were even a thing that brought the magic of the season to life. It wasn't until my first year in college in New York City that I learned about the enchanting allure of holiday markets during my first visit to the Union Square Holiday Market.

The layout of the market and the vendors completely transformed Union Square Park and made it the perfect escape from studying for finals. It was no longer just one of the most popular city parks in the City, it had become a vibrant outdoor market where the vendors and customer buzz muted the cold winter chilly nights and led you down rows of captivating treasures. Part of the draw for my 18 year-old self was that I knew it was a "New Yorker" thing to do and it also presented the opportunity to score an array of novel yet affordable gifts that were uniquely "New York."

It was there that I bought my first pair of cashmere lined leather gloves from an artisan seller with a fierce lineup of gloves. I can't remember how much I paid for the gloves, but I do remember feeling like I had gotten a deal worth bragging about. That first trip was all I needed to make me a believer in the charm of holiday markets.

Holiday markets have been around for centuries in Europe, way before the modern day American urban planning discipline was conceived in the early 1900s. However, with the rise of farmers markets in U.S. cities since the USDA began tracking them in 1994, more and more U.S. cities are also turning to this special placemaking tool in the urban planning tool box to boost holiday charm in their cities. Like farmers markets, the real upside of holiday markets is their ability to bring in a lot of extra foot traffic and sales tax dollars, and they are also a great opportunity for small businesses.

There's a lot of varialibility when it comes to holiday markets and depending on the city they can come in all shapes and sizes. If you're wondering how you can get a holiday market going in your area, they aren't that hard from a land use perspective. They are almost what I would call a land use gift because they are often either a conditional allowable use or they can be allowed via a special events permit to operate for a day or a series of days during the holiday season.

Here is a list of some other holiday markets around the globe that are setting the aspirational standards for others. The list is in no order of preference, instead it is organized by the earliest seasonal opening date:

• Winter Village at Bryant Park, New York - runs from October 27 to March 3

• Wiener Christkindlmarkt, Austria - runs from November 10 to December 26

• Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, London - runs from November 17 to January 1

• Christkindlmarket Chicago - runs from November 17 to December 24

• I Mercati Natale, Piazza Santa Croce, Florence - runs from November 18 to December 17

• Basel Christmas Market, Switzerland - runs from November 23 to December 23

• Fira de Santa Llucia, Barcelona - runs from November 24 to December 23

• Strasbourg Christmas Market, France - runs from November 24 to December 24

• Gendarmenmarkt, Germany - runs from November 27 to December 31

• Christkindlesmarkt, Germany - runs from December 1 to December 24