Affordable housing was front of mind on Thursday, when four mayors from across the greater Kansas City region spoke at a panel event to an audience of over 100 real estate professionals in the KCRAR classroom. During the event, hosted by Women’s Council of REALTORS® (WCR), each panelist spoke to the growth of their own city, before shifting to a Q&A. Panelists included:
- Carolyn Caiharr, mayor of Edwardsville, Kansas
- Eric Mikkelson, mayor of Prairie Village, Kansas
- Kathy Rose, mayor of Riverside, Missouri
- Rory Rowland, mayor of Independence, Missouri
Each mayor brought attention to developing projects in their cities, including Little Blue Parkway in Independence, a LiveNation amphitheater in Riverside, and a new municipal complex in Edwardsville.
When the panel opened to audience questions, the primary focus was affordable housing. The mayors agreed that affordable housing is a pressing issue facing the community, each with differing approaches and limitations for addressing it.
“I can see some initiatives, even in Wyandotte County, where they’re building homes that are more affordable for people to be able to purchase and that way they’re not stuck with a landlord raising their rent month after month,” Caiharr said. “So, what I would like to see more of in my community is owner-occupied homes that are owned, but built affordably so people could purchase a property and start building equity for themselves.”
Rowland pointed to potential opportunity for Independence through the land trust of Jackson County, Missouri, which can acquire and hold land to ensure permanent affordability.
“We do have some developers who are saying, ‘How do we do this to build more affordable houses in a much more effective and efficient way?’” Rowland said.
While Mikkelson mentioned that Prairie Village is “landlocked,” limiting itself to affordable land on which to build housing, he said that a large obstacle in many communities is the “not in my backyard” (commonly referred to as “NIMBY”) perspective from community members, which he called on REALTORS® to help combat.
“This [affordable housing] is not going to diminish the quality of a community,” Mikkelson said. “We need you to educate the public generally on the need for this, and open minds to—this is not going to bring crime, this is not going to bring congestion. These are going to be the people serving you coffee in the shops. These are going to be the people taking care of you at the hospital. These are going to be the people teaching your kids. This can improve a community. And there’s a lot of NIMBYism out there to these types of ideas.”
KCRAR or WCR members who were not able to attend the panel event can view the recorded session on the KCRAR YouTube channel.
Jackie • August 24, 2025 at 10:48 am
What price range do you consider affordable homes?