Joplin is reborn and thriving post-tornado
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6/19/2019
Wow, this content is dated. Here's an update on Joplin:
The Joplin community is rapidly becoming an affordable, livable version of the urban lifestyle that offers viable career, entrepreneurial, and educational opportunities, burgeoning music and cultural venues, bike trails and walkable streets, and robust culinary and coffee scenes. The medical school -- and now the dental school -- is fueling the demand for new quality-of-life amenities that continue to transform Joplin into an even greater place to live, work, play, and learn.
The Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU) launched a new medical school in Joplin in 2017, infusing hundreds of med students, faculty, and staff into our community. Now (June 2019) KCU announced plans for a College of Dental Medicine in Joplin, MO. It is estimated the College of Dental Medicine will have an $80 million cost of construction, generate a financial impact of $45 million annually, support more than 200 jobs, and generate at least $1.7 million in state and local taxes.
The Harry M. Cornell Arts & Entertainment Complex has reached its initial $14 million funding goal and is advancing to the construction phase. This world-class visual and performing arts center will transform the heart of Joplin. It will include a 450-seat multi-function performance hall, new and larger galleries for Spiva Center for the Arts, an outdoor amphitheater that will accommodate 1,500 guests, and a stunning rooftop terrace venue.
Joplin air service to Chicago began on June 6th. The Joplin Regional Airport will now service two daily flights to Chicago, and soon, a third daily flight to Dallas.
Four new coffee shops have opened in the last six months. We have improv groups, micro brews, live music scenes, food trucks, brunch venues galore, and a thriving historic downtown district bustling with commerce, urban loft dwellers, shopping, and unique dining options. Supporting active lifestyles with trails, bike lanes, and walkable streets, as well as diversity and inclusion initiatives, are major areas of focus now to make this community more attractive to talent to grow our businesses, industries, universities, and healthcare systems.
And Joplin is growing, rapidly actually. Since the Joplin tornado in 2011, the metro has grown to over 220,000 and Joplin proper is now over 52,000 in population.
Tobias | Carl Junction, MO