KC... 51 Homes should piss you off
Impossible Housing is when a town 185x SMALLER permits the same number of homes by November of 2025 - and my home was 1 of 51.
“You Can’t Argue the Facts, Dan”
(That’s what Cass G. always tells me.)
This post isn’t a rant. It’s a receipt.
You can debate intentions.
You can debate politics.
You can debate strategy.
But you can’t argue the facts.
The Receipt
(Jan–Nov 2025)
Population
Kansas City (Jackson County): 315,000
Edgerton, Kansas: 1,700
Homes Permitted (single-family)
Kansas City: 51
Edgerton: 51
No spin:
Kansas City is ~185× larger and permitted the same number of homes from January 2025 - November 2025.
What That Actually Means
(Not emotionally. Mechanically.)
When a city 185x larger produces the same number of homes as a town of 1,700 people, it tells you something simple:
We, Kansas Citians, do not believe housing in the “urban core” is worth the investment.
If you would like to debate me and say “what about rental housing” then I would respond with “I'm focused creating new home owners”.
MARC says
But the entire housing industry in KC can only produce 51 homes over an 11 month period.
It may be time to admit:
The underlying machine was never designed to produce housing for inner-city families at scale.
The Demand Everyone Ignores
(Inner-city housing isn’t charity. It’s a underbuilt market opportunity.)
Let’s talk about the part that gets left out of most housing conversations:
There is real, measurable demand for inner-city homeownership.
Not “wishful thinking.”
Not “someday.”
Not “if we could just…”
16,500 inner-city families earn enough money to buy a home if somebody built it.
That represents roughly $5.7B in homeownership opportunity sitting inside Kansas City. The Housing of Authority of Kansas City Missouri confirms my point by releasing a development plan for 2.6B to produce 7,159 homes ~ $373,000.
So when they say, “There’s no demand,” what they usually mean is:
They don’t see inner-city families as a real market.
But the demand is real.
The money is real.
The missing ingredient is…
A new “they” with a fresh perspective.
You!
Better informed Kansas Citians who could take better steps towards action.
Check More Receipts
(Why we started this platform in the first place.)
The reason we started this platform is simple:
There a lot of noise going on and it’s hard to filter out good and bad.
But when you look at the receipt — 51 homes — it tells you something uncomfortable:
Whatever we (KC) have been doing… with whoever we’ve been doing it with… is not producing housing at the scale Kansas City needs.
NOTE: ELECTED OFFICIALS AND CITY STAFF ARE NOT THE SOLUTION TO BUILDING A NEW HOUSING INDUSTRY.
They can assist, make policies, aid in funding sources… but the action is still on us in the private market to build the city we want to live in.
So we’re widening the conversation on purpose.
Not because we want attention.
Because we want output.
We need a fresh audience to take action with:
Concerned Kansas Citians who are ready to take action
People who want a thriving urban economy (not just downtown headlines)
People who want to replant roots and resettle neighborhoods
People who want to invest in a city that actually works for the people who live here
People who are tired of plans that don’t produce
This invitation is to the broader group of Kansas Citians who understand that a city can’t thrive if the urban core can’t produce homes at scale.
2026 Goal
(100 homes. Real output. Real transformation.)
Here’s our goal:
In 2026, we’re targeting the production of 100 homes. We can produce them on our own land or we can work strategically with other housing support organizations.
Now let me be candid:
We might fall short in year one.
We might exceed it.
But what I am confident in — what we are confident in — is this:
We are going to produce.
Because this isn’t theory.
This isn’t a pilot for a report.
This is real demand and real opportunity for real transformation.
And once you build the machine, production becomes predictable.
If You Want to Be Part of the Next 10, 50, or 100 Homes
If you want to help us produce the next 10 homes, 50 homes, or 100 homes — reach out.
If you want to fund production instead of projects — reach out.
If you want one of the homes — reach out.
If you’re a builder, trade partner, supplier, land partner, lender, or investor — reach out.
Send a message to Daniel@1m.homes
We’ll respond.
We’ll put you in the loop.
Because the receipt is clear:
Kansas City doesn’t have a housing industry operating at scale in the urban core.
So we’re building one.