Topeka Needs More Retail — And Here’s Why It’s Good for All of Us

Topeka friends and neighbors,

We all want a stronger city with more jobs, better services, and money to fix our streets and parks without raising property taxes every year. One of the smartest, most practical things we can do right now is focus on attracting more quality retail to our community.

Here’s why it makes simple sense:

Our real market is much bigger than just Shawnee County.

The official Topeka Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) includes about 233,000 people across five counties. But our true economic reach is even larger. Topeka already pulls in shoppers from many surrounding counties, and we have enormous untapped potential from travelers and visitors.

Tens of thousands of people drive through Topeka every single day.

I-70 alone carries around 40,000 vehicles a day near downtown (with even higher volumes on other stretches), plus traffic on the Kansas Turnpike (I-335) and other major routes. That adds up to millions of travelers passing through our community every year. These are people from other towns, other states, and all over the country. Many of them would stop and spend money here if we gave them good reasons — nice stores, restaurants, and places to shop.

Tourism is already happening — and retail makes it stronger.

People come to Topeka for the State Capitol, historic sites, events, and more. When we have strong retail options, visitors stay longer, spend more on food, gas, gifts, and shopping, and they tell their friends. Good retail doesn’t just serve tourists — it actually creates more tourism by turning Topeka into a place worth stopping for.

Retail brings in “imported” money from outside our county.

Every time someone from outside Shawnee County buys something here — whether they’re from a surrounding county, passing through on the highway, or visiting — that’s new money coming into our local economy. It’s like we’re exporting our stores and services and importing dollars from other places.

This isn’t something to feel guilty about — it’s smart. It grows our sales tax base, which pays for police, fire, roads, parks, and city services. The more of these “outside” sales we capture, the less pressure there is on local property taxpayers. Successful cities do this all the time. We should too.

We can actually measure this.

We should track how much of our retail sales are coming from the broader region, the MSA, and from visitors/pass-through traffic. That data shows the real economic impact and helps us make better decisions about where and how to grow retail.

Right now, Topeka needs stronger sales tax revenue. Focusing on retail development — by making it easier for good projects to happen, updating zoning where it makes sense, and supporting businesses that serve both locals and the bigger region — is one of the best tools we have.

Here’s what you can do:

Call or email your City Council member and Mayor Spencer Duncan. Tell them:

“I want Topeka to prioritize attracting more retail. Our real market is over 233,000 in the MSA plus all the travelers on our highways and shoppers from surrounding counties. This brings in outside money and grows our sales tax base. Let’s make it happen.”

The more of us who speak up, the clearer the message becomes. Topeka can be a place where people want to stop, shop, stay longer, and invest. It starts with recognizing that our opportunity is bigger than our city limits.

Let’s get to work.