Say goodbye to all that open space east of KCI Airport

[racer56]

It's my understanding the land isn't inside current city limits. If that is correct KCMO doesn't have to provide anything as far as services to that area. KCMO has sewer and street problems, the mayor has said it is one of the cities biggest areas of concern not long ago on the front page of the Star.
I'm almost never in favor of developer welfare anyway so I would have a hard time with it even if the inner city was in decent repair. The city cries all the time about JOCO providing corp welfare yet KCMO wants to provide developer welfare yet leave the inner core of the city in disrepair.

[kcmo]

It's been in the city limits for decades and proving sewers (basic infrastructure) is hardly corporate welfare.

[MOKAN]

Cool. An alternative to Southern JoCo is being created between Liberty and KCI. Lots of new development to draw the upper demographics further out from the inner northland and let it become ghetto. The growth is inevitable, but at least it's in KCMO. I'd have to say this is at least better than KCMO holding out in some sort of protest against sprawl and letting other cities cater to the demand.

But why so much hate of growth? I think outter suburban growth does seem to have an adverse effect on inner suburban areas. Kind of a throw-away culture. Any other reasons?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Cool. An alternative to Southern JoCo is being created between Liberty and KCI. Lots of new development to draw the upper demographics further out from the inner northland and let it become ghetto. The growth is inevitable, but at least it's in KCMO. I'd have to say this is at least better than KCMO holding out in some sort of protest against sprawl and letting other cities cater to the demand.

But why so much hate of growth? I think outter suburban growth does seem to have an adverse effect on inner suburban areas. Kind of a throw-away culture. Any other reasons?

It creates more expenditures for cities and towns to maintain the new infrastructure along with all of the older infratructure . As others have mentioned, subsidizing development can often lead to speculative developments that can get derailed with additional lost revenues to the city. Development causes more burdens to be placed on property owners, more services demanded, a loss of rural character and higher property taxes. Also, the exurban sprawl tends to create an even more car dependent culture as well. New development has actually slowed in most of JOCO as fewer people want to live so far removed from where they work. Therefore, I think you will see the desirable inner suburbs have a newfound resurgance in demand, particularly with gas prices at high levels.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

It creates more expenditures for cities and towns to maintain the new infrastructure along with all of the older infratructure . As others have mentioned, subsidizing development can often lead to speculative developments that can get derailed with additional lost revenues to the city. Development causes more burdens to be placed on property owners, more services demanded, a loss of rural character and higher property taxes. Also, the exurban sprawl tends to create an even more car dependent culture as well. New development has actually slowed in most of JOCO as fewer people want to live so far removed from where they work. Therefore, I think you will see the desirable inner suburbs have a newfound resurgance in demand, particularly with gas prices at high levels.

That's my thought too. It seems like the outter belt has to develop first before attention starts going back toward inner neighborhoods. But outside JoCo, it seems like the other inner suburban areas are a long way from that being that many are in decline and bleeding.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Cool. An alternative to Southern JoCo is being created between Liberty and KCI. Lots of new development to draw the upper demographics further out from the inner northland and let it become ghetto. The growth is inevitable, but at least it's in KCMO. I'd have to say this is at least better than KCMO holding out in some sort of protest against sprawl and letting other cities cater to the demand.

But why so much hate of growth? I think outter suburban growth does seem to have an adverse effect on inner suburban areas. Kind of a throw-away culture. Any other reasons?

Right. The question becomes what do you do? The only way to stop sprawl in metro KC is to create an urban growth boundary and we all know that is not going to happen.

I think one of the things that has contributed the most to KC's terrible inner suburb problem is the throw away mentality of retail there. Commercial blight is a cancer. Who wants to live near Truman Corners, Blue Ridge Mall, Indian Springs, Antioch Center etc.

Most shopping centers in the outer suburbs of metro KC (in both MO and KS) are subsidized some how or another by tax payers. Stop doing that.

If you lived near Antioch Center, wouldn't you want to pick and move just to get away from that?

[Okey Dokie]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I think one of the things that has contributed the most to KC's terrible inner suburb problem is the throw away mentality of retail there. Commercial blight is a cancer. Who wants to live near Truman Corners, Blue Ridge Mall, Indian Springs, Antioch Center etc.

Most shopping centers in the outer suburbs of metro KC (in both MO and KS) are subsidized some how or another by tax payers. Stop doing that.

If you lived near Antioch Center, wouldn't you want to pick and move just to get away from that?

Add Metro North to the list. That whole area of Barry Road is going downhill and a near ghost town. Best Buy is the latest to go.

BTW, they are finally getting around to tearing down Antioch. Might even be done now.

[racer56]

Originally Posted by kcmo

It's been in the city limits for decades and proving sewers (basic infrastructure) is hardly corporate welfare.

What I mean by corp welfare is the city putting all the infrastructure in for the developer/builder. The core of the city falling apart is why folks leave for the suburbs of course. This project just furthers that progression.

[kcmo]

I don't know of a single city that doesn't provide sewer infrastructure and by keeping that area rural, all kcmo is doing is spreading it's resources unnecessarily thin. The city has to provide public safey, deal with property code enforcement, etc etc for a huge area that does not even have 1000 people in it. If somebody calls the cops, a patrol car is probably 30 minutes away.

So either install basic infrastructure and allow the area to develop or de-annex it and it can stay rural under country jurisdiction or it can be annexed by another city that is not spread so thin that it can actually take care of the property and residents.

KCMO is not going to de-annex anything.

So they may as well continue to develop those areas and create a net increase in tax base to help improve the city.

The Northland tax payers subsidize those south of the river. Not the other way around. (except in vast rural areas like this).

Guess who will be paying to rebuild the combined sewers south of the river? Much of it will come from all the new residents north of the river.

KCMO has to redevelop the core and develop its suburban northland at the same time. It doesn’t have a choice.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by Okey Dokie

Add Metro North to the list. That whole area of Barry Road is going downhill and a near ghost town. Best Buy is the latest to go.

BTW, they are finally getting around to tearing down Antioch. Might even be done now.

But the city has got to stop allowing new construction of retail, or at the very least stop giving tax breaks to develop new retail.

That new retail center at N. Oak and Vivion (Lowes etc) is a prime example of the city making a terrible decision that does more harm than good.

A new retail center replaced a nice grassy area just a few miles from Antioch Center.

To give a tax break to develop a greenfield with brand new retail buildings in an area that has retail blight in every direction is ludicrous.

The city of kcmo needs to grow the northland, but it has to be smart. Installing sewers in the Tiffany Springs area is fine, but any private development that goes there should come in at market rate without any incentives. If a retail developer wants to be in Tiffany Springs, they should pay the full amount of taxes, plus any needed improvement to roads, traffic signals etc.

If a retail developer wants a tax break, they can be a part of a redevelopment of Antioch Center or something.

This will continue to build up the Northland with residential while at the same time stabilize older areas.

The Northland needs more housing because it now has so much retail blight (metro north, Antioch, N Oak Trafficway Corridor), that the only way to fix the blight is to stop building new retail and bring in more residents.


Most of that post was not directly at you okey