This has got to stop. Seriously sick of this BS (Kansas City: hotel, houses)

[MLSFan]

blue fox, what you recommend as a premium sounds an awful like the old jim crow laws in the making...

putting curfews out, then putting a premium like a cover charge? but instead of a racial segregation, it's going to be a economic one? this is why I avoid the power and lights now, I dislike the cover charge to get into the square then another cover charge to get into the bars...

it doesn't really do the city any good to have one part of it "looking" good while the rest go down in shambles

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by eyeb

blue fox, what you recommend as a premium sounds an awful like the old jim crow laws in the making...

putting curfews out, then putting a premium like a cover charge? but instead of a racial segregation, it's going to be a economic one?

it doesn't really do the city any good to have one part of it "looking" good while the rest go down in shambles

No, that's not at all what I'm advocating. By "placing a premium" I mean making it a priority, it's just an expression. I certainly don't mean we should charge people admission, LOL. Living on the Plaza I see people of all races and walks of life who come to enjoy what it has to offer. It really is the gem of Kansas City and should be enjoyed by EVERYONE who wants to visit without them having to feel unsafe. I don't think that we should ignore the bad areas but I think that for the bad areas to stand any chance of improvement, we have to keep the areas like the Plaza safe. It's a cumulative effect. Does that clarify my point?

[thriftylefty]

For a long time, maybe 25 years or more I have only used Westport and the Plaza for coffee or lunch because at night it gets stupid. I am reminded of the scene from the movie "Traffic" when they saw all the young men on the street selling drugs and the young guy says what you would do if every white person you saw asked you if you had any drugs? I would not be surprised if Westport and the Plaza have become places where white suburbanites can go to buy drugs.

No I am not living in some TV world because I have had complete strangers ask me about a drug connection before. If any suburbanite has ever asked a random young black male about buying drugs in Westport or the Plaza the toothpaste is out of the tube. Those guys are not there just to get ridiculed, hassled and fight. I would bet there is a little drug commerce on the street in Westport and the Plaza.

[moxiegal]

Westport has always had a drug history. It goes back to the 60's at least. Where I grew up on Summit St, in the Wesport neighborhood, we had a known drug house just 3 doors down. Always, weekly, or more often, we would be woke up by the blue/red flashing lights for yet another drug bust.
Wesport has the hippy history, as well as many other interesting topics on going.
Wesport/Plaza is what it is. It is still my neighborhood. I just don't participate like I used to.

[MoNative34]

Here we go again.....

"Crime can happen anywhere"

Just leave the little tidbit out that it is a hell of a lot more likely in certain areas.

The PC dance is the new Hokey Pokey.

[MLSFan]

Originally Posted by MoNative34

Here we go again.....



Just leave the little tidbit out that it is a hell of a lot more likely in certain areas.

The PC dance is the new Hokey Pokey.

is that like the saying that lighting can hit anywhere? But people still prefer not to fly kites out in the storm?

No, that's not at all what I'm advocating. By "placing a premium" I mean making it a priority, it's just an expression. I certainly don't mean we should charge people admission, LOL. Living on the Plaza I see people of all races and walks of life who come to enjoy what it has to offer. It really is the gem of Kansas City and should be enjoyed by EVERYONE who wants to visit without them having to feel unsafe. I don't think that we should ignore the bad areas but I think that for the bad areas to stand any chance of improvement, we have to keep the areas like the Plaza safe. It's a cumulative effect. Does that clarify my point?

I have a different opinion, mainly that the wealthy can take care of their own, so the government should help the poor more so. IE help the bad areas and that will help the nice areas more than just helping the nice area because it is less likely to spread to bad areas to help them. So the city doesn't need to put a premium on the Plaza per say, but to help out the areas around troost instead.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by eyeb

is that like the saying that lighting can hit anywhere? But people still prefer not to fly kites out in the storm?
I have a different opinion, mainly that the wealthy can take care of their own, so the government should help the poor more so. IE help the bad areas and that will help the nice areas more than just helping the nice area because it is less likely to spread to bad areas to help them. So the city doesn't need to put a premium on the Plaza per say, but to help out the areas around troost instead.

It's been proven over and over again that you can throw billions of dollars into "bad areas" and it will accomplish very little. But as soon as a few people start moving in that actually care about the community and themselves, things will change in a heartbeat. This could be younger people (which are often white, but blacks too), could be working class Hispanics, it could be a gay community, it could be an artsy community etc.

They start fixing up homes (rather than living in hud housing or rentals and not caring)

Helping their kids get through school (rather than treating public school like daycare and blaming everybody else for their problems)

Not having kids or stopping after the first one if they can't afford them (rather than having tons of kids and letting them run wild without proper care or discipline)

If you have kids, take responsibility for them (rather than bringing them into the world and letting ghetto culture screw up their minds and their futures)

Having a stable jobs while trying move up into higher paid positions (rather than going from one entry level job to the next demanding the government pay them outrageous minimum wages because they can't live a comfortable lifestyle flipping burgers while raising six kids to six different fathers that are all in jail or dead.

Utilizing local shops or restaurants or even open many of their own (rather than tearing up, robbing and vandalizing the few retail establishments that are available to you such as pharmacies, hospitals, housing and parks which are often subsidized)

You can't just throw money at bad areas of town, rebuild schools etc. It never works. The only thing that works is replacing the morons with people that care which in the long run helps those that are struggling but actually want to make their lives better by doing something about it THEMSELVES even if they need some assistance in the process. Or you can blame white people (poor blacks) or rich people (poor whites) for all your problems. Or you can roll up your sleeves and just work your way through it (poor hispanics)

Gentrification is the ONLY way to improve run down, mostly ignored or high crime, blightened areas.

Educated or at least civilized and self motivated people that care about the community AND have the ability to take personal responsibility for themselves and their actions rather than blaming everything on everybody else and having an entitlement attitude is what it takes to improve bad areas. KC is a very slow city to gentrify urban neighborhoods and has a high percent of blight and poor areas, so KC will struggle with more with problems like punks acting like fools in the nicer parts of town much like other cities that also do not see much gentrification in large portions of their cities.

[brandthom]

Just gonna leave this here.

Police seek gunmen involved in shooting outside Oak Park Mall - KCTV5

[MUTGR]

Originally Posted by brandthom

Just gonna leave this here.

Police seek gunmen involved in shooting outside Oak Park Mall - KCTV5

At least it was multicultural...

"Police said describe one of the suspects as Hispanic with an average build and tattoos. The second suspect is black with an average build and dreadlocks".

Read more: Police seek gunmen involved in shooting outside Oak Park Mall - KCTV5

[ginmqi]

OP Mall has been in the news lately with guns and shootings.

We should all take shelter in Town Center now. But be careful of the brodozers that may run you and your family sedan over though.