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Old 02-14-2017, 10:43 PM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
14,147 posts, read 9,038,713 times
Reputation: 10491

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Quote:
Originally Posted by elkotronics View Post
Cool places like The Country Club Plaza help make it seem cooler than it really is - the neighborhood we saw in person yesterday - Oak Park Southwest - tells it how it really is - kind of ugly and depressing.
It was neither when I was growing up there in the 1960s and 1970s.

Back then, it was a solidly aspirational middle-class neighborhood that was mostly white when my parents bought the house I was raised in in 1954, four years before I was born, but all-black by the time I finished kindergarten at a public school across town (Mom wanted me to get the best education she could get for me, and the neighborhood public school wasn't as good as Nelson).

What was really sad for me when I laid eyes on it again in 2014 was that the trees that lined Benton Boulevard had grown back even taller and more majestic than they were before Dutch elm disease claimed the really big ones back in the mid-1960s. The street had become a green cathedral - and all the houses under that magnificent canopy were falling to pieces.

Save my childhood home. It had disappeared completely, torched by tenants who had set up a meth lab in its basement and decided to destroy the evidence completely when they got word the cops were about to engage in some civil asset seizure.

I hear the residents of Ivanhoe, the neighborhood to its west, are undertaking some interesting revitalization projects. Would that someone could do that in Oak Park.

What streets did you travel in your sojourn through my old 'hood - and what brought you there in the first place?
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Old 02-15-2017, 06:04 AM
 
1,328 posts, read 1,461,270 times
Reputation: 690
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne View Post
The truth is, some of us are not afraid to say how things REALLY are. And when we do, it's either ignored or we are attacked. I didn't make up the recent bodies found in KC or the person being beat up on the Plaza. And there are lots of other stories I could post if you like.


Urban KC is not the utopia some of you like to pretend it is.
Until somebody talks to me about the ACTUAL LIKELIHOOD of being the victim of a crime while shopping on the Plaza, dining at Power & Light, or doing whatever and minding my own business in urban KC, I will not pay a lot of attention to "Body Found!"

So there are more murders in Johnson County Kansas than in Morton County Kansas. Do you know why? Because there are more people there. Does that make Morton County safer than Johnson County? Of course not.

Where higher concentrations of people exist, more of everything happens. And that makes it easier to cherry-pick your news stories to make whatever point you want about that place. But again, the only thing that matters to anyone, is their own likelihood of being victimized. So if you want to talk about safety, let's talk about that. Otherwise, let's move on.

(Please note, I am not comparing total population numbers in JoCo to JaCo, and I'm certainly not comparing the suburbs to the ghettos. I'm talking about per capita crime in popular districts.)
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Old 02-15-2017, 07:04 AM
 
Location: Alamogordo, NM
7,940 posts, read 9,488,320 times
Reputation: 5695
What streets did you travel in your sojourn through my old 'hood - and what brought you there in the first place?


MarketStEl - my wife and I headed north to Oak Park SW because I had found a house on one of the real estate pages on the net that was selling for only $45,000 that I liked the looks of. We saw it, saw the surroundings, and my wife was raising her voice, telling me to punch it and get out of there. We didn't like the neighborhood at all. We headed south towards Overland Park to look at the next house. We may relocate there - we're just starting to look at houses and we're not really sure we're going to buy yet or not here in Kansas City.
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Old 02-15-2017, 11:11 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
14,147 posts, read 9,038,713 times
Reputation: 10491
Quote:
Originally Posted by elkotronics View Post
What streets did you travel in your sojourn through my old 'hood - and what brought you there in the first place?


MarketStEl - my wife and I headed north to Oak Park SW because I had found a house on one of the real estate pages on the net that was selling for only $45,000 that I liked the looks of. We saw it, saw the surroundings, and my wife was raising her voice, telling me to punch it and get out of there. We didn't like the neighborhood at all. We headed south towards Overland Park to look at the next house. We may relocate there - we're just starting to look at houses and we're not really sure we're going to buy yet or not here in Kansas City.
"South" towards Overland Park?

You'd also have to travel a good bit to the west to get there.

I'm talking about the neighborhood bounded by 39th Street on the north, Benton Boulevard on the east, Brush Creek on the south and Prospect Avenue on the west. I assume you're talking about the same area.
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Old 02-15-2017, 11:22 AM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,246,566 times
Reputation: 16971
Quote:
Originally Posted by rwiksell View Post
Until somebody talks to me about the ACTUAL LIKELIHOOD of being the victim of a crime while shopping on the Plaza, dining at Power & Light, or doing whatever and minding my own business in urban KC, I will not pay a lot of attention to "Body Found!"

So there are more murders in Johnson County Kansas than in Morton County Kansas. Do you know why? Because there are more people there. Does that make Morton County safer than Johnson County? Of course not.

Where higher concentrations of people exist, more of everything happens. And that makes it easier to cherry-pick your news stories to make whatever point you want about that place. But again, the only thing that matters to anyone, is their own likelihood of being victimized. So if you want to talk about safety, let's talk about that. Otherwise, let's move on.

(Please note, I am not comparing total population numbers in JoCo to JaCo, and I'm certainly not comparing the suburbs to the ghettos. I'm talking about per capita crime in popular districts.)


Yep, just step over those bodies and don't worry about it because there are so many people, a few bodies here and there doesn't mean YOU will be murdered! And while you're at it, ignore the statistics stating that Kansas City has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the nation.
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Old 02-15-2017, 11:41 AM
 
Location: Middle America
37,409 posts, read 53,543,435 times
Reputation: 53073
Quote:
Originally Posted by rumba77 View Post
Everything about Kansas City - the culture, the music, jazz/blues, BBQ heritage, the architecture, the attractions, museums, pro sports, universities, airport and MOST residents live on the Missouri side. Kansas City is uniquely "Missouri." Everything great about Kansas City and the only reason companies are in this region is because of Kansas City Missouri.

The only reason someone would live in kansass is because they moved here from podunk kansas and want to remain on the kansas side. Or they move here to work for one of the corporate droid companies perched on some parking lagoon in the middle of nowhere lenexa and want to live in a ranch box nearby.

Weird.

I live in Kansas, and none of those things apply. Not from podunk Kansas, didn't move here for work, don't have a spouse that works in Kansas, don't work for a corporate complex in middle of nowhere Lenexa (or a corporate complex anywhere), don't live near one, either.

I've also lived in KCMO, MO-side suburbia, and have zero antipathy toward Missouri. I'm perfectly fine with the airport as it exists, having grown up with a nightmare of a huge international airport that was and is in no way convenient or user-friendly, and one slightly less huge one that is no more convenient or user-friendly. I appreciate MCI for what it is, and have no complaints, find it convenient to my Kansas address, and find the idea of a Kansas-based international airport unnecessary and a bit of a joke. I'm not from Missouri OR Kansas, and have no stake in bizarre pissing contests pitting one state or side of the metro against the other.

Get a grip that not everyone is rabidly invested in keeping some weirdo internet border war going. You guys are your own breed.
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Old 02-15-2017, 12:22 PM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,246,566 times
Reputation: 16971
Quote:
Originally Posted by rumba77 View Post
The only reason someone would live in kansass is because they moved here from podunk kansas and want to remain on the kansas side. Or they move here to work for one of the corporate droid companies perched on some parking lagoon in the middle of nowhere lenexa and want to live in a ranch box nearby. The kansas side poached a few greedy companies across the state line to work in crappy suburban office lagoons and the kansas side grew, but there is nothing 'kansas' about Kansas City. The kansas suburbs are only a subsidiary of Kansas City Missouri. In 10-15 years the Northland will be fully competitive and equal to johnson county in every way as it is booming while johnsonville is showing signs of becoming a has-been very quickly. There is no chance the airport would ever be built on the kansas side.
People lived in Kansas suburbs before there were any companies for them to work at. So you obviously don't know Kansas City history very well.


I was born in podunk Missouri and have lived in Smithville, Platte City, North Kansas City, midtown, close to downtown and northeast Kansas City. I prefer the Kansas side. I don't work for any company in Johnson County (though I did have my own company for many years), so I'm not here for work. I am here because the quality of life for me is better on the Kansas side than it was in anyplace I lived on the Missouri side. I live here because I CHOOSE to. I'd rather live in Johnson County than anywhere in Misery.
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Old 02-15-2017, 01:31 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,871,538 times
Reputation: 6438
Quote:
Originally Posted by TabulaRasa View Post
Weird.

I live in Kansas, and none of those things apply. Not from podunk Kansas, didn't move here for work, don't have a spouse that works in Kansas, don't work for a corporate complex in middle of nowhere Lenexa (or a corporate complex anywhere), don't live near one, either.

I've also lived in KCMO, MO-side suburbia, and have zero antipathy toward Missouri. I'm perfectly fine with the airport as it exists, having grown up with a nightmare of a huge international airport that was and is in no way convenient or user-friendly, and one slightly less huge one that is no more convenient or user-friendly. I appreciate MCI for what it is, and have no complaints, find it convenient to my Kansas address, and find the idea of a Kansas-based international airport unnecessary and a bit of a joke. I'm not from Missouri OR Kansas, and have no stake in bizarre pissing contests pitting one state or side of the metro against the other.

Get a grip that not everyone is rabidly invested in keeping some weirdo internet border war going. You guys are your own breed.
The biggest weirdo of them all keeping the border war going is Brownback and this stupid plan for a Kansas side airport is no exception.
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Old 02-15-2017, 01:38 PM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,246,566 times
Reputation: 16971
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo View Post
The biggest weirdo of them all keeping the border war going is Brownback and this stupid plan for a Kansas side airport is no exception.
The fact that you keep harping on it tells me that although you call it "stupid," you are afraid that it really might happen.
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Old 02-15-2017, 01:53 PM
 
1,328 posts, read 1,461,270 times
Reputation: 690
Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne View Post
Yep, just step over those bodies and don't worry about it because there are so many people, a few bodies here and there doesn't mean YOU will be murdered! And while you're at it, ignore the statistics stating that Kansas City has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the nation.
Right. Because Johnson County has zero murders.

In actuality, Overland Park (for example) had 5 murders in 2016, and 6 in 2015. 6 is a new record, by the way, and triple the number from almost any previous year. Oh no!!!!

You are smart enough to realize that the murder rate in KCMO is almost entirely due to east side neighborhoods, which virtually nobody visits unless they live there.

Imagine if Overland Park's boundaries just happened to include KCK. What would that do to its murder rate? It would be be way way higher. But would that change the life of OP residents in any way, or put you in any danger? Of course not.

Or imagine if a new family of 6 moved into the big house next door to you in Prairie Village, and they seem perfectly normal until the father/husband completely snaps and murders his whole family and then ends his own life (God forbid). This would cause the Prairie Village murder rate to go crazy, and certainly it would rattle the neighbors. But does that change your personal risk of being victimized in any way? Of course not.

So yes, a few bodies (5 for instance, in OP in 2016) here and there does not mean that YOU will be murdered. Thank you for making my point, despite your attempt to be sarcastic.
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