Sprint Nextell (Kansas City, Independence, Jackson: violent crime, house, job market)

[famusdarlin]

Originally Posted by luzianne

I don't know about Metro North, but Bannister Mall, Blue Ridge and Indian Springs were areas with high crime; no wonder no one shopped there! Blue Ridge was also overrun with rats.

I really don't think what happened to Bannister mall or Blue Ridge mall had anything to do with crime. I am not as familiar with KCK and Indian Springs mall. If you spent much time in the areas in the early/mid-90's when they both began to go downhill you would understand that as both areas became accessible by bus they became frequented by people in lower income brackets. This is not just the mall, the areas surrounding he malls in general saw a rise in lower income families. These families spent less, higher income people moved from the area, let's call it white flight happened. And many stores becuase of lower profits moved from the area. I recall going to both malls as a young teen in the early nineties and recall seeing young African-Americans harrassed not becuase they were doing anything wrong but becuase their mere presence was intimidating.


Back to the OP question...yes, it is highly likely that Sprint-Nextel will go bankrupt. I am not sure how long they will be able to hold on. I am optomistic that there will be a buyer before that happens. I beleive their slow bleeding will affect the entire KC metro, not just Johnson County. But I beleive as others stated the metro area in general can recover with alot of work.

[skrizzle]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

That is not true anymore. MPLS has four counties alone that are wealthier than JOCO.

He said one of the wealthiest, not THE wealthiest....

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by famusdarlin

I really don't think what happened to Bannister mall or Blue Ridge mall had anything to do with crime. I am not as familiar with KCK and Indian Springs mall. If you spent much time in the areas in the early/mid-90's when they both began to go downhill you would understand that as both areas became accessible by bus they became frequented by people in lower income brackets. This is not just the mall, the areas surrounding he malls in general saw a rise in lower income families. These families spent less, higher income people moved from the area, let's call it white flight happened. And many stores becuase of lower profits moved from the area. I recall going to both malls as a young teen in the early nineties and recall seeing young African-Americans harrassed not becuase they were doing anything wrong but becuase their mere presence was intimidating.


Back to the OP question...yes, it is highly likely that Sprint-Nextel will go bankrupt. I am not sure how long they will be able to hold on. I am optomistic that there will be a buyer before that happens. I beleive their slow bleeding will affect the entire KC metro, not just Johnson County. But I beleive as others stated the metro area in general can recover with alot of work.

There was definitely a lot of crime in all those areas before the malls closed.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by skrizzle

He said one of the wealthiest, not THE wealthiest....

It might be in the top 100, but I don't have the data in front of me.

[skrizzle]

I can't find anything except from 2007, and it was #39 at the time.... which considering KC alone has at least 20 suburbs and most cities probably have equal that or more.... it's a pretty nice place to be on a list, and definitely fair for someone to make the claim...

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by famusdarlin

I really don't think what happened to Bannister mall or Blue Ridge mall had anything to do with crime. I am not as familiar with KCK and Indian Springs mall. If you spent much time in the areas in the early/mid-90's when they both began to go downhill you would understand that as both areas became accessible by bus they became frequented by people in lower income brackets. This is not just the mall, the areas surrounding he malls in general saw a rise in lower income families. These families spent less, higher income people moved from the area, let's call it white flight happened. And many stores becuase of lower profits moved from the area. I recall going to both malls as a young teen in the early nineties and recall seeing young African-Americans harrassed not becuase they were doing anything wrong but becuase their mere presence was intimidating.

Wow. It's so nice to see others post things like this. I would buy you a beer if I could.

I lived blocks from bannister mall during my high school years. I watched the mall (and Benjamin Plaza) blossom from nothing into one of the biggest retail centers in the midwest. It did great for many years, then in a matter of a few years, it was all over.

Crime? I don't think so. Crime in the area was so freaking exaggerated it was not even funny. There was almost no crime. It "was" a nice area, right up till when the mall was well on its way out. I was there EVERY DAY. I walked from my home to the mall, I took ata buses to the mall etc. No problems what so ever.

They had a rash of car thefts, which happen in very large shopping districts like that. But since there were a lot of black people there, it was treated differently. Even in the years that Bannister had peaked in car thefts, it was right there with Oak Park. Oak Park has had some pretty bad car theft issues as well as muggings etc and it never so much as makes the news and when it does, it blows over pretty fast, but when anything happened at Bannister and it was on all the news channels and it became a "dangerous" place.

Now, you also have to fault the mall management for trying to make the mall “safe” by adding all the guard towers etc. All that did was validate it for people that the mall was a dangerous place.

So it was two things that killed the mall. KC’s race issues and the mall management not being able to deal with it correctly.

The area around Bannister Mall to this day is still not a dangerous area. It’s low income and working class, but it’s not dangerous. There are pockets of rough areas in the Ruskin area, but the mall area is not dangerous.

When Bannister Mall was in full force, nobody went to Oak Park or Independence. Bannister Mall was one of the most successful malls in the country till people started freaking out over nothing.

On to Blue Ridge.

Again, the area around Blue Ridge Mall is not dangerous. Actually, the demographics around that mall are and were better than the area around Bannister Mall and are pretty nice today and Blue Ridge Mall was actually a pretty nice mall right up till it closed. Blue Ridge closed for two primary reasons. Competition from shopping centers out east and the age of the mall. The mall was simply so old and had been redone so many times that there was little more that could be done for it besides start over. Blue Rdige Mall didn’t really even start to lose tenants till millions of square feet of new retail began to open near Indep Center and the Center itself became a popular mall. The area around Blue Ridge Mall is still a good area. Again, it’s working class. There is not as much low income as Bannister, but there is some. The development at the site now is very successful. It also draws from East KCMO as well as parts of Indep and Raytown. Since it does not need to draw from the outer suburbs, it’s not as much of an issue. The people that shop there are ok with black people and people that take the bus to get there and whatever crime it generates (normal crime retail centers have). So it works and it works well. Suburbanites can ignore it. I used to stop there all the time because it’s so convenient and it’s fine. Sports Clips, nicest applebees I have ever been in, Lowes, Starbucks, all fine.

Metro North Mall.

Zona Rosa, Barry Woods, Boardwalk, Shoal Creek etc killed that mall. That and horrible management and the fact that it’s just an ugly old mall that nobody wants to go to anymore. I mean it really is. Simon Properties made Indep Center into a very nice mall, but at least they had something to work with. The Center is still nice mall, it’s open, it feels modern etc. Malls that look like Metro North either close or are turned into lifestyle centers. Metro North Mall was to be turned into one till the economy crashed. That area is still building homes and the retail in that area will probably bounce back once there are enough residents to support it along with all the new stuff at 29 to the west and 35 to the east.

[northbound74]

The redone Blue Ridge shopping center is really nice. It's one of my local places. The neighborhoods around it are a bit nicer than given credit for. It does attract a lot of east KC residents, which outer suburbanites are terrified of.
The Applebee's there is super nice, and I also highly recommend the Firehouse Subs that's a few doors down.
I'm hoping they add another eatery like Noodles & Company or Chipotle to the center. There looks to be a prime spot for such a thing next to the Radio Shack.

[kcmo]

Firehouse subs is great. I have stopped there a few times. Chipoltle would do well there as well.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by northbound74

The neighborhoods around it are a bit nicer than given credit for. It does attract a lot of east KC residents, which outer suburbanites are terrified of.

Oh jeez, here we go again. Stereotypes, negativity and more stereotypes.

People from the burbs of often shop near their homes. I know! WHAT A CRAZY IDEA!!

That I shop near my home does not mean that I am "terrified" to shop anywhere else, or to associate with anyone from any other part of the metro.

This is the kind of CRAP that really detracts from anything valuable that you might otherwise have to add to the discussion.

Knock it off, please!

[luzianne]

Yeah, that Applebees at Blue Ridge? Someone was shot in the head in the parking lot of that Applebees in, I believe, 2003. And yes, there was a lot of crime in the areas Bannister, Blue Ridge and Indian Springs malls. Maybe you have a higher threshold for crime than I do. None is fine with me.