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I have always said that I thought the entire metro should be a part of the sports complexes, etc (that also would mean the Missouri side would support Kansas Speedway, the T-Bones and Sporting KC), but that I had never been ASKED about that and I have never seen it on a ballot.
I am not for mass transit. The reason I live in Johnson County is that I don't WANT to live in a mass transit, urban-type environment. There should be both urban and suburban, not try to make the whole city "walkable" and "vibrant." That kind of defeats the purpose of the suburbs, doesn't it?
I already pay Kansas City tax on some of my earnings. My husband pays it on all of his.
I'll let someone else chime in about the essential differences between the financial impact of the Chiefs/Royals and the T-Bones/Sporting/Speedway on the metro. Are the latter propped up by local dollars? I just don't know. But I am glad, luzianne, that you see the entire metro sports scene as integrated.
As for mass transit, I'm not talking about bringing light rail (or any kind of rail) to your door-step. But it's easy to forget, in a place like Johnson County, that it takes people of all socioeconomic classes to make a community function. Just because you don't imagine yourself ever riding a bus doesn't mean that others in your area won't need to. Even those neighbors of yours who are financially stable may be disabled, too young to own a car or too old to drive one. Additionally, if suburbanites are going to benefit from local services staffed by low-wage workers (retail, maintenance, housekeeping, hospitality, etc etc) which cannot afford to live nearby, they will need a way to get to work. If Johnson County could work together with KCMO to develop an integrated bus system, this need would be filled much more efficiently. Lastly, many Johnson Countians who work downtown would benefit from mass transit along I-35. (I know several high-earning individuals who currently ride an express bus from Olathe to downtown, because it's allowed to bypass traffic by driving on the shoulder. These riders would be the first to buy a train pass for such a line, if it existed.) It doesn't mean YOU have to use it. But you would certainly benefit from the reduction in traffic that would result from a successful commuter rail line.
Remember, it's not about trying to force everyone to live in a certain kind of neighborhood. It's about accommodating many different kinds of people so that we can all function together in an efficient manner.
I'll let someone else chime in about the essential differences between the financial impact of the Chiefs/Royals and the T-Bones/Sporting/Speedway on the metro. Are the latter propped up by local dollars? I just don't know. But I am glad, luzianne, that you see the entire metro sports scene as integrated.
As for mass transit, I'm not talking about bringing light rail (or any kind of rail) to your door-step. But it's easy to forget, in a place like Johnson County, that it takes people of all socioeconomic classes to make a community function. Just because you don't imagine yourself ever riding a bus doesn't mean that others in your area won't need to. Even those neighbors of yours who are financially stable may be disabled, too young to own a car or too old to drive one. Additionally, if suburbanites are going to benefit from local services staffed by low-wage workers (retail, maintenance, housekeeping, hospitality, etc etc) which cannot afford to live nearby, they will need a way to get to work. If Johnson County could work together with KCMO to develop an integrated bus system, this need would be filled much more efficiently. Lastly, many Johnson Countians who work downtown would benefit from mass transit along I-35. (I know several high-earning individuals who currently ride an express bus from Olathe to downtown, because it's allowed to bypass traffic by driving on the shoulder. These riders would be the first to buy a train pass for such a line, if it existed.) It doesn't mean YOU have to use it. But you would certainly benefit from the reduction in traffic that would result from a successful commuter rail line.
Remember, it's not about trying to force everyone to live in a certain kind of neighborhood. It's about accommodating many different kinds of people so that we can all function together in an efficient manner.
Good post on transit rwiksell. It's ridiculous that the two largest counties of a major metropolitan area don't have a seamless bus system. I'm not even talking about light rail going down I-35 from Olathe to Blue Springs via Union Station like what should happen, I'm talking about being able to easily take a freaking city bus from Mission to Brookside for from KCI or Zoo to Overland Park. JoCo barely has a commuter bus system and fixed routes are nearly non-existant. For a large, built up county like Johnson County, that's not only sad, it should be embarrassing.
As far as stadiums and what not, so, she will help fund venues to KCMO, so long as she can also fund venues in KCK? Yea sure, okay. Not buying that, but whatever. JoCo people look down on WyCo as much as they do on MO. You see the problem is that JoCo is hands off the regional attractions period. They simply don't contribute and think that those of them that pay the etax, donate or join FOTZ or buy season tickets is more than enough even though people on MO side do all that in even higher percentages on top of paying for the venues in the first place. You have 1/4 of the metro that simply does not contribute and the etax (which is only paid by by a small percent of JoCo residents anyway) is a totally different situation. If everybody on the MO side that pays the etax or is a member of the zoo said no to every stadium, zoo, transit or cultural tax, there would be no attractions in KC. Not to mention that people that live in Tiffany Springs or Shoal Creek or Lee's Summit are just a far or further from many KCMo attractions as many in JoCo.
But even so there is a HUGE difference between what needs to be funded on the MO side vs the KS side.
The Tbones are not a major attraction and the stadium does not need regional funding, just like the Independence Events Center doesn't need regional funding. The Speedway and Sporting Park were both funded with STAR bonds and other incentives and that was a decision made by Wyandotte County to use those venues as something to spark economic interest in the county which is fine. Had they been a part of a bistate tax, I'm 100% confident that MO side voters would have supported them along with MO side venues.
But even the speedway and sporting park would require a small amount of funding compared to Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadium and then when you add in all the other KCMO assets (museums, zoo etc), the MO side needs simply far exceed anything on the KS side. You end up throwing money at stupid things on the KS side and not funding major attractions on the MO side just to get people in JoCo to even remotely take an interest in bistate cooperation.
The simple fact is that most of the cultural and sports facilities in metro KC are in Missouri and in order for them to be funded regionally, KS taxes would have to flow to MO in a much higher percentage than MO taxes flowing to fund KS side attractions. It's a political nightmare for metro KC and it will never go away. I gave up on the idea years ago and just think the MO side counties should do regional funding for everything (take some pressure off Jackson County) and simply charge more those outside those counties or give very heavy discounts to those in the taxed areas. The only thing JoCo wants to do is build mini versions of what already exist in KCMO anyway. Let them build their own little minor league town over there and don't worry about it. But I will continue to post every time they poach a company from KCMO. The MO side has enough to deal with without fending that off all the time.
I'm fine with the MO side funding regional attractions without the KS side help. I'm not fine with KS people freeloading off the MO side AND THEN ALSO using ludicrous incentives to take MO side tax paying companies that help fund the zoo, transit, stadiums etc. That really hurts the metro.
This is why it's BETTER FOR KC THAT MORE HOMES ARE NOW BEING BUILT ON THE MISSOURI SIDE (point of this thread).
Every new resident in Clay County or Platte County or Jackson County is BETTER for the ENTIRE METRO than a new resident of Johnson County. There is nothing wrong with moving to JoCo and new residents that choose that area should know that these problems are mostly behind the scenes and political and not personal. But the bottom line is that as things are now, the KC area is better off when people settle on the MO side.
The original concept of a suburb was one that was nearly exclusively residential, a quiet respite away from the noise, hassles, and traffic of the city. Johnson County has both residential and corporate suburbs, with the former invoking more of the original principles than the corporate brethren.
It still is a quiet respite away from the noise, hassles and traffic of the city. Johnson County is a WHOLE lot quieter and less densely populated (thus less hassles, less traffic) than the city. Also less crime. That's why I'm here.
It still is a quiet respite away from the noise, hassles and traffic of the city. Johnson County is a WHOLE lot quieter and less densely populated (thus less hassles, less traffic) than the city. Also less crime. That's why I'm here.
I respectfully disagree. I would say Johnson County overall has a more crowded vibe than anywhere else in the metro including most of the city. I've never hit as much traffic anywhere else in the metro as I have in JoCo.
It still is a quiet respite away from the noise, hassles and traffic of the city. Johnson County is a WHOLE lot quieter and less densely populated (thus less hassles, less traffic) than the city. Also less crime. That's why I'm here.
Overland Park is certainly not a residential suburb, it is a corporate suburb and you know that. That is also why it has tax rates that are less than the more residential cities in the county due to its large corporate tax base. You have to pay more for the exclusivity of being in a quieter all residential environment- like most of Leawood.
Also, Johnson County has the highest population density of any county in the metro area. I have lived in counties that have typically 1/3 to 1/4 of the density that still feel crowded to me at times.
Overland Park is certainly not a residential suburb, it is a corporate suburb and you know that. That is also why it has tax rates that are less than the more residential cities in the county due to its large corporate tax base. You have to pay more for the exclusivity of being in a quieter all residential environment- like most of Leawood.
Also, Johnson County has the highest population density of any county in the metro area. I have lived in counties that have typically 1/3 to 1/4 of the density that still feel crowded to me at times.
Which, of course, explains your well-known strong advocacy of high-density "mixed use" development.
I swear, GS, each time I finish reading one of your posts I have to untie the knot in my brain and it's painful.
I think it'll help me to keep focused on the one and only consistency in your messages....
Low-density "sprawl" in JoCo=BAD
JoCo has highest density of any county in KC metro=BAD
kcmo-Did you pay property taxes in either 2014 or 2015 in Missouri? I'm trying to figure out why it seems like you are always trying to stir the pot in Kansas City when it doesn't even appear that you reside there.
kcmo-Did you pay property taxes in either 2014 or 2015 in Missouri? I'm trying to figure out why it seems like you are always trying to stir the pot in Kansas City when it doesn't even appear that you reside there.
It looks like you're new here, so I'll go easy. (Also, kcmo doesn't need anybody to defend him, but I'm the first one to the line, so what the heck.)
kcmo is very clear about the fact that he lives in the DC metro, but has very strong roots in Kansas City, Missouri, both personally and ancestrally. I don't live in KC either (I'm in Springfield, MO) but I have family there, and lived there for awhile, too.
None of us is running for mayor here, so it doesn't matter where we currently live. It certainly helps one's credibility to have lived in KC at one time, but it's certainly not necessary to have stayed there in order to have an informed opinion.
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, I didn't want to feed it.
