Did anyone else see a connection between these two seemingly unrelated stories – from far opposite ends of town – in this morning’s Star?
The first was this one, about how the grand opening for downtown’s prefab new Power & Light District has been moved back to next spring. Developers blamed the city for not transferring land quickly enough to keep the development on time, while Mayor Mark Funkhouser and City Manager Wayne Cauthen sent letters to the tenants they’d already booked, begging them to open earlier. In any event, here’s the point: “Long-term plans for the district call for 450,000 square feet of bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and specialty retail that would bring sizzle back downtown. Blake Cordish, the official in charge, promised a grand opening this fall when his company took over construction of the public-private venture last July.”
The second story was this one, about how the colossal mega-Church of the Resurrection’s plans for a sort-of Power & Light District all its own, way out south at 135th Street and Nall, weren’t coming together as well as church leaders had hoped. The short version: “Retail development at the Cornerstone of Leawood, as the project is known, has lagged in the face of intense competition. Plans to offer office space have not materialized … From a purely commercial perspective, the project cannot simply be labeled a failure. The development boasts five restaurants, a drugstore and a home-furnishings store. By most accounts, the stores are doing well, and a few are doing exceptionally well. But some pad sites remain unsold. Two key would-be tenants — Claddagh Pubs and Market Foods Limited — dropped out of the project when the companies filed for bankruptcy. And the hope of generating steady revenues through the construction of two office buildings remains unfulfilled.”
The connection I see? There’s just not enough money in this metro to support the commercial building boom that developers are promising and cities are putting so much faith in. The ability of Kansas Citians to consume, consume, consume can stretch only so far.
Which brings me to another point: Driving around Church of the Resurrection’s neighborhood way out south just makes me wonder how many strip malls one city really needs. Instead of encouraging the sort of sprawl that just keeps eating up God’s green Earth just so people can drive out to more stores to waste more money on stuff they don’t need, I’d like to see Pastor Adam Hamilton and his flock of 12,000 members start taking the lead on solving environmental problems, not contributing to them. Lord knows no one else in this metro seems to be questioning the wisdom of uncontained sprawl. Hey, Adam, check out what other folks of the cloth are saying over at the National Religious Partnership for the Earth.
Meanwhile, I suppose it would take a miracle for urban and suburban planners to get together and start thinking about how the metro’s growing. – C.J. Janovy
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I suggest you read Kevin Fox Gotham's "Race, Real Estate and Uneven Development: The Kansas City Experience."
http://www.amazon.com/Race-Rea...
Gotham explains that between 1900 and 1947, 97% of the developed acreage in Johnson County, KS was racially restricted, compared to only 65% in Jackson County, MO and 87% in Clay County, MO. 96% of Johnson County subdivisions were racially restricted compared to only 62% in Jackson County, 71% in Clay County and 74% in Platte County. Racial restrictions were enforced (though legally unenforceable) in new deeds as late as 1962 in Johnson County, compared to 1960 in Clay County, 1954 in Jackson County and Platte County.
Note that the US Supreme Court had overturned such provisions in 1948 (but JOCO kept adding them for 14 more years)
And after Missouri legislators eliminated remaining restrictive language in deeds in 2005, what did one Kansas legislator, who lives in the most segregated zip code in NE JOCO say about whether KS should do the same:
�It's a local issue, and a homes association issue.� �It's a question of, is it offensive enough that you're willing to pay $50 to $100 per homeowner to get it removed?� �And I think I know what the answer is. � It's one of those issues that politicians love to talk about because it resonates, but when you get below the surface, most people just aren't interested in going to the time and expense to deal with it.� (KS State Senator John Vratil, KC Star, Sunday Feb 13, 2005).
Indeed, other KS legislators did finally press for the removal of remaining restrictive language in 2006 and got it passed.
Then, I suggest you take a look at current zip code level demographic data.
http://www.metrodataline.org/i...
Then, you might want to read Tony Ortega's column on school funding from a few years back:
http://www.pitch.com/2005-04-1...
And there's much more where all of that came from. Sadly, when it comes to Johnson County, KS, race has nearly everything to do with it - history and present.
Hey jerk... I totally agree with you on most everything you've said except for the racial comments. "entire generations of young Aryan Johnson Countians"... whatever. Listen, I totally agree with your points but Race has nothing to do with it, you better put that wild card back in your deck so you can use that race card later for something else you dispute.
Keep in mind that the kind folks of southern Johnson County also (a) ran their annual Leawood Town Center Art Fair at the same time as Rhythm and Ribs, as they do each year, and (b) ran their own pseudo-jazz fest the very next weekend (I do like Arturo Sandoval, but refuse to see him in this context). Why? The same reason there's a Cheesecake Factory at 119th... We gotta have it in our own neighborhood. Plaza?... too far... to scary. 18th and Vine?... out of the question. Besides, in an H2 or Suburban, that�s about $50 in gas � each way. Talk about environmental problems. Yes, Rhythm and Ribs is the new-kid-on-the block among these arts events. But, the history and spirit of Jazz in this area belongs, indisputably to KCMO, not Johnson County, KS (especially given the history of JOCO noted below).
For some strange, perhaps self-absorbed reason, the good folks of my own neighborhood refuse to acknowledge that the only reason Leawood, KS or any of Johnson County is here on the plains in its current over-developed form is BECAUSE OF KANSAS CITY... MISSOURI... the actual city that is the center of mass, history and culture for this area. FYI � I�m not, by any stretch, a proud transplanted Missourian who just doesn�t like Kansans. I�m east coast and movin� back as soon as I can (in a year). I had never heard of Johnson County before coming out here. Kansas City, MO? Yes. Absolutely. JOCO? Never. Not on the radar. I�m not alone.
My neighbors seem to believe that Johnson County would somehow stand on it's own out here on the plains if KCMO didn't exist. Face reality. Jazz - KCMO. Baseball - KCMO. Football - KCMO. Soccer - KCMO (unless we're talkin' about a bunch of overbearing parents hovering on the sidelines of a 4-year olds' weekend soccer tournament). Everything else of significance - KCMO. NASCAR � KCK� Still not JOCO.
Indeed Johnson County has its� own acclaimed 20th century history - as the county where the art of the racially restricted covenant for housing development was perfected. That's something to celebrate? Perhaps we should have a festival of proud white owners of single family post WWII properties? JOCO is also home to the Intelligent Design Network, Jerry Johnston and Phill Kline. Ah� more to be proud of.
They (the SO-JO-CO SUV-on-steroids drivin' to the church on steroids, cell phone yappin' crowd that is) fear, and I mean fear the thought of venturing into KCMO for nearly any reason (except the rare trip to the Plaza, or Westport for a drunken outing for the "younger" crowd). Go to the Kansas City Zoo?...see Koala's, Kangaroos, Lions, Elephants, IMAX etc. etc. etc.? Hell no. JOCO has that... whatever... little farmy place with a few goats, birds and butterflies down at 135th. That's gotta be better. It�s in JOCO after all.
They refuse to invest time, effort or money into supporting anything having to do with KCMO. It is truly a shame, especially for the JOCO kids who are fed this twisted myth of a JOCO centered metro, sterilized of the true cultural and artistic history and diversity of KCMO. As sprawl creeps further and further south � especially among young families � the likelihood increases that entire generations of young Aryan Johnson Countians will reach adulthood never even having seen the real Kansas City, the real zoo, heard real KC jazz, seen real sports, etc. etc. etc.
I�ve now been out here for 10 years, living mostly on the Kansas side (regrettably). It's time to go home. I�m a lifelong Jazz enthusiast and saxophonist, having spent years of my life learning Charlie Parker solos and studying KC Jazz history. It was real rush for me to move out here from NY. It brought not one, but several tears to my eyes when I attended the opening dedication of the 18th and Vine district and when I first saw Jay McShann perform live (separate occasion). I�ve got kids now and take them to the real zoo (not the SUV parking lot with chickens and goats). I took my 6 year old son to Rhythm and Ribs because I wanted to see Javon Jackson (damn good tenor player). This is a pretty cool city � KCMO that is. I�ll miss it. Johnson County� not so much.
Disgruntled Suburbanite
Keep in mind that the kind folks of southern Johnson County also (a) ran their annual Leawood Town Center Art Fair at the same time as Rhythm and Ribs, as they do each year, and (b) ran their own pseudo-jazz fest the very next weekend (I do like Arturo Sandoval, but refuse to see him in this context). Why? The same reason there's a Cheesecake Factory at 119th... We gotta have it in our own neighborhood. Plaza?... too far... to scary. 18th and Vine?... out of the question. Besides, in an H2 or Suburban, that�s about $50 in gas � each way. Talk about environmental problems. Yes, Rhythm and Ribs is the new-kid-on-the block among these arts events. But, the history and spirit of Jazz in this area belongs, indisputably to KCMO, not Johnson County, KS (especially given the history of JOCO noted below).
For some strange, perhaps self-absorbed reason, the good folks of my own neighborhood refuse to acknowledge that the only reason Leawood, KS or any of Johnson County is here on the plains in its current over-developed form is BECAUSE OF KANSAS CITY... MISSOURI... the actual city that is the center of mass, history and culture for this area. FYI � I�m not, by any stretch, a proud transplanted Missourian who just doesn�t like Kansans. I�m east coast and movin� back as soon as I can (in a year). I had never heard of Johnson County before coming out here. Kansas City, MO? Yes. Absolutely. JOCO? Never. Not on the radar. I�m not alone.
My neighbors seem to believe that Johnson County would somehow stand on it's own out here on the plains if KCMO didn't exist. Face reality. Jazz - KCMO. Baseball - KCMO. Football - KCMO. Soccer - KCMO (unless we're talkin' about a bunch of overbearing parents hovering on the sidelines of a 4-year olds' weekend soccer tournament). Everything else of significance - KCMO. NASCAR � KCK� Still not JOCO.
Indeed Johnson County has its� own acclaimed 20th century history - as the county where the art of the racially restricted covenant for housing development was perfected. That's something to celebrate? Perhaps we should have a festival of proud white owners of single family post WWII properties? JOCO is also home to the Intelligent Design Network, Jerry Johnston and Phill Kline. Ah� more to be proud of.
They (the SO-JO-CO SUV-on-steroids drivin' to the church on steroids, cell phone yappin' crowd that is) fear, and I mean fear the thought of venturing into KCMO for nearly any reason (except the rare trip to the Plaza, or Westport for a drunken outing for the "younger" crowd). Go to the Kansas City Zoo?...see Koala's, Kangaroos, Lions, Elephants, IMAX etc. etc. etc.? Hell no. JOCO has that... whatever... little farmy place with a few goats, birds and butterflies down at 135th. That's gotta be better. It�s in JOCO after all.
They refuse to invest time, effort or money into supporting anything having to do with KCMO. It is truly a shame, especially for the JOCO kids who are fed this myth of a JOCO centered metro, sterilized of the true cultural and artistic history and diversity of KCMO. As sprawl creeps further and further south � especially among young families � the likelihood increases that entire generations of young aryan Johnson Countians will reach adulthood never even having seen the real Kansas City, the real zoo, heard real jazz, seen real sports, etc. etc. etc. [FYI � my own roots are about as WASPY and New Englandy as can be]
I�ve now been out here for 10 years, living mostly on the Kansas side. It's time to go home. I�m a lifelong Jazz enthusiast and saxophonist, having spent years of my life learning Charlie Parker solos and studying KC Jazz history. It was real rush for me to move out here from NY. It brought not one, but several tears to my eyes when I attended the opening dedication of the 18th and Vine district and when I first saw Jay McShann perform live (separate occasion). I�ve got kids now and take them to the real zoo. I took my 6 year old son to Rhythm and Ribs because I wanted to see Javon Jackson (damn good tenor player). This is a pretty cool city � KCMO that is. I�ll miss it. Johnson County� not so much.
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