Leave it to Gawker to write this completely unoriginal piece about Kansas City’s revitalization. It sounds just like everything else on Gawker, as if it were written by a basement-dwelling, wanna-be hipster who thinks that his 212 area code qualifies as coolness.
While I appreciate Gawker thinking of KC as “Missouri’s largest city” – uh, did you forget the home of the arch? – calling it the “11th borough” is not only crass, it’s downright insulting to think that Brookside, the Old Northeast, Westwood, the Country Club Plaza, or a dozen other Kansas City locales aren’t better than the likes of Queens, Brooklyn, or fuck it, Manhattan. Equally obnoxious: the comments. They’re likely written, as one co-worker suggested, by the douchebags Gawker hires to leave comments.
One longtime local, having stumbled across Gawker’s shit trail today, offered this reaction:
“It's that same dismissive New York attitude one gets from the most unlikely sources. Like the Manhattan cab driver … who asked me how I could live in a place as backwater as Kansas City. ‘New York has museums and theater,’ he blathered on. ‘And when was the last time you were in a museum here?’ I asked him. Dead silence. ‘Well, if I wanted to go to one,’ the cabbie said. ‘It's right here.’ That is, unfortunately, the same argument I could use about the Renaissance Festival or the Truman Library -- two iconic Kansas City treasures that I have no interest in ever seeing. But I'm glad they're here, damn it. And I'm glad I don't live in a backwater -- like Topeka.”
If they remake The Day After, here’s hoping the new version is set at the Gawker office. – Eric Barton
Showing 1-3 of 3
You got me, Eric, KCMO is the biggest city in the state, with 432,000 people, according to Census.gov. St. Louis has a population of 347,000.
What I should've said: St. Louis is the largest metro area in Missouri, with 1 million in St. Louis County, compared to 664,000 in Jackson County.
I'm confused... Do you not know that KC is in fact Missouri's largest city? It has about 100,000 people more than St. Louis.
In the hopes of our community maintaining one last shred of dignity, I certainly hope that the folks from gawker don't use the trackback function. I wish I could believe that your post was a daring satire of whiney backwater scribbler wallowing in the certainty that he is unworthy of polishing Nick Denton's shoes, but I fear that you are sincere.
How nice it would have been if you'd written a post about how amusing/alarming it is that Cauthen has apparently hired a PR firm to pimp out our downtown as a target for real estate speculation, and that firm thought Gawker was the way to go. Or is Cauthen looking for his next job? It's not clear.
Anyway, Gawker's "shit trail" doesn't scare me, the comments were funny, and if any super sophisticated New Yorkers are reading this: Please, feel free to invest in our real estate! We are honest people! We retain value! Just cash those rent checks, enjoy that tax abatement, and if your private jet is ever forced to land at the downtown airport for emergency repairs, know that you are most welcome to tour our fine city and enjoy its quaint delights!
like
dislike
