Part history lesson, part infomerical, a 60-minute program about downtown Kansas City's rebirth aired for the first time on KCPT-TV last night.
The Next American Dream is essentially a story about suburban sprawl, peppered with pretty images of the Sprint Center and First Fridays. Funded by the Greater Kansas City Area Development Council, Dream paints a portrait of a city a bit more dynamic and progressive than it really is. But by the end credits, even cynics of the way business gets done in Kansas City will feel excited by what's taken place over the last five to 10 years.
The program is beautifully photographed and uses an interesting mix of experts. In addition to the ghosts of Kansas City CEOs past (Gary Forsee, Mark Ernst, Peter Brown), the filmmakers interviewed Bob Berkebile, the environmentally conscious architect, and Christopher Leinberger, an urban land strategist affiliated with the Brookings Institute. Leinberger does an excellent job of explaining the postwar suburban flight that left urban centers in decay. At one point, Leinberger chides the U.S. politicians and planners for throwing out the knowledge ("what the ancients knew instinctively") accrued over 8,000 years of city building.
The film describes the bold steps former Mayor Kay Barnes and others took to refill downtown with residents and things to do. Images of the pre-Cordished south loop are moving in their starkness.
City leaders deserve credit for being proactive. But some balance would have been nice. The Next American Dream fails to mention that Kansas City is up to its eyeballs in debt, or how the flurry of tax abatements affects the bottom lines of the school and library systems.
There are a few unintentionally hilarious moments. Early in the film, Terry Dunn, the president of J.E. Dunn Construction, offers a twinkle-eyed, boyhood memory of taking a street car downtown.
Of course, as an adult, Dunn has worked to deprive Kansas City of the light rail system it conspicuously lacks.
Air dates for The Next American Dream are available here.
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The good thing about this documentary is that it might just raise the pride of KC ( the ACTUAL CITY / DOWNTOWN). Perhaps those abroad will recognize KC. Also, it showed before footage of KC in it's heyday and then to its blighted condition.
The bad thing about this documentary is that it was a ton of hype and not enough substance of WHY Kansas City's urban-core became a ghosttown - essential for preventing it to happen in the future! It, for the most part, just say's people left the city...
..wonder why?
This brings me to the UGLY: The Documentary damn near completely ignores the reason why KC's downtown and urban-core in general needed to be revitalized: R-A-C-I-S-M. Something this town has been ignorance since it's essence. The almost cliche White Flight then BLACK flight! NOW Gentrification. Now, don't get me wrong the gentry are more than welcome in the city - they bring jobs and love to spend money on fostering culture (something the working class can't do) - but lord if this city turns into an inverted donut, where the poor/working class gets pushed to the burbs, that'd be an ugly situation.
This city spends too much on infrastructure, simply because we've spread out. We have enough geography for three Kansas Cities. We need smart growth and an anti-node mindset. We need people in city hall who know what the HELL they're doing. GOOD urban planners.
The failure with Power & Light is that there was no housing attached to the project! That's a no no. Almost every major Development project in Johnson County is developing mixed-use areas with HOUSING.
I am glad, however, that things are turning inward. We're at a time with the burbs have to compete with the "URBAN". Urban is becoming cool - simply because we want walkability and diversity. The new development that was just alotted funding on 135th street in OP is an example of this. But unfortunately, they'll have to do a lot more -- essentially rebuild its city to be truly urbane.
Bottom line, this documentary was very VERY cute and endearing. They interviewed the most typical guests and had a black man narrate the thing meanwhile avoiding the reason the city looks like a friggin third world country. We as a diverse city, must stand up and mold these guys into properly representing where we stand and where we WANT to stand. That's our job.
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