Anyone care to help me count the bars that have closed down since the Power & Light District set up shop and has nearly destroyed Kansas City's non-corporate nightlife?
Here are the first few that come to mind:
The Mango Room
Tanner's
The Studio
Bar Natasha
Zin - That's closed isn't it?
This list doesn't count Fred P. Ott's or a few other smaller venues that have closed because they were kinda corporate . . . But the pattern is set and the list will get longer.
Of course, some will blame these places for their own demise and they probably have a point but it's hard not to see a pattern that doesn't at all correspond with the so-called "Downtown Renaissance" . . . In fact, these closings look like the P&L District is having the opposite effect on Kansas City Downtown Business. Now all that's left is a small island of taxpayer subsidized entertainment that seemingly doesn't want to allow people of color or their culture through the door.