SHOCK!!! KANSAS CITY RECORD-BREAKING HOMICIDE, CORONAVIRUS & VIOLENT CIVIL UNREST SPARK FLIGHT TO SUBURBS!!!
Not so long ago Kansas City enjoyed a "millennial boom" and the influx of "creative class" professionals who hoped to transform urban neighborhoods into thriving, diverse destinations. A new streetcar offered hope to connect the city and build a post-modern paradise that would create jobs, equality and opportunity for all.
Sadly, that didn't last for long as coronavirus, rioting and a steadily climbing spate of homicides has ruined hope promised by the "new urbanism."
To wit . . .
AMERICAN URBAN FLIGHT TO THE SUBURBS RETURNS AND THREATENS KANSAS CITY MOMENTUM!!!
Amateur urban planners and politicos dispute this idea but the data backs it up . . .
- Home searches in suburban zip codes jumped 13%, according to realtor.com, one of the largest real estate listing websites.
- More than half of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas are seeing increased interest in the suburbs.
- Local real estate agents report a glut of upscale urban properties that haven't moved so far in 2020.
- Meanwhile, suburban home builders report a spike in activity following the coronavirus reopen.
- Amid weeks of rioting and protest, the corporate parent of the Country Club Plaza is desperate to maintain a sale despite a devaluation that impacts KC's historic entertainment district.
Amid all this horrible national news, let's not forget that higher taxes, push back against police and an uptick in local burglaries also drive residents away despite continued arguments to sustain "momentum" inside and around the loop.
Check the links . . .
CNBC: The flight to the suburbs is real and growing, as coronavirus changes the way people live
Guardian: Pandemic and protests spark new exodus to suburbs
Wall Street Journal: The New Urban Flight - Riots and the pandemic are driving another exodus from big cities.
Biz Of Fashion: The work-from-anywhere revolution will accelerate the coming of a post-digital age for shopping
Atlantic: Revenge of the Suburbs - Suburbia was never as bad as anyone said it was. Now it’s looking even better.
You decide . . .
just a matter of time. Most of the "momentum" was just a real estate hustle.
ReplyDeleteGood thing Sly cashed out when he did.
DeleteThis isn't totally a bad thing. Kc can't afford to pay parking for another "light" building of luxury apartments or subsidize more developments.
DeleteEnough is enough!
^^^
ReplyDelete+1
Good riddance.
ReplyDeleteWay too many hipsters in KC to begin with.
Detroit City !
ReplyDeleteBrought to you by Mayor San Quentin Lucas !
Goodbye baristas, we will miss you!
ReplyDeleteLOL virtue signaling cheering BLM while loading the moving van.
ReplyDeleteREMEMBER HOW THIS GAME IS PLAYED
ReplyDeleteLarge successful wealthy corporations (like Burns and McDonnell) use their money and influence to extract major concessions from KCMO when locating their headquarters building or expanding.
The company is expanding, growing aggressively, and raking in big profits. They don't need any concessions, tax incentives or otherwise. Average employee compensation, for the the most common job title, is over $100K/year. But they know that KCMO political leaders will sell out their own mothers for campaign contributions and perks.
They get blight designation for their expansion site property, multi-millions worth of tax abatement, exemption from regular KC earnings tax, sales tax exemptions on building materials/supplies, and the City actually finances the headquarters expansion project for them, then uses a sublease arrangement to avoid paying property taxes on their own HQ expansion. Of course, they kickback several thousand dollars to the campaign committees of those who assisted them, and are generous with perks like tickets, travel, gifts.
An estimated 80%+ of Burns and McDonnell employees reside outside KCMO. They are the people that have helped grow the suburbs, and increase the divide between a struggling urban core of people of color and a prosperous suburban ring of primarily white residents. Cerner, JE Dunn, etc., would be other names you recognize. Sly James, Troy Schulte, Quinton Lucas, and Council members play this game because they directly benefit from their participation.
Bullshit. Small town farming communities, devastated by Trump policies, are forcing rural folks to the suburbs. It's been accelerated these past 3.5 years under Republican, "leadership."
ReplyDeleteMAGATS have ruined everything.
Why stay in jackson county
ReplyDeletethose fuckwits are raping everyone through real estate tax fraud
It’s not just the hipsters leaving. Families,boomers,retirees all getting out of Jackson county. I guess another white flight.
ReplyDeleteRural communities have been devastated by the free trade/deindustrialization policies of the globalists. It is an complete falsehood to act as if the rural areas of America were healthy before Trump came along. It is the disregard that the political and economic elites have for rural Americans that drove Trumps election in the first place.
ReplyDelete10:21 nailed it. Spelled it out. This isn't rep or dem caused. It's the super wealthy pitting both ends against the middle while they fleece the nation. Black v white. Rich v poor. Rep v demo. PD v community. Landlord v tenant. Pick your enemy but you better not follow the money. The net worth of billionaires rose 12% during COVID. How are you folks doing?
ReplyDeleteNo one in power is really looking out for rural or urban communities, they're just looking to get re-elected and that means getting corporate money and providing developer subsidies while giving lip service to their party brand and talking points for their brainwashed followers.
Most of the COVID money went to the corporate and financial sector. Maybe 1/3 to citizens ($1200) just so they wouldn't whine like they did during the last banker bailout. That's when minorities lost 2/3 of their wealth to bankers and their homes to boot. Thanks to Bush n Obama. They could've given mortgage vouchers to homeowners but instead they gave the money to bankers. Same thing again this time.
Hey, it's your taxpayer bucks being used against your financial interest. You can blame and fight other groups of citizens all the way to the poorhouse. It's called class warfare and it keeps you distracted while your pocket is picked.
7:37 = GENIUS
ReplyDeleteSomebody understands the "game"
So what did J.C. Nichols do that was wrong? Right idea then and now.
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