Preston Smith Fact Checks Kansas City Downtown Stadium Plan

In a definitive document Kansas City metro tax fighter Preston Smith pens a MUST READ for Jackson County voters confronting a choice that will determine the fate of life inside the downtown loop for generations. 

The crux of his research reveals . . .

DOCUMENTED CRIME & PARKING PROBS THREATENS KANSAS CITY BASEBALL FANS DESPITE ASSURANCES FROM DEVELOPERS!!!

There is so much good stuff in this report that we don't want to get in the way of it . . . 

Thankfully, Mr. Smith has a narrative to along with his presentation . . . Here's a look at his findings:

Preston Smith -- ANALYSIS OF THE ROYALS' NEW STADIUM PROPOSAL:

Preston Smith -- ANALYSIS OF THE ROYALS' NEW STADIUM PROPOSAL:

- We would make the rich richer. In 2023, despite having a horrible record, the Royals had an estimated net worth of $1.2B, a 9% increase from 2022. Their operating income was $33M. Royals owner John Sherman has a net worth of $1.25B. Super Bowl champion Chiefs, in 2023, had a net worth of $4.3B and made a profit of $95M.

- Sherman wants a $2B "entertainment complex" around the new stadium, which would be the smallest in all of major league baseball. One would assume all profits from that district would go to Sherman and his shareholders and not the taxpayers of Jackson County.

- "Renovating the K is not feasible..." said Earl Santee, CEO of Populous, the design firm hired by the Royals, at the 2/13/24 press conference. But the Jackson County Sports Authority has an annual independent review by Burns & McDonnell. Their studies show no major problems. Read what was written in the 2022 study:

- "In general, Kauffman Stadium and the immediate environs were observed to be in satisfactory condition. It is apparent the Kansas City Royals have performed the ordinary cleaning and maintenance obligations consistent with a First-Class MLB Baseball Stadium.

- Minor physical deficiencies were observed throughout various locations within Kauffman Stadium and the immediate environs. Such deficiencies are expected in such a large facility and typical of a high-use facility. Most deficiencies can be easily addressed by the Kansas City Royals through standard maintenance procedures.

- "We want people to walk. We want people to enjoy the city from a pedestrian viewpoint rather than from a car going 50 or 60 miles per hour," said Santee at the 2/13/24 press conference. He said that "40,000 people are within walking distance" of the proposed site. The only way you can get to that many people is to count people who live 2 miles from ballpark. There are only about 900 persons who live within a quarter-mile of the proposed site.

- "40,000 parking spaces are available at the new site compared with 26,000 at Kauffman Stadium. I can't document how those 40,000 spaces were counted, but I do know that many of the parking lots included in that count are more than a mile away from the stadium and some are  more than 2 miles away.

- Crime 1 mile from the proposed site is nearly ONE HUNDRED times worse than at the current stadiums. In 2023, there were a total of 77 separate crimes reported at both Arrowhead and Kauffman during the year. But 1 mile from the proposed stadium site downtown there were 6,882 separate crimes reported. There were 7 stolen autos from the Kauffman complex during 2023; there were 1,344 stolen autos within 1 mile from the proposed stadium. That is more than 4 cars stolen per day. There were more than 1,000 cars broken into or had parts stolen from them 1 mile from the proposed site; 7 from the Kauffman Stadium. There were 12 murders, 25 rapes, and 70 instances of armed robbery, as well as 180 hit and runs within a mile from the downtown site. There were 11 hit and runs at Kauffman and Arrowhead during 2023, and none of the violent crimes occurred there.

- I have attached the PDF presentation that I put together with these facts, and it has links to support all of it so you can fact-check me.

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It's IMPOSSIBLE for www.TonysKansasCity.com readers not to be IMPRESSED with this analysis. We encourage EVERYONE TO READ THE PDF . . . Accordingly, here are a few teaser slides that really reveal the deets of the conversation . . .

Here is the most important public safety fact check that EVERYONE needs to understand:

Crime-mapping is something that most local news outlets and sports talkers haven't considered:

 

Parking has been assured but it STILL seems rather scarce for TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MORE CARS COMING DOWNTOWN as of this writing . . .

Here's a population fact check for the numbers the Royals have offered . . .

Finally . . . Looks like we're going to get a "Westside Stadium" after all . . .

If you've made it this far . . . 

LET'S ALL THANK PRESTON SMITH FOR THIS EPIC RESEARCH THAT'S SO MUCH BETTER THAN ANYTHING WE'VE SEEN SO FAR!!!

Developing . . .