North Kansas City

[Thrillcekr]

I had the opportunity to go down and snoop around the residential area on the north side of Armour the other night. I hadn't been down there in ages and I must say that I was very impressed with what they have done down there. All the little houses down there were very well kept up and the streets were clean and well mainted. The place just has the sort of character and charm that can't be replicated.

I also browsed around the site of the Northgate project. Pretty impressive I must say and a lot more like what a modern neighborhood should be. I wish somebody with a digital camera would go down there and take some shots. The only thing I find unfortunate is that sooner or later people with some very deep pockets are gonna discover it and drive the price of real estate up to the point where it is completely out of reach for the average Joe. That's probably gonna rob the area of some of its character. I definately see this area emerging as a white hot real estate market soon.

[nota]

I wonder how the Northgate Villagesplaces currently compare in price and amenities to the Shoal Creek Valleyones. Noticing the pricing is so much different at the beginning.

[Thrillcekr]

I wonder how the Northgate Villagesplaces currently compare in price and amenities to the Shoal Creek Valleyones. Noticing the pricing is so much different at the beginning.

I think the biggest difference in amenities will be that you have downtown KC right at your front door step in NKC. The largest majority of the major events in KC in the future will be happening right over the bridge. Plus, I am sure that development and the future developments of that area along with the growth of residents in downtown will pretty much ensure that any retail available here in the far north or JoCo will soon be more immediately available. I would imagine that NKC will eventually become a major shopping area for most downtowners when all is said and done.

Hopefully, NKC will put some serious restrictions on how the big box outfits, which are sure to muscle in, design their stores. I'd hate to see that little city start trying to rival JoCo as the cheesy stucco capital of the midwest.

[Thrillcekr]

I just had a look at this today.

http://www.homespro.com/documents/docs/ ... tBring.doc

This little city is just amazing. I was wondering if anybody knew anything about that Paradise Theater? I've never heard of it.

[zlohban]

We're ready to move to NKC .........as soon as our two "kids" are gone! We want a two bedroom, two bathroom home with a kitchen/great room and a nice basement for occasional out of town guests...and we're set. Little or no yard would be fine the parks are great.

[dangerboy]

I wonder how the Northgate Villagesplaces currently compare in price and amenities to the Shoal Creek Valleyones. Noticing the pricing is so much different at the beginning.

One big difference is that Northgate Village is taking advantage of the existing amenities in NKC - such as the schools and parks, shops on Armour Road, etc. Shoal Creek Valley is being built on farmland, so they are basically everything from scratch - their own schools, library, 2-3 town square or Main Street districts, parks, golf course, etc.

[Thrillcekr]

North Kansas City Council hears more fiber optic plans

Network Administrator Dan Lindle said the North Kansas City Council still wants to provide fiber optic lines to residents and businesses.
The process has stalled as North Kansas City and Time Warner Cable discuss whether the city has plans to become a cable television provider.

Lindle said the system could support such a move, but the only discussion has been for broadband service, especially high-speed Internet.

"The residents would have to vote on whether the city enters into the cable industry," Lindle said. "We do know that the system we could put in would better handle high definition television."

Time Warner attorney Bernie Rhodes said the cable company is concerned that the city would circumvent the law, put the cable television system in, then ask for a vote.

A judge will rule on the issue, Rhodes said.

"We (Time Warner) think the city has it backward," he said.

Lindle said if the judge would rule in the city's favor and the City Council decided to become a cable provider, North Kansas City would offer high-definition digital television to rival or surpass Time Warner.

"No matter what, we are trying to keep some forward motion with the broadband high-speed Internet services plans," he said.

"We are going to contract with CCG Consulting to look at a business model to see what sort of rate we need to charge."

Lindle said the City Council wants to treat the fiber optic system as a utility and as an enterprise fund.

"It has to be self-sufficient," he said. "It needs to generate funds to sustain itself similar to the water or the community center."

John Toccalino from Black & Veatch presented a look at the physical impact of 14 fiber optic-related utility cabinets on the city.

"We are keeping the City Council informed of what the system might look like," Lindle said. "No construction has begun, but we are trying to keep the council informed and the options on the table."

Lindle said the city's system has been up for a year.

City attorney James Borthwick said the city wants the case dismissed.

"The city has not stated they plan to go into the cable industry," he said. "Now everything is in the hands of the judge."

I hope they get their own cable company. Then I hope that some other cities in the area follow suit. Time Warner needs to stop raping people. High speed internet should not cost 40 dollars a month. Those prices are what keeps the US falling further down the rankings of countries when it comes to households with high speed internet. I pay it but I do so with contempt.

Congrats to NKC for thumbing their noses at these big corporate assholes. I'm becoming more and more impressed with them all the time.

[Beermo]

40 dollars? where'd you get that number?

or maybe i'm getting screwed. wait i know i'm getting screwed.

i have roadrunner and digital cable w/hbo and i pay about $110 a month.

time warner can suck my d***. they're crying about cities wanting to install hi-speed connections because of how much tw and other cable operators are charging and tw has the gall to try and stop it. while i know that it's all about the money, it still chaps my hide that they have a monopoly on cable and set rates as they like and if you want service you have no other vendor to go to.

when everest was running around installing cable in certain parts of town, time warner was busy offering their customers in those areas cable for half price. mmmmm. nothing like a little competition to get the rates down. now everest seems to have folded so we are stuck with tw.

pardon me while a make a few points of my own.


"North KC is built on expolited money."

and your point is what? i've lost about $300 since the boats came. how much did they get from you? i think you should give all your money to the city you live in so they won't have to beg as much for money to provide basic services. and if you want social-communism move to somewhere that has it.

btw, i hope you don't drive a vehicle with an internal combustion engine in it because i abhor pollution and the effect it is having on our planet. you are a bad person and a sinner!

only reason nkc even got lucky to get the best performing casino around is because the port authority of k.c. tried to shake down harrah's when they came to town looking for a spot to build. harrah's said see ya and went to nkc. if i lived in nkc i could rake all my leaves into the street and the city will come by and vacuum it up. don't forget the free trash pickup too.

that is kinda oxymoronic isn't it. k.c. with a port authority. and a kickback and bribe taking bunch they are.

"I love NKC, but I do not like most of Northtowne."

come again? nkc IS northtown. "Northtowne" might be northtowne lincoln-mercury which is on vivion rd. in k.c.mo. you don't like a car dealer? o.k. there are some good ones and some bad ones. hope it all works out for you. fwiw, north kansas city high school is also referred to as "northtown".

so to set all you southies and out-of-townies straight here u go.

north kansas city is a city. an actual city. a real live city that is not kansas city, missouri, but in a strange twist is actually located north of kansas city, missouri. weird huh!

"the northland" is generally considered to be everything north of the missouri river at kansas city, missouri. k.c.mo., n.k.c mo., gladstone, pleasant valley, parkville, riverside, liberty, etc. in the metro area.

"kansas city north" refers to the northern section of kansas city, missouri. it's not "northtown" or north kansas city.

and to set the record straight....

there are no "happy rocks" or "pleasant valley's" in gladstone. so don't move there.

[KCPowercat]

everest is going strong...they just aren't expanding as fast as they were....which does suck...I'm getting hosed by TWC too and nothing I can do about it.

[dangerboy]

Missouri has a law that prohibits cities from competing with private telecom companies, so this will likely end up in court.

As for TWC, they really do need competition, and cities need to drive a harder bargain when francishe contracts come up for renewal. TWC prices are about 30% lower in neighborhoods that also have Everest service. I know several people who had their cable/roadrunner bill spontaneously lowered simply because Everest was about to enter the neighborhood.

Unfortunately Aquila is trying really hard to find a buyer for Everest. There's a real danger that they could get bought by TWC or even worse, by Comcast.

[Thrillcekr]

Everest is an excellent company but they have been dicking the dog in their expansion efforts and I don't think NKC feels like waiting 5 years for them to make it up their way. I know that TW would like nothing better than to have the opportunity to sink them. Everest took a chunk out of their ass in Kansas so bad that they were scurrying around to apartment complexes trying to get apartment managers to sign deals that left renters with no choice but to use TW cable.

I know Missouri has some sort of laws prohibiting cities to provide internet service but I don't think they can stop a city from forming an actual company. I think that is how NKC plans to pull it off. If they do then they may very well become trendsetters for the entire nation and force the bullies like TW and Comcast to come down on their outrageous prices. If that doesn't work then maybe they could just partner up with Everest and figure out a way to get something done quicker.

BTW: That 40 dollars I mentioned before was for high speed internet only. It's 40 or 44. Something like that.

[Beermo]

I know Missouri has some sort of laws prohibiting cities to provide internet service but I don't think they can stop a city from forming an actual company. I think that is how NKC plans to pull it off. If they do then they may very well become trendsetters for the entire nation and force the bullies like TW and Comcast to come down on their outrageous prices. If that doesn't work then maybe they could just partner up with Everest and figure out a way to get something done quick.

this is just big business against me and you. the cable operators in pennsylvania were able to stop philly from putting in hi-speed wireless. philly wanted to saturate 100% of the city with hi-speed. local cable didn't even have 40%. that was explained by the city as the cable operator's rate being to high for all to afford, especially low-income residents. the cable companies went to harrisburg and paid off the politico's up there to get philly stopped. which they did. stopped philly dead in their tracks. tw will try to do the same thing here in missouri.

as time goes by hopefully this will all work out.

[Thrillcekr]

Posted on Sun, Mar. 27, 2005

North KC ponders restoration of Paradise

By MIKE RICE

The Kansas City Star


North Kansas City Mayor Gene Bruns gets nostalgic when he walks down the aisle of the Paradise Theatre on Armour Road.

The single-screen neighborhood cinema, which was built in 1928, still has the same cast-iron seats and curtained baffling that Bruns knew as a teenager.

“This is 1950 as I remember it,â€

[Algernon]

Posted on Sun, Mar. 27, 2005

Now, Bruns and other city officials want to add more uses to the 400-seat theater and are exploring the possibility of restoring the cinema.

The city recently bought the building that houses the theater and a Hallmark store and flower shop for $485,000. Located on the north side of Armour Road at Swift Avenue, it is in the heart of the city's business district and is a few minutes from downtown Kansas City.

That's great to hear, I used to go to movies there 15-20 years ago during the summers I was trapped in downtown NKC, my dad owned the Music Box (in the building that is now part of the NKC Library) and my brother and I spent summers terrorizing the area on our BMXs.  In fact, I think my brother eventually got a job at the Paradise merely by hanging out until they hired him.  I'd love to see it turned back into a theatre.

[KansasCityCraka]

Welcome to the site Algernon!

[KC0KEK]

In March 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Missouri's restrictions on municipal broadband projects (Nixon v. Missouri Municipal League). Not sure if any end runs have been attempted since then.

[Thrillcekr]

That's great to hear, I used to go to movies there 15-20 years ago during the summers I was trapped in downtown NKC, my dad owned the Music Box (in the building that is now part of the NKC Library) and my brother and I spent summers terrorizing the area on our BMXs.  In fact, I think my brother eventually got a job at the Paradise merely by hanging out until they hired him.  I'd love to see it turned back into a theatre.

I had never even heard of it until recently.  I'm very pleased with what they are doing though.  NKC is quickly becoming my favorite metro city outside of KCMO.

[Big Red Storm]

I had always wondered what was going on at that theatre.  It's such a cool looking place.

[Thrillcekr]

Missouri has a law that prohibits cities from competing with private telecom companies, so this will likely end up in court.

As for TWC, they really do need competition, and cities need to drive a harder bargain when francishe contracts come up for renewal.  TWC prices are about 30% lower in neighborhoods that also have Everest service.  I know several people who had their cable/roadrunner bill spontaneously lowered simply because Everest was about to enter the neighborhood.

Unfortunately Aquila is trying really hard to find a buyer for Everest.  There's a real danger that they could get bought by TWC or even worse, by Comcast.

Here is an article that states what the law says:

Posted on Wed, Apr. 06, 2005


Time Warner lawsuit dismissed

By DAN MARGOLIES

The Kansas City Star


A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Time Warner over North Kansas City's proposed fiber-optic network, finding the suit wasn't “ripe for judicial consideration.â€

[staubio]

I have always really enjoyed NKC, but I think one of the things that keeps it from being a cutting edge, cosmopolitan inner 'burb city are its demographics.  At the risk of proliferating tenuous stereotypes, I'm going to say that I think much of NKC and the inner northland as a whole is "white trash".  I spend a lot of time all over the metro and do most of my travelling on a bike, so I have a perspective many don't. 

While NKC is definately better than the neighborhoods immediately up the bluffs along North Oak, I think they share a lot of the same demos.  The number of times I've been harassed on my bike on North Oak are probably greater than the sum of all of the other a-holes all over the city, and I ride in JoCo to get to work.  Observing the people travelling along this route and you notice some trends.  The number of people that are smoking is overwhelming.  The number of people that are overweight are overwhelming. 

You need more economic diversity to create a great place.  You also need people that care.  I think the whole hillbilly stereotype people have about Missouri and may associate with our city is strongly reinforced in much of the Northland and it scares me.  I seriously feel like I'm in a different state when I cross the river and especially when I climb the North Oak hill out of the flood plain.  How will culturally rich new settlers attracted to Northtowne interact with existing people that seem to me to be hostile to everyone but their Dodge Caravan with 6 kids?