How can downtown appeal to more families?

[KC-wildcat]

Bah - 30-50yr olds with kids have lived in the Plaza to Waldo corridor and shelled out to send their kids to private school for decades.  If the river to plaza corridor could ever gain the same degree of desireability people with wealth would move there and do the same.  But Mosaic, Shark Bar, and the Sprint Store aren't cutting much weight with those folks.  

This metro is about 2 million strong.  All but a very small group of people in RCP corridor have the money to send their kids to Rockhurst or Pembroke.  If you disagree, then you're an idiot.  Which, in reading many of your posts, I do not believe is the case.  So, perhaps you're being intentionally frustrating.  idk.

[kcmetro]

Bah - 30-50yr olds with kids have lived in the Plaza to Waldo corridor and shelled out to send their kids to private school for decades.  If the river to plaza corridor could ever gain the same degree of desireability people with wealth would move there and do the same.  But Mosaic, Shark Bar, and the Sprint Store aren't cutting much weight with those folks. 

Downtown KC is going to have to offer much more than the P&L for 30-50 year olds to move down there.  It doesn't matter if there are great restaurants by top name chefs in the P&L, that's not going to convince anyone with kids to move downtown.  There just aren't enough conveniences down there like there are in the suburbs.  One grocery store?  Big deal.  Also, the fact that the ghetto is right there and you have homeless bums walking the streets doesn't help either.  That's one HUGE thing they (nor their kids) have to encounter in Olathe or OP.

[LenexatoKCMO]

This metro is about 2 million strong.  All but a very small group of people in RCP corridor have the money to send their kids to Rockhurst or Pembroke.  If you disagree, then you're an idiot.  Which, in reading many of your posts, I do not believe is the case.  So, perhaps you're being intentionally frustrating.  idk.

Forunately there are quite a few quality choices that cost a small fraction of Pembroke - otherwise brookside and Waldo would have depopulated years ago.  Lots and lots of people can afford it - they just choose to pay high suburban taxes instead.  A desireable urban core can ultimately make that choice more difficult. 

We are way, way off subject though. 

[LenexatoKCMO]

Also, the fact that the ghetto is right there

Right where exactly?

That's one HUGE thing they (nor their kids) have to encounter in Olathe or OP.

You must not get on the highway at the right JoCo entrance ramps.  Besides, shock of shock, there are people in cities all over the country who don't shit their pants at the thought of their offspring encountering a homeless person. 

[KCPowercat]

Metro lol.  Not everybody is as scared of a city as you are.

My neighbors are mostly 45-70 years old.....there are plenty of amenities.  Not everybody needs a Target within spitting distance to consider it acceptable living.

[kcmetro]

Right where exactly?

You must not get on the highway at the right JoCo entrance ramps.  Besides, shock of shock, there are people in cities all over the country who don't shit their pants at the thought of their offspring encountering a homeless person. 

About 4 blocks to the east.  Open your eyes.  It's not hard to see.

There certainly are people who don't care whether their kids encounter a homeless person, but there aren't too many of them here in KC.  And I'm not just talking about homeless people.  I'm talking about drug addicts too.  There aren't a lot of parents out there in the suburbs of KC who would be fine with that happening on a regular basis.

[KCPowercat]

I'd set the per capita drug addicts at a higher level in Lawrence than downtown KC.

[LenexatoKCMO]

There aren't a lot of parents out there in the suburbs of KC who would be fine with that happening on a regular basis.

Guess what Metro - there are a lot of people in the suburbs who ARE drug addicts!  

And four blocks east of P&L are loads of surface parking lots - destructive yes, scary no.  

[kcmetro]

Metro lol.  Not everybody is as scared of a city as you are.

My neighbors are mostly 45-70 years old.....there are plenty of amenities.  Not everybody needs a Target within spitting distance to consider it acceptable living.

I'm not scared of the city, you idiot.  But I'm looking at things realistically, through the eyes of 30-something parents with small children.  What works for you or I won't work for them.  That's just the reality of the situation.

There's one grocery store.  ONE.  That's fine if those people living down there can get by with that sort of thing, but most people can't...otherwise they'd be living down there.  Again, bringing up the exception to the rule is useless here.  Of course some people like living downtown, but most wouldn't. The reason the suburbs are so successful is because they're very convenient in terms of meeting all your needs...shopping, dining, banks, ATMs, gyms, Targets/Wal-Marts, Jiffy Lubes, big box retailers, etc.  

[kcmetro]

Guess what Metro - there are a lot of people in the suburbs who ARE drug addicts!  

And four blocks east of P&L are loads of surface parking lots - destructive yes, scary no.  

That is true, but they're addicted to prozac, not heroin, crack, or meth.  Comparing apples to oranges.

Ok, then try a few blocks east of the xroads.  Try to dodge it how you want, but Troost and the Paseo are still Troost and the Paseo.

[KCPowercat]

Ask ne joco how they are doing as people rape and pillage that land and move on.

How many grocery stores do you shop at, 8 at once?  (btw lots of food at city market and Costco too as well as Asian markets) 

Suburbs work better for some....do we real have to creep the subject of this onto that tired topic?  We get it, downtown is scary to you....luckily Lenexa is there is make you feel safe.

[KCPowercat]

BTW I have everything in abundance metro just mentioned in WALKING distance to my place....how do people survive having to drive to all those places? 

[mean]

My goodness, how have I survived living in this horrible ghetto?

[beautyfromashes]

I'm not scared of the city, you idiot.  But I'm looking at things realistically, through the eyes of 30-something parents with small children.  What works for you or I won't work for them.  That's just the reality of the situation.
 

30-something parent with small children here....living in the city.  Speak for yourself, idiot.

[kcmetro]

Ask ne joco how they are doing as people rape and pillage that land and move on.

How many grocery stores do you shop at, 8 at once?  (btw lots of food at city market and Costco too as well as Asian markets) 

Suburbs work better for some....do we real have to creep the subject of this onto that tired topic?  We get it, downtown is scary to you....luckily Lenexa is there is make you feel safe.

I love downtown.  But I'm looking at things objectively.  This forum needs a little wake-up call every now and then as to how much of the rest of the area thinks....not how urban dwellers think.  If you want to know why downtown's population isn't skyrocketing, or why people in their 30's aren't moving there in droves, I'm trying to tell you.  I'm sure you already know this though.

And perception = reality in many peoples' minds.  That is the real issue.

[trailerkid]

I'd set the per capita drug addicts at a higher level in Lawrence than downtown KC.

co-sign. downtown KC is not scary whatsoever. there are 10X as many scary Olathean douches/Topeka wankstas/untreated psych disorders/tweekers/bigots in L than downtown KC. every weekend in L some ignorant, crazy violent shit goes down that makes the paper to scare JoCo...downtown KC is relatively quiet.

why can't we stick to the topic:

the shitty to mediocre dining options @ P&L.

[beautyfromashes]

Oh, and you mention grocery stores as a plus for the suburbs?  Well, just remember that when your sludging your bags over a huge slushy parking lot in 3 below weather I'm driving into a nice warm parking garage 10 feet from the door.  What a jerkwad.

[kcmetro]

30-something parent with small children here....living in the city.  Speak for yourself, idiot.

The exception to the rule.  Congratulations!  But exceptions don't matter in this discussion.  Exceptions aren't going to change the face of downtown.  Ever.  The exception has to find a way to become the rule.  Until then, downtown will struggle with bringing in the numbers that people on this forum would like to see.

[trailerkid]

kcmetro is ruining this otherwise lively discussion.

[KCPowercat]

Metro...lol at the metro demographics and get back to me on this....hint, not hat many households have kids. Maybe you need to quite using perception in your "objective" takes.

Yes....improve dining in p&l, Im for that 1000%