Will Raytown see a renaissance?

shinatoo · Post by **shinatoo** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 11:09 am

O.K. I'm going to set you guys straight on Raytown. From a 34 year resident.

1. Mama's family being set in Raytown was Vicki Lawarenceâ€™s "revenge" for getting a ticket in Raytown when she was in town on the dinner theater circuit. Raytown has always be notorious for its super aggressive traffic cops. Which brings us to....

2. The reason that Raytown has always had a bad rep for being a racist community was because for these same police. In the 60 when the AT&T plant in Lee's Summit was really booming a lot of African Americans would travel through Raytown on (what used to be) 50 highway. They would constantly get harassed by the police. Many even joked that they built 470 so that the Black could get home without going through Raytown.

3. When I was 13 in 1983 the first black family moved into our neighborhood. The neighbor across the street sat on his front porch the whole day while they moved in with a SHOTGUN ON HIS LAP! The next door neighbor had a for sale sign up the next day.

Is this the Raytown I live in today? Absolutely not. My stepson goes to what I consider a very diverse high school. Where he is not only getting a very good education but he is also learning much greater life lessons than in the typical suburbs. In fact he has a much more realistic view of the world than my son who goes to school in Lee's Summit.

We live in one of the higher end neighborhoods in the area (actually in the KC part of the Raytown School District) where homes are in the 200k to 350k price range. Most of our neighbors are professionals (doctors, lawyers and engineers) or KC city employees (police and firemen) and itâ€™s about 20% black. Our taxes are about half of Lee's Summits and we are close to everything.

Raytown has already lost the developer for the Downtown project. The main problem for down town is that 63rd street dead ends at Woodson and with the low density and aging population of the area we cannot support a retail development like that without cross-town traffic like we have on the 350 corridor.

I would like to see a commuter bus line or even light rail built on the long abandoned tracks that run through downtown from Lee's summit, past the Stadiums and right on into union station. Then some high density development could be built downtown. That combined with Raytownâ€™s great schools would really turn the tide for Raytown and make it much like Clayton is in St. Louis.

Ramble ramble ramble

Post by **chrizow** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:08 pm

shinatoo - excellent to see a fellow Raytowner on the board.

while raytown would never ever ever in a million years be like Clayton (Clayton is the business and law center of STL and is far and away the richest area of the state), it has a real opportunity to be a great, solid inner burb of KC.

as a RSHS '99 grad, i can attest to the value of attending a reasonably "diverse" high school, at least by KC suburban standards. my graduating class was probably 1/3 black, if not more, but to the surprise of people i talk to from BS, LS, OPKS, etc., we NEVER had problems. people assume that the presence of black students increases violence, but my cousins experienced more fights and trouble at Oak Park than i ever did at South. i only witnessed two fights my entire time there. what i DID experience was black and white students coexisting peacefully and often intermingling, an aging faculty dealing (for better or worse) with change, and a pretty decent educational institution.

back in the day (e.g. 1950s) raytown was *VERY* racist. my grandpa used to talk about how when he moved to raytown in the 50s there was a house near Blue Ridge and 63rd that said "Ni**ers, don't let the sun go down on you in Raytown." ironically, that area now is home to a large african-american population.

my parents still live in raytown, in a mid-level raytown hood, with early 70s ranches and split-levels in pretty good shape (and sell from 100-150K). we are within spitting distance of RSHS. when i was growing up, the neighborhood was almost 100% white, but now i'd say it is about 80/20, and new black families are moving in and replacing the white WWII generation that is now sadly dying off. within a generation i predict my subdivision of 100+ houses will be 75% black or more.

bottom line: Raytown will emerge as a venerable "black burb" within 25 years. it has become a haven for lower-middle and middle-class black families seeking a refuge from the KCMO school district. this is a good thing. i really really doubt Raytown will ever really revitalize its downtown, but oh well. i say bulldoze all that junk and replace it with quality walkable residential with everyday amenities nearby. raytowners already depend on LS and Indep. for shopping. raytown should become (remain?) a really strong bedroom community with urban proximity.

shinatoo · Post by **shinatoo** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 12:20 pm

chrizow,

Go SOUTH!!!

The other thing that might be of note is that in 86 we did away with the Confederate Flag and Dixie as or fight song. I don't think majority of the white kids at South thought of it as a racist symbol (I had one that I wore all the time). It was more a lack of understanding. I'm glad its gone and have a hard time coprehinding that it was ever acceptable.

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:44 pm

shinatoo, that was one of the best posts I have read on this board, you are right on the money. I too graduated from South in 90 (I lived in SE KCMO during high school) and could not agree with you more and both the school and city issues. It's a solid, diverse inner ring suburb that gets a lot of bad press becasue of Ruskin and Hickman Mills (which BTW have hit botton and seem to be on an upswing).

The city and the state plan to do major upgrading of the Route 350 corridor with new infrastructure and retail. Raytown is real, down to earth and what you see is what you get. I like the town.

I hear a lot of people from other suburbs make fun of Raytown, when in reality, it's a much better city than Lee's Summit or Shawnee.

You must live in the area east of Woodson in one of those upscale developments just ouside the city limits. That is a NICE area.

shinatoo · Post by **shinatoo** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 5:07 pm

Grid,

Thanks for the kind words and check your PM.

I have a hard time getting excited about the 350hyway talk because it has been going on for 20 years and nothing has happened. I would like to see something like what 40hyway is in Blue Springs or Shawnee Mission Parkway out in Shawnee. There is a great spot just west of Raytown Road in the median that would make a great Memorial/rest stop type place. Maybe a big statue of "Mama"

I was looking into opening a Einstine brothers on a pad site where the Shnucks used to be and catch all the Lee's Summit morning traffic, but they make you sign on for 5 franchises at a time....so no. Shnucks, another sore spot, that building is owned by HyVee and only suited for a Grocery, but HyVee won't rent to their compitition. I'd like to see a small Target with out the grocery side. But that would be compitition also.

There was a blurb in the local fish wrap about a developer wanting to do something with all the land around Aquila. They were going to by Vo-tech west and realign the highway. The States plan to redo 50 highway is out in Lee's summit and is a HUGE project.

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:30 pm

I didn't get a pm.

They have been talking forever, but there are some very real and very big projects proposed along route 350.

BTW, US 40 in Blue Springs is crap.

.

shinatoo · Post by **shinatoo** » Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:48 pm

maybe so, but at least it is crap with curbs insted of the rural two lne in Rattown.

DanCa · Post by **DanCa** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:00 am

The story about Vicky Lawrence and the ticket is hilarious. I always wondered why that show was set in Raytown.

You know, I don't think I've ever been to Raytown. Or maybe I have. I remember going to Loma Vista Hardware to buy clothes about 12 years ago - wasn't it in Raytown then?

Glad to hear the racist leanings are going away.

Post by **staubio** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:31 am

DanCa wrote:The story about Vicky Lawrence and the ticket is hilarious. I always wondered why that show was set in Raytown.

You know, I don't think I've ever been to Raytown. Or maybe I have. I remember going to Loma Vista Hardware to buy clothes about 12 years ago - wasn't it in Raytown then?

Glad to hear the racist leanings are going away.

There is a Loma Vista in Raytown -- it is the original. The Loma Vista in Westport kept the name, which I believe is the name of the shopping center where the original resides.

Post by **chrizow** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 12:02 pm

Loma Vista Hardware was awesome.

i think that is technically KCMO, but it is on the border.

back in the day, Loma Vista Hardware was the only place in town selling Doc Martens and the like. it was also a skate shop. it ruled. Grandpa could get bolts and saws and wood glue, and Junior could get the latest Powell Peralta board. haha.

shinatoo · Post by **shinatoo** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 1:53 pm

My son will stand in line at Loma Vista Hardware down in westport for hours when they have a sale. The son (Craig?) runs the skate shop in the basement and up until a year ago they had a suit shop on the second floor that sold $2500 Armanis (sic) and the like. I can't even spell "Armani". Lama Vista was in KC. Raytown ended at the corner of 87th and Blue Ridge.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:08 pm

I may have never stated this publicly, but Raytown is really undeserving of its reputation. it's 5000X better than Mission/Merriam in my eyes. Last time i was in Raytown I was really impressed by their suburban housing stock.

Svoboda exposes some of the misperceptions:
http://www.svobodakc.com/2010/07/raytown.html

shinatoo · Post by **shinatoo** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:44 pm

I really really miss living in Raytown. If the Sanders plan happens look for Raytown to have a huge Renaissance.

grovester · Post by **grovester** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:58 pm

trailerkid wrote: I may have never stated this publicly, but Raytown is really undeserving of its reputation. it's 5000X better than Mission/Merriam in my eyes. Last time i was in Raytown I was really impressed by their suburban housing stock.

Svoboda exposes some of the misperceptions:
http://www.svobodakc.com/2010/07/raytown.html

5000x, yep gotcha.

trailerkid · Post by **trailerkid** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:33 pm

grovester wrote: 5000x, yep gotcha.

it's a discussion board.

mykem · Post by **mykem** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:32 pm

chrizow wrote: Loma Vista Hardware was awesome.

i think that is technically KCMO, but it is on the border.

back in the day, Loma Vista Hardware was the only place in town selling Doc Martens and the like. it was also a skate shop. it ruled. Grandpa could get bolts and saws and wood glue, and Junior could get the latest Powell Peralta board. haha.

Back in 1993 I went there to buy my techno music as Loma Vista Hardware had a small collection of mixes. I remember talking to the guy who I guess owned it at that time. He was telling me how disappointed he was with kiss 107.3's Saturday night mix show. If you listened to that show then you probably remember those Loma Vista Hardware commercials. Anyways, he told me he was going to stop airing his commercial because the choice of music 107.3 played on their mix show (mainstream dance) was not the underground dance they told him they were going to play. I guess he was trying to target a certain demographic to draw customers to his store. That's my memory of Loma Vista Hardware.

butter_breath · Post by **butter_breath** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 8:07 am

Raytown isn't a bad area, the schools are good. The people are nice and you can smoke in bars! Woohoo

mudjack · Post by **mudjack** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:18 am

Raytown was sounding good until you said smoke in bars.

Ugh.

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