DColeKC wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 9:11 am
Belvidere wrote: ↑Fri Feb 16, 2024 8:21 am
So, exactly how would a soccer game at the riverfront, a few concerts at different venues, and a baseball game work at the same time in terms of traffic? We have a highway system that was outdated the minute it was finished and now you're going to burden it in this manner?
This is not the right location. I would have fought to put it on the East Side, by the Jazz District.
This stadium will probably completely kill any talk of decommissioning the North Loop, God only knows what it will do to the East Loop, and everyone has been striving to improve air quality or existing neighborhoods will be told, once again, to make a sacrifice for other people's entertainment or convenience.
Some of you are giving no consideration to the small businesses and artists who organically built the Crossroads and held the line when nobody else to gave a damn. What's worse, there's no reason for it. We don't have to do this. All of these resources are being concentrated in one part of downtown and everybody else can't get their damn sidewalks repaired. That's not progress.
We need employers and residents a lot more than we need entertainment options. But those are the nuts and bolts of a city and not the bright and shiny projects. Do you want a downtown that's active? Start building housing of all types an invest in a transit system that's actually viable.
The reason we're all in a hurry is because of the 3/8 cent sales tax and tying it to the Royals and Chiefs. If they have to split that vote, the Chiefs will ask for more money that we probably can't afford. Right? And we're still paying a ton of money every year on the debt service for Power and Light. This is all about money, not about doing the right thing for generations.
It’s not that some of us aren’t giving consideration to small businesses and artists but this particular area isn’t representative of the entire greater community. We can acknowledge the negative consequences of this stadium while also recognizing that overall, it’s best for downtown.
You mention we need employers and residents a lot more than we do entertainment. Well what’s currently in this part of EC certainly isn’t bringing us any of that. The stadium will accomplish both of those things you agree we need.
I know certain types of people with certain predetermined outlooks on society and capitalism think this is purely about a money grab for rich people but I find that to be ridiculous. No denying some wealthy people could personally benefit but it’s not without investing their own resources. Whether you like it or not, we need these “rich” peoples money to build the things we need. The housing, the jobs and the entertainment. We need big shiny things like a baseball stadium to draw attention and actually help create the demand for better public transit.
So while some people on here are trying to frame my takes and others as not caring about certain things, specifically small business owners, that’s just not true. I think in the long run this plan will be much better for the majority of them even if it hurts a few in the immediate short term.
They're not representative of the greater community? What does that mean, exactly?
You're ignoring history. Everyone said, years ago, putting highways into downtown neighborhoods was for the greater good. Well, that sucked. My neighborhood still has empty lots from Model Cities. They said consolidating public housing was for the greater good and now we're still digging ourselves out, because then HUD said oops, consolidating poverty is a bad thing.
Trickle down economics doesn't work. I've spent the last 20 years watching the riverfront transform, the River Market, and Crossroads, while my community remains on life support in no small part due to delayed development that is driven by speculation. Paseo Gateway has helped; if they would let that continue, we may still see benefits.
It's taken us years to get development restarted and that was a volunteer effort and a lot of screaming. It didn't just happen. And the speculation is actually getting worse. I seen people die of greed rather than activate a property. I can give you specific examples. There are more vacant properties on my street than ever. My neighborhood is being held hostage by rich investors who can sit on a property forever. We look like we are blighted by people who can't afford to fix their property and that's a factor, but I have mapped this out and I can assure you it's rich people who are hurting us. We are line on a spreadsheet to them. We are not a community. They live in places like Leawood and Weatherby Lake. We are the ones who have to keep their places from being broken into by squatters. Our property taxes are subsidizing their investment because they are paying far less than we are.
So we get screwed either way. There are people in my neighborhood right now who are at risk of being displaced. We are desperately trying to figure out how to do multiple things at the same time. Do I want development? Hell, yes. I'm tired of staring at empty spaces and not having anything to do. We don't have enough neighbors. We need more people to support a small business or even a daycare, which we desperately need. I also understand how long an investor is willing to hold a property vacant to get that kind of money they expect. Most investors lie to us about what they're going to do, 90 percent of the time. There's a building on my block right now where this lady put minimal investment into it. She bought it for less than $800,000 and listed it for just under $2 million. It will sit there forever because it's not worth that and there's no way to put enough apartments into it to make it work.
There is no economic study backing up what you're saying about the stadium. Have we had a traffic review? An environmental review? All those things we are supposed to do before major development? Has the South Loop cap been approved by MoDot? Real public engagement?
The worst thing you can do as a developer is to go into a community and say you know what is best for them. First of all, they hate your guts. Secondly, you might not be right.
