pash wrote:The only thing these far-flung suburbs have going for them is demographic exclusivity. You might not think that's much of a plus, but AlbertHammond is basically right: that's why the people who live there live there. So when fresh cilantro starts selling a bit too well at the local supermarket, well, there goes the neighborhood.
Surely this isn't surprising. I mean, this is the mindset that's driven suburban development for going on seven decades.
I think Pash is the only one starting to understand where I am headed here (Clearly, my communication skills are lacking). I am not suggesting that there is some over-riding level of racism or bigotry at work here. I am just suggesting that most people prefer to shop and live where they are most comfortable. Comfort for most is about surrounding themselves with folks at similar economic and cultural (and language) levels. I think most typical suburbanites are fine with a black, Asian or Hispanic family moving in next door as long as they have similar values.
This discussion is about preserving neighborhood value and keeping the place desirable for all segments of the homebuying marketplace. If visitors to this Walmart get the sense that it is angled to the non-english speaking community, it must be in a neighborhood that is lower income or headed that way. When those same shoppers start looking for a home to buy, they are likely to cross that neighborhood off their list of probable purchase areas. Fewer potential buyers = lower resale value. Plain and simple.
A great majority of the commenters here on the rag like to live on the fringe or lead the way with gentrifying neighborhoods. That is awesome. If those same commenters cannot do a better job of understanding the greater mass of people, they will never effect great change to steer the herd to their way of thinking.
LenexatoKCMO wrote:
You freely admit that you are frightened of this place merely by the presence of "Hispanics" and their language.
Hmm….not exactly. I am only stating that the use of two-language signage is a symbol of a neighborhood in decline with residents of low income and no education. Two-language signage (in the Midwest) are designed for non-english speakers, not for Hispanics that speak English. Hispanics that do not speak English are typically not middle-income people. Areas that are low-income also tend to have higher crime rates. Areas with higher crimes rates make me pay better attention to my personal safety. I am not alone in this behavior.
aknowledgeableperson wrote:As far as I know of when "Hispanics" spend their money that money is green just like mine. And for most retailers, especially the big ones, wherever they are that is all that matters to them.
True. But if the dynamics of the store discourage all other users, they lose potential buyers.
aknowledgeableperson wrote:As for Walmarts in general, there is some "white trash" or "trailer park trash" that scares me more than an Hispanic family when I am in the store.
I agree. I am not suggesting that Hispanics are dangerous or scary. Just that lower income areas tend to be higher crime areas and there are indicators that the average person can identify that they are in a lower income/impoverished area. Two-language signage is just one of those indicators in the Midwest.
chaglang wrote:Except the largest hispanic neighborhood in KCMO, where some homes top the $300k range and it's jamfrigginpacked with white people on weekends.
The West side is one of those places that a small population of gentrifiers has taken over and is in transition. Housing for the poor in this area is dwindling and it is becoming a place that has a Hispanic vibe, but the low-income Hispanics have mostly been priced out of. Normal suburban Midwesterners would not have felt uber safe in this neighborhood in the 1980s at the bottom of its decline.
You can see this behavior all over the place. Like it or not, it is reality. There are parts of the Shawnee Mission School District that are struggling to hold their resale value. If you look at a school population map, the same exact resale problem areas are the areas with higher ESL rates. Most of these Spanish speaking families live in apartments, not in the S.F. houses, but the presence of them in that school drives down the resale prices of all houses in that school boundary. It builds and builds until the area has declined so far it cannot come back. And let’s face it, these post WWII neighborhoods have few redeeming features to make them worthy of resuscitating once they crash, unlike pre-WWII neighborhoods in KCMO (which still hasn’t happened in-mass).
If RP wants to save itself, it needs to find ways to attract typical homebuyers by seeming like an up-and-comer neighborhood. It is not headed that direction right now. I prefer the homes and neighborhoods of RP over old Shawnee, Merriam or much of older OP and I think if they lose the stigma of having “the mexican walmart” they will increase their chance of becoming an up-and-comer neighborhood.