KCPD East Campus

[loftguy]

Again, the post was to counter the statement made that every one in the neighborhood was disgusted with the project.

Now for your point of destroying a neighborhood. What was left of the neighborhood before the project started wasn't much of a neighborhood. Along with the many vacant lots were many houses in Land Trust, houses no one wanted over the many years they were in Land Trust. These two categories, if memory is correct, equaled or exceeded occupied houses. Guess, maybe, the city could have waited for a generation or two before seeing a slight turnaround. How long is the city to wait for something to happen?

Granted the city could have done this or done that but for many reasons this was the decision made. Is it a perfect or flawless decision? No, but really no decision is completely perfect or flawless.

AKP, this sounds uncomfortably like a leading chapter from the Urban Renewal textbook.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Since you apparently think that this project is going to generate some kind of economic regeneration in that area, could you explain how you came to that conclusion?

Nope, I don't think that at all. There might be a little bit of an economic upswing but for the most part this project is all about building facilities for various functions of the police department. A few jobs here, a few jobs there is just a side benefit, like any economic development. This location as well as others were put through an evaluation process and this site was selected. How they judged I don't know.

AKP, this sounds uncomfortably like a leading chapter from the Urban Renewal textbook.

I wouldn't know so I will take your word for it.

Funny though neither of you answered my question. Afraid to?
Guess, maybe, the city could have waited for a generation or two before seeing a slight turnaround. How long is the city to wait for something to happen?

[LenexatoKCMO]

Guess, maybe, the city could have waited for a generation or two before seeing a slight turnaround. How long is the city to wait for something to happen?

Or they could have perhaps located it in the same general area but not designed it to be a needlessly suburban sprawl-scape, consuming blocks and blocks of land in underutilized fashion and creating a giant hole in the neighborhood.

[chaglang]

Funny though neither of you answered my question. Afraid to?
Guess, maybe, the city could have waited for a generation or two before seeing a slight turnaround. How long is the city to wait for something to happen?

Well, you said that "There might be a little bit of an economic upswing but for the most part this project is all about building facilities for various functions of the police department. A few jobs here, a few jobs there is just a side benefit, like any economic development." so I'm not sure what turnaround I'm supposed to be weighing against the demolition of 4 blocks of the city. Most cost/benefit analyses require something other than a 0 or ? on the benefit side.

[aknowledgeableperson]

As I said this is mainly a facility for various police functions. The benefits are modern, up-to-date facilities compared to where those functions are now. For example, believe the crime lab is part of this project. It will house a bigger lab with new equipment.

There are the benefits. The cost is for the benefits. Any other costs outside of the project costs you wish to add are not part of the equation.

[LenexatoKCMO]

As I said this is mainly a facility for various police functions. The benefits are modern, up-to-date facilities compared to where those functions are now. For example, believe the crime lab is part of this project. It will house a bigger lab with new equipment.

There are the benefits. The cost is for the benefits. Any other costs outside of the project costs you wish to add are not part of the equation.

So the city bears no responsibility for the impact of their infrastructure beyond the most bare minimum analysis of its pure utility? Way to set the bar high for leadership. By your standards all city facilities should likely be quanset huts on gravel fields.

[pash]

.

[chaglang]

AKP, that's not true. This project is billed as a economic catalyst for the east side: http://saferkc.com/east/. That was part of the selection process that you keep referring to. Sly James and Jermaine Reed have said as much many, many times.

I see where you're going, trying to make the discussion about whether the $57m in project costs is worth the building of a new police facility. It could have been that simple, if they hadn't started tearing down people's houses. It's the selection process that the city used that is the root of the problem. Change the criteria, get a different result, and we can talk about the cost of the project only being the dollar cost. That didn't happen, so there's no way to have a reasonable or complete discussion about East Patrol while only talking about the project cost. Sorry.

So what about "a facility for various police functions" makes it the "something" in the question "Guess, maybe, the city could have waited for a generation or two before seeing a slight turnaround. How long is the city to wait for something to happen?"

[aknowledgeableperson]

Funny thing. That is part of the sales pitch. Assistance to help sell the project. It is always nice to have a little bit of fluff. The cold, hard reality is that the project is to house various functions of the police department.

When this project started the question wasn't "what can we do to help revitalize the East side?" The question was, more or less, "what can we do to provide the police department on the East side with modern facilities and at what cost?"

Have seen it happen many times. "What can we do or say to help justify or sale this project to our citizens?" Some economic revitalization may be a side benefit to the project but it is not what drives this project.

Besides within that little pitch how much was spent on economic development and how much was spent on the facilities and why they are needed?

[flyingember]

a smart neighborhood would have said yes, but we get _______. Like trade the homes for being put way high on the sewers + streets repair list.

it's like with US 71. they should have made a much stronger demand than at grade intersections. what they wanted in no way helped the surrounding area

[chaglang]

Residents are invited to a public hearing to consider whether the East Patrol Division Station and Crime Lab Campus, or an individual part of the campus, should carry a name other than East Campus. The campus is currently under construction at 27th Street and Prospect Avenue.

http://kcmo.gov/news/2014/residents-inv ... st-campus/

[smh]

Sprawlforce One

[Eon Blue]

Fort Prospect

[shinatoo]

Got to have a place to warehouse all of those UAV.

[FangKC]

Major categories of crime continue to drop in East Side Patrol Division.

Compared to Dec. 3, 2013, homicides are down 41 percent in the EPD, 22 this year to 37 last year. Smith also noted that compared to last year, stolen automobiles, property damage, robberies and burglaries are down. Narcotics and weapons arrests have increased since last year, as well. However, there was an increase in in simple assaults and sex crimes.

http://northeastnews.net/pages/?p=26220

[FangKC]

Photographing the Heartbreaking Consequences of Eminent Domain

Residents of a Kansas City neighborhood saw their homes demolished to make room for a new police station.

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/03/ ... qus_thread

http://www.mattrahner.com/eminent.html

[Highlander]

Photographing the Heartbreaking Consequences of Eminent Domain

Residents of a Kansas City neighborhood saw their homes demolished to make room for a new police station.

http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/03/ ... qus_thread

http://www.mattrahner.com/eminent.html

Not sure what the real issue is here: Eminent domain or just plain poor urban planning. I've never had a big issue with the use of eminent domain but taking that much space for a police station in the middle of the urban core was just blatant stupidity and shows that the mentality of the planners is still stuck in the 60's with a big touch of post 9/11 paranoia regarding security.

[aknowledgeableperson]

It is more than just a police station.

[Highlander]

It is more than just a police station.

indeed it is. Like I said, it's also an urban planning disaster.

It needed about 1/8 of the space it occupies. If that.

It looks like something you'd expect to see on the mostly rural ring road of Tyler TX not something that should be in the heart of a major city. Very disappointing.

http://saferkc.com/east/

[aknowledgeableperson]

The crime lab takes up as much space as the police station. Granted one can disagree with the design and amount of space being used but identifying the complex as just a police station does not fully describe how the space is being used.
"heart of a major city", well the area it is in isn't near the city's true heart and a major city that will be influenced more by it's suburban nature in the future than it's urban nature.