This week on the blog has been highlighted by a VERY INTENSE and EXCLUSIVE debate regarding the study of future toy train streetcar expansion.
The most AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS started the discussion with news of Northeast opposition.
And then . . .
Insiders got back to us with an overwhelming show of support for the Independence Ave. Streetcar study.
Now . . .
CHECK THIS STREETCAR STATEMENT FROM A LONGTIME NORTHEAST KANSAS CITY RESIDENT!!!
Direct quote from our Northeast neighbors . . .
"If you add up the dues paying membership of all those groups supporting the streetcar in Northeast you might MIGHT… get to one-hundred people. The Northeast is populated by over 20,000 folks…But, then again, the groups are not about representative government or they would have been outraged by the way the downtown line came about."
Here's something worth watching . . . This debate could follow the pattern of discourse throughout Kansas City's urban core that's undergoing a highly publicized gentrification/renaissance . . . Richer, younger, newer homeowners might use exert their influence and political prowess to push their pro-streetcar advocacy while longtime residents could be left out of the ongoing discussion in favor of the new gentry.
Developing . . .
Get On Board!
ReplyDeleteFucking Idiots
ReplyDeletePendleton Heights wants this hippiepeace train. No one else does. Wake up KC! This is such a bad project! It benefits no one!
ReplyDeleteNo one cares. That's why we have a shithead for a mayor and crooks like reed and sharp on the council
ReplyDeleteI remember the "street car" (yep, I'm *OLD*) and was never so glad to see something gone in KC.
ReplyDeleteNow they want it back.
Who says we don't learn from our mistakes?
In five years the streetcar fad will long be gone, something bright and shiny and new will be capturing the new city council's attention, the twenty-something "entrepreneurs" will be looking for actual paying jobs, and KCMO taxpayers will still be looking at 15-20 years of $10-15 million/year bond payments to pay for this fiasco. Sly will have a nice gig at Polsinelli in their new subsidized Plaza offices. Be sure to give him a call.
ReplyDeleteYeah like this 41 news FB pic says it all.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151627730661190&set=a.83423251189.94900.68122026189&type=1&relevant_count=1
I could make the case for why I believe gentrification is Pendleton Heights' goal, because this isn't the first move they've made to drive certain "elements" out of their area, but I won't do that because there are a lot of good people who live there and have committed a lot of time and effort to restoring that neighborhood to one of the most beautiful and under-rated areas in the city. I'm also not entirely unsympathetic to their cause, because increasing property values would be the goal of any home owner/investor. I simply believe there are smarter, cheaper, less racist ways to do this.
ReplyDeleteTKC's tipster is right, however, the majority of PH is in support of streetcar by as much as 2:1 by my best guess. The rest of Northeast still remains divided, with most of the opposition coming from Indian Mound, where I have clearly laid out the dirty details that the advocates aren't discussing. Scarritt is also split on the issue, but I still get the impression that the slight majority is against it.
The problem with this is that if a TDD is formed for Independence Avenue, hardly ANY of us will be allowed to vote, but the students at KCUMB and many Pendleton Heights residents would be within the boundary. Get prepared for another rigged vote unless we can get TDD reform introduced in Jefferson City.
Even if you don't live in Northeast, contact your state legislator, ask them to read Todd Schweich's TDD audits, and demand reform. Put them in contact with me if they need to know more.
If you are white in kc, support streetcar. It is the only pork your neighborhood is going to get. Eastside gets the lions share of freebies. Being against it is simply voting against your own interest. It is either a streetcar through your neighborhood or more CAN money or more eastside community centers that do fuckall.
ReplyDeleteIf you live in Northeast, go ahead and contact YOUR state representative - good luck getting anything honest out of that.
ReplyDelete11:12; I already have. He wasn't sure if TDD reform was warranted, whether or not it had a chance to pass the house, and/or how it could affect other TDDs aside from the streetcar.
ReplyDeleteI pointed him in the direction of Schweich's TDD audits so he says he'll look over them and get back to me. There are 162 other representatives who can also consider this.