And so ... Supporters say this is going to save Kansas City but I'm pretty sure this put this town on the road toward bankruptcy.
Check it if you haven't already...
KC Biz Journal: Litigation against KC Streetcar district hits end of the line
Here's the damage:
"On Tuesday, the court ruled against transferring the case challenging the constitutionality of the Kansas City Downtown Streetcar Transportation Development District directly to the Supreme Court."
This is an important decision but still doesn't help lure biz to KCMO ... And only toy train propaganda says otherwise.
Speaking of . . .
Update:
Mayor James applauds Supreme Court decision to end streetcar litigation
“The work to move this City’s economy forward doesn’t stop during the holidays and today’s ruling by the Supreme Court reaffirms that the downtown streetcar is moving full steam ahead. This is now the fourth court that has ruled in favor of the streetcar project, in addition to the Kansas City voters who endorsed the project. The time for arguments over the streetcar, legal or otherwise, has passed. I’m excited to see the future of the downtown streetcar and the economic development it has and will continue to spur.”
#############
won't hold up, especially after new mayor.
ReplyDeleteWon't be a new mayor. And even if that unlikely event happens,streetcar stays just like cincy. Sorry amateur internet constitutional scholars. But your fucking dumb. Which is why our so scared if progress in the first place. You guys held this cool ass city back for too long. If you want to live in Wichita fucking move there. Transit is a fact of life in cities . Unfortunately for you kc is just now rememberin that it is one. I now it threatens your parking over everything strip mall mentality. But this is a fuckin city. If you don't like that move the fuck out
ReplyDelete“The time for arguments over the streetcar, legal or otherwise, has passed,” James said.
ReplyDeleteFU you arrogant son of a bitch.
“The illusion of controversy is over,” said Councilman Russ Johnson.
ReplyDeleteFuck you Russ Johnson your the one who is living in an illusion.
Yeah fuxk all those laws and shit you arrogant lawyer. I read in Wikipedia where it says the constitution is really important and shit and it says in the constitution toy trains are boondoggles. Also your black and I don't like that. Also cool places have streetcars and I'm used to living in the suburbs and if you don't do it exactly my way I'll have a temper tantrum in the comments of a blog
ReplyDeleteSore losers are still losers you sorry ass suburbanites
ReplyDeleteDoug Stone, a Polsinelli PC attorney representing the TDD, said the ruling means that the Missouri Court of Appeals' August decision will stand.
ReplyDeleteFuck this guy to. Is it illegal to tell people who don't listen to the public to fuck off?
Didn't think so.
Councilman Johnson said the early returns indicate that Kansas Citians do not want “jogs” off a main line and would prefer a straight-line system.
ReplyDeleteHe also said many have said they want the streetcar, but they won’t be taking it to work, which is in line with the city’s expectations. Besides, economic development potential, not ridership, will be the most important criteria in judging expansion lines, he said.
“The stated goal of this project is economic development. That’s the dominant goal,” Johnson said. “The dominant goal is not to have a lot of people ride it. The dominant goal is to develop the city.” Kansas City Business Journal Oct 3, 2013
Think hard now!!!!
501,Russ Johnson has just proved he is smarter than 20,000 computers and the nation of India with this amazing quote.
DeleteBest thing about the streetcar:
ReplyDeleteIt's already proving you guys wrong. Every couple days there's a new developer in the paper building a new project along the line ad they all say streetcar is part of the reason why. I'll trade a filter shop for 100 new apartments any day...
You must read a pretend paper, because no paper i read has anything like this, 501.
DeleteHope the 357 people who voted for this and probably won't use it enjoy paying for it.
ReplyDeleteThis is like giving an eatery that's over run with e-coli a face lift then saying have fun! Stay the course!
ReplyDeleteGod damn you suburbanites fucking cry a lot
ReplyDeleteAnd this is going to pay for itself how?
ReplyDeleteIt's not going to pay for itself. Even the street cars are "red". The red ink express.
ReplyDeleteThis is like baking a Christmas Turkey, taking a dump ,stuffing it in the bird and saying "everybody enjoy!! "
ReplyDeleteLaughable. Any real business person understands this is speculation and a total toss of the dice of taxpayer money.
ReplyDeleteGood luck
When pensions bankrupt this shithole, your play trains are the first thing the state appointed administrator will axe.
ReplyDeleteThe people of CK either don't give a shit anymore or are incredibly ignorant.
ReplyDeleteWhy the fuck would it pay for itself? Road don't. Sewers don't. Streetlights don't. Sidewalks don't. No transit system in the world does. What kind of retard would think that infrastructure should pay for itself. You cornfield dumb motherfuckers have about a 3rd grade level of understanding how cities and governments work
ReplyDeleteThat's because you don t read newspaper 512 you read a blog of made up shit. Because you are not smart or informed. Your a victim of the internet age of "news"
ReplyDeleteOnly willfully naive streetcar cheerleaders can ho estylop believe that this thing will be financially viable in a city with the size and sprawl of KC. It isn't self supporting in Portland, where the population density actually makes it relatively useful for vast numbers of commuters.
ReplyDeleteSo you are essentially dooming the city to rising taxes and likely bankruptcy by forging ahead with what is essentially an expensive urban experiment...as there is NO corresponding city with KC's suburban makeup where this has been done effectively.
But you so badly want to be able to feel you've moved a city in the direction of what YOU feel every city should look like, regardless of the facts that even a child could understand.
I only hope that when this thing is built, fails massively and can not be paid for while our infrastructure continues to decay...you will not distance yourselves from your failure and will take credit for what will be viewed as a monumental case of Groupthink Idiocy.
I sleep well at night 5:19
ReplyDeleteYourself?
"Can honestly believe"
ReplyDeleteWith CK's backlog of unfinished business and obligations I think this is a really wise investment.
ReplyDelete(Snark)
We are now officially $100 million in debt. Very creative!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
Portland didn't become denser than KC until it built transit.
ReplyDeleteUrban KC is as dense as many places with functioning rail transit systems: Cleveland, St Louis, Tuscon, Charlotte, Cincinnatti.
KC south of the river isn't even particularly suburban, and its still as dense as most midwestern cities. The only part that's abnormally suburban is the Northland (where half you morons think the light rail should be run to the far flung airport)
Next red herring...
Fiction meet FACT:
ReplyDeleteJustin Cottrell, a principal for the firm, said the prospect of the new streetcar line, scheduled to open in 2015, contributed to the decision to develop the site.
“It did have an influence because we know in other cities that streetcars are a positive for residential development,” Cottrell said Thursday.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/12/05/4671111/developer-plans-river-market-apartment.html#storylink=cpy
Nguyen plans to open a Vietnamese restaurant in a building at 500 Grand Blvd. that’s been empty and overlooked the past couple of years. He is leasing the space because it’s on the two-mile streetcar line linking Crown Center with the River Market and expected to open in 2015.
ReplyDeleteRead more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/29/4659022/new-downtown-streetcar-carries.html#storylink=cpy
a Colorado developer wants to build a five-story apartment building on what’s now a surface parking lot at 1914 Main St. And another group of local developers says the streetcar reinforced the decision to redevelop the old Corrigan Building at 1828 Walnut St. into 82 luxury apartments.
ReplyDeleteRead more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/29/4659022/new-downtown-streetcar-carries.html#storylink=cpy
535 et al. I see a lot of "plans to" and "wantd to open." Well I plan to have a billion dollars and I want to own a private island. Show the facts, not dreams. Shit in one hand, dream in the other. You can't seem to tell the difference.
DeleteOn the other end of downtown, developer George Birt said having the streetcar running through the River Market would be helpful to the 137-unit River Market West apartment project now being built at 228 W. Fourth St.
ReplyDelete“Having the streetcar 11/2 blocks away is another reason to rent in the building,” Birt said. “The new generation of millennials likes the rail transit like they like Google Fiber. It’s another amenity, basically.”
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/29/4659022/new-downtown-streetcar-carries.html#storylink=cpy
Gib Kerr, a vice president at Cassidy Turley, specializes in the downtown real estate market. He said the pace of inquiries had picked up considerably since the streetcar plan became real.
ReplyDelete“Any property downtown that’s under consideration, at some point the streetcar comes up as a big positive,” he said.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/29/4659022/new-downtown-streetcar-carries.html#storylink=cpy
The developers behind the proposal to convert the 30-story Commerce Tower into a “vertical neighborhood” of 265 apartments along with office and retail space were drawn to the fact a streetcar station was planned at its front door. They also are buying its accompanying 249-space garage.
ReplyDelete“Our decision to commit to residential and other services for millennials and other folks is tied to that streetcar,” said architect Bob Berkebile, one of the development partners involved with Commerce Tower.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/29/4659022/new-downtown-streetcar-carries.html#storylink=cpy
Everyone I speak with doesn't want to live down there. And these are trendy professionals.
ReplyDeleteIt's the crime stupid!
Glad I don't live in that stupid fucked up asshhole town.
ReplyDelete5:12, Sucks to be dumb and wrong, but I'm sure you're used to it.
ReplyDeleteOne of these losers will gin up a Cato Institute propaganda hack-piece in a couple of minutes and parade it around like its real...
ReplyDeleteA “vertical neighborhood”
ReplyDeleteROFLMAO it's a fucking building!
People want homes, with a yard and a dog!
5:39 There's very little crime there, stupid, you're friends are just scared little pussies who watch too much horseshit on TV.
ReplyDeleteStupid ,huh?
DeleteYou're friends, huh?
I sure as hell don't want to live in River Market.
ReplyDeleteSome people do want a yard and a dog. And guess what, they can have one in KC, or if they want to live in the suburbs, really just about anywhere.
ReplyDeleteSome people also want to live in nice urban, walkable, transit-friendly environments.
We have spent untold billions providing for the former, now its time to spend a little money for the rapidly growing latter.
I just want my cash, and the serenity of my Leawood estate.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, 5:44. Amazingly, you don't have to. You can live literally wherever the fuck you want within your personal pricerange. We even subsidize that choice by building the roads and sewers and electrical grid to allow you to live there, wherever you are. Even if you live "off the grid" we subsidize that. You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteBut you know what? Lots and lots of people do want to live downtown. That's why its the fastest growing part of the metro. That's why there are almost no rental vacancies.
5:45 PM that's fine but why should we pay for it when our neighborhoods are backlogged with deferred maintenance because city hall doesn't have a clue as to how to run a balanced budget? Why should cash that rightfully should be invested in a neighborhood be "kited" and laundered into this downtown streetcar deal?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else find it odd that Bob Berkebile's name keeps coming up with these projects in positions to influence public policy for his firms' profits?
ReplyDeleteSince Russ is so excited about this, let's deed the whole thing over to him and secure it with his house. If it doesn't bleed money and generates growth for the city, he cleans up. If not, he can sleep under his new Main Street bridge that already cost us a few million "unexpected" dollars.
ReplyDeleteThe problem these developers are running into is finding financing.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that comes to a potential loaners mind on a KC project is WEST EDGE.
One of the biggest development fiasco's in KC History. This thing is going to suck the soul out of KC taxpayers for a long time to come.
Great Idea. Russ Johnson put your assets up as collateral and put your money where your big yapper is!
ReplyDeleteSly James too! Come on Sly if your such a believer put your cash and assets up and on the table
ReplyDeleteCome on big boy!!
They have put their money on the table. Other peoples money.
ReplyDeleteIf the streetcar goes into red ink you think the City Council and their Crony Partners are going to pay for it? Or all the losses that will accrue?
ReplyDeleteDamn people what is it about gambling with your money you don't get?
Don't worry Polsinelli will buy the toy train for moving law cubicles if it goes under.
ReplyDeleteThen they can get into the ambulance chasing business with some style.
Heck even Hitler convinced the Germans brighter days and prosperity were coming when he first grabbed office.
ReplyDeleteProperty values are not going to go up for houses, they will go down. More taxes for kc failures(school district,sewers). If Midtown and Waldo have so much money to spend, why don't they pay for fixing their sewers instead of having the rest of the city pay.
ReplyDeleteShame the KCMO is headed toward bankruptcy.
ReplyDeleteOut of a metro population of 2.4 million, just 20,000 live in downtown KCMO, a pimple on a dinosaur's butt.
ReplyDeleteAnd anyone who thinks that downtown KCMO is an "urban environment" must have moved into town from a one stop light place like Wamego, Kansas.
The streetcar will be a sucking financial chest wound for the city long after the millenials have let their loft leases expire and dumped skinny jeans and latte's for a family in a safe neighborhood, good schools, and a yard for the kids to play in.
$200 million in bond payments over 20 years to play with a 3-5 year fad is financial malpractice and irresponsiblity.
City government has real responsiblities like public safety, water services, streets and sidewalks, managing storm water, and all the rest. But in KCMO it's run like an amateur investment firm or giant public ATM machine.
Some adult supervision is clearly required.
Choo Choo......I hear a Toy Train-a-comming. All aboard.
ReplyDelete719, stop! You're making the hipsters sad. They might move out of their "loft" aka one room kitchen/bathroom and back in with mom and dad if they're not entertained by a 2 mile train. We know they are too scared and too ignorant to ride the MAX bus that exactly follows the same route. They NEED this train.
ReplyDeleteThe best part of this project is that I don't live in KC proper.
ReplyDeleteNice diary!! nice Post !! Like your Blog and your concepts and that i assume its benificial for us and that i keep to go to your diary often as a result of i got ton of knowledge through you diary
ReplyDeleteTraining Your Dog
Suck it, tony, stretchy, Susie.
ReplyDeleteStaubio speaks without his consulting contract.
ReplyDeleteI send holiday FUCK YOUs (most sincerely) to the anti-KC HACKS of this blog...Yes, I know who your ringleader is ( :-) )....Soon the microscope will be crawling up all your asses and exposing all your corruption. It will be fun. And, oh, by the way, you can all just SUCK MY DICK!
ReplyDeleteThis city is starting to act like one or the first time since the 40's.
ReplyDeleteThe best part about not living in KC proper (besides leaching off it of course) is that I can spend my time on a blog about KC, commenting on issues that only affect KC proper, complaining about KC proper, and then preening about how I don't live there, as though it's cool to live in Lenexa and people are envious or something. Shockingly no one from KC proper post comments on the Lenexa blogs about the stupid tax drain tifs, star bonds, invited on TDDs, overbuilt roads and highways that never pay for themselves and other corporate welfare handouts that are our stock and trade.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who lives in the northland, I'm not sure what "KC proper" is.
ReplyDeleteAlmost half of KCMO's population lives north of the river and in fact, the population of the city south of the river continues to DECREASE. And recently $40 million in bonds were issued to exrend water and sewer services into farm fields in the northland, which the city says will support new residential housing for an additional 70,000 residents.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of tax dollars are being poured into a downtown in which office buildings that once were filled with companies and jobs are now half full of government employees and are being converted into studio apartments. And most of these "projects" are at least partially taxpayer subsidized. It seems an odd definition of financial success and more of us in the north are getting tired of watching every city account that can be found being emptied to pay for what can only be described as the latest think tank fad.
Other commenters are right; the hipsters and millenials who are so ga ga over this fiasco are renters who will age out, change their lifestyles, and soon be looking for safe places to live, raise a family, and work.
And only the debt will be left downtown.
The political division of the northland, particularly clay county, is exactly why the city didn't bother with a city-wide vote on this money pit. it would have failed.
DeleteThe northland gets screwed by this city. Poor police coverage, even worse ambulance and fire coverage, poor parks. But it's safe and the schools are not the joke like KCMO district. I'm a little tired of emptying my wallet into the money pit downtown.
(CNN) — Retail marijuana licenses issued by Colorado — the first in the nation — should arrive in the mail by the end of this week.
ReplyDeleteYou think the kids are going to want a toy train and and internet connection or legal weed and an internet connection?