Kansas City Playlist: Streetcar End Run?!?

Amid all the hype and fanfare, of course, we share a moment of doubt about development dreams and so much hope for Kansas City's streetcar to spark economic growth during the current American downturn. 

Basically . . . 

The starter line had little effect on the fortunes of downtown Kansas City and so it's very unlikely that the extension will ignite a Midtown boom.

Sure, it's nice to watch tourists come through town . . . BUT . . . 

The additional foot traffic isn't anything that could justify 350 MILLIONS BUCKS worth of investment along with MILLIONS MORE in maintenance. 

The reality is that the streetcar end line of the line is on the Country Club Plaza where more than 50 storefronts remain vacant and local leaders struggle to build without even more government subsidy. 

Moreover . . .

What we witnessed this week is likely the last streetcar build of this era in Kansas City.  

Still . . .  

There's no denying this town's hope/hype for the streetcar and so much fanfare inspires our www.TonysKansasCity.com playlist on the topic of trains . . .

Ozzy's Crazy Train is a great place to start if only because, sadly, the cold war themes still seem relevant.

Again, as always, Saturday night is for nostalgia and so Long-Train Running by The Doobie Brothers offers another upbeat tribute to local transit hopes.

Nex up . . . Johnny Cash & Folsom Prison Blues if only because very few locals want to talk about added security for the toy train in some of the rougher sections of Midtown Kansas City.

For the bridge, just a bit of political context from Jethro Tull . . . "Locomotive Breath" was inspired by Ian Anderson's concern regarding overpopulation. He explained, "It was my first song that was perhaps on a topic that would be a little more appropriate to today's world. It was about the runaway train of population growth and capitalism, it was based on those sorts of unstoppable ideas. We're on this crazy train, we can't get off it. Where is it going? Bearing in mind, of course, when I was born in 1947, the population of planet earth was slightly less than a third of what it is today, so it should be a sobering thought that in one man's lifetime, our planetary population has more than tripled. You'd think population growth would have brought prosperity, happiness, food and a reasonable spread of wealth, but quite the opposite has happened. And is happening even more to this day. Without putting it into too much literal detail, that was what lay behind that song."

Finally, it's not all so glum around our dump of a blog and "This Train" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe might speak to so much hope that locals have for the future of this transit endeavor and Kansas City.

As always, thanks for reading this week and have a safe & fun Saturday night.