New Royals Stadium Confronts Downtown Kansas City Crime Crisis

Over the weekend, a massive brawl and deadly shooting near the Crossroads reminds us that live in and around the loop continues to be more dangerous than most places in Kansas City and could threaten the future of the new stadium. 

One TOP ECHELON INSIDER reminds us . . . 

"Notice owners talking about parking and a 10 minute walk from the stadium like it's no big deal. I wouldn't advise anyone to try and take a late night walk at 25th & Gillham any night of the week. And is this plan going to send tens of thousands of baseball fans wandering into the urban core after dark looking for their car??? Sorry if that won't sound like a great idea for most families concerned about their safety." 

And this fact of life inspired us to dig through the www.TonysKansasCity.com archives just a bit . . .

Remember that crime was a major concern for downtown stadium opponents and SOME OF THE VERY SAME DATA NOW APPLIES TO THE NEW PLAN. 

And so . . . 

Whilst locals celebrate the greeting card partnership with the home team . . . The reality is that the data shows us a VERY DIFFERENT situation for fans walking back to their cars after a night game at the K vs. the new digs near the downtown loop.

Check the juxtaposition . . .  

"Crime 1 mile from the proposed site is nearly ONE HUNDRED times worse than at the current stadiums. In 2023, there were a total of 77 separate crimes reported at both Arrowhead and Kauffman during the year. But 1 mile from the proposed stadium site downtown there were 6,882 separate crimes reported. There were 7 stolen autos from the Kauffman complex during 2023; there were 1,344 stolen autos within 1 mile from the proposed stadium. That is more than 4 cars stolen per day. There were more than 1,000 cars broken into or had parts stolen from them 1 mile from the proposed site; 7 from the Kauffman Stadium. There were 12 murders, 25 rapes, and 70 instances of armed robbery, as well as 180 hit and runs within a mile from the downtown site. There were 11 hit and runs at Kauffman and Arrowhead during 2023, and none of the violent crimes occurred there." 

Developing . . .