Funny!

Oh, if only the escapades of *every* office could make front page news. No one would respect anyone ever again.

Nice catch!!! My hatred of all things JoCo sometimes needs more fuel. This should suffice for the next 20 years. Thanks!

Hello,

I’m a journalist at a Northland newspaper and I’m writing a story about KC bloggers. I’d love it if you could be a part of my story. Please email me as soon as you can if you’re interested.

Thanks!
Carol

I think Johnson County people sometimes forget that, if it were not for KCMO, JoCo would not exist.

To ChrisM70: and read in the voice of Darth Vader

come to the dark side….east of troost, and your journey to the dead zone will be complete.

Chris, I label you and the rest of JoCo because you’ve abandoned the city due to the “others” (blacks, white trash, hispanics, asians and bigots like me). Only on Sundays during football season do you pissants with KS JO plates cross over…and for the oft meal at Cheesecake on the Plaza to feed your rabid litters of white washed chitlins.

and for all you still guessing in JoCo…138 sounds about right doesn’t it? or is that number taken?

To Tim: Tim’s point seems to be “if there wasn’t a city, there wouldn’t be suburbs”. No kidding. And how successful would the city be if all of the suburbanites didn’t drive into work, spend their money and help support Kansas City? We’re all part of the metro area. I do sort of subscribe to idea that the suburbs are in many ways a horrible blight on America. But does that make every one that lives in them stupid or snobs? I would also question how much of what many believe to be “typical JoCo behavior” is something actually witnessed, or if it is something believed to be true through rumors and dislike of the area.

To blogkc: you said,”Right or wrong, Johnson Countians do have a very negative reputation among the rest of the city”. That would be WRONG. Just like it is wrong that many people in Kansas have a negative view of KCMO as being crappy schools, awful highways and crooked city councils. Some of that exits, but it shouldn’t define all of KCMO.

And to balzack: First off, I didn’t “abandon” KCMO – I MOVED to this area and chose to live near my work. If I could find a place,I would love to live downtown. However, it’s actually cheaper for me to live in North JoCo. I do agree that years ago people fled to the suburbs, and yes, many fled because of racial or economic fears, but what has KCMO done to lure them back? It’s up to the city to give people a REASON to live in the city. You can’t just say “Hey! You MUST live here or you are bad”. You should be happy that the “JoCo pissants” drive across the state line and GIVE your city their money. If things continue the way they might, those same people might decide to drive up to KCK and spend in near the Raceway – and stop spending their money in Missouri.

Hippstar,

Thanks for reinforcing the arrogance and bigotry that feeds the stereotype of the typical JoCoer. I ALMOST bought the argument that “We’re not all like that” until I read your comment.

Let us not forget, Johnson County wouldn’t be what it is without white flight.

Actually, Matt, Olathe is considered a suburb of KC, like it or not.

And the real reason that the JoCo folk tend to get bashed is the large number of them who are utter snobs about not being in the evil city. I know that I knew someone once who worked in KC and had major issues with paying the earnings tax. The snobbery came through in every word he said about the city.

Jim,

I know. Thats what i was alluding to. I’m down with the geography of kansas citys hinterland.

Matt

just a reminder.

1 Atlanta, GA
2 St. Louis, MO
3 Washington, D.C.
4 Cinncinnati, OH
[b]5 Kansas City, MO[/b]
6 Denver, CO
7 Seattle, WA
8 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
9 Ft. Lauderdale, FL
10 Chicago, IL

Ten Most Sprawl-Threatened Large Cities (Sierra Club)
Number Five: Kansas City

Kansas City has more freeway lane-miles per car than any other city in the country.

Lacking geographic limits like mountains and major water bodies, the Kansas City region has sprawled like topsy. The bi-state metro area has also been influenced by an extensive regional freeway system planned in the ’40s,

[b]***a state line that has made it difficult to get citizens to think of the region as a single entity*** [/b]

and a central-city school district situation that has stimulated white flight.

In late 1995, an award-winning series in the Kansas City Star explored the causes and effects of sprawl. The series title says it all: “Divided We Sprawl.” And while there is growing concern in Kansas City about sprawl, the region has yet to take the problem seriously. The word “sprawl” just isn’t uttered in polite circles.

Increased federal transportation funding promised in the TEA-21 bill recently signed by President Clinton is likely to only make things worse, as it will be possible to build most of the sprawl-promoting suburban road projects that local governments have on their wish lists. Kansas City already enjoys the dubious distinction of having more freeway lane-miles per capita than any other city in the country. The percentage of work trips made by people driving alone is 79.7 percent, above the national average of 73.2 percent (Kansas City Star).

Public transit is inadequate, as indicated by the fact that transit ridership per capita in Kansas City is only one-third the average of a dozen other cities of similar size. While there is currently a major effort to improve transit, the region still has no formally adopted long-range transit plan.

Large-scale development projects in the suburban fringe continue to occur. Sprint is building a 200-acre office campus near the southwest edge of the metro area to house most of its 14,000 employees. Harley-Davidson built a new plant at the north edge of the area using tax incentives intended for core city areas. A NASCAR racetrack and Land of Oz theme park are being planned at the western edge of the region.

Some hopeful signs that Kansas City may slow its unrestrained expansion have begun to appear. In response to citizen protests in 1995, suburban Johnson County decided against building the “21st Century Parkway,” an outer belt highway intended to promote more development.

In 1997, following a five-year process that involved thousands of citizens, the Kansas City, (Mo.,) City Council adopted a new comprehensive plan, the city’s first since 1947. Called FOCUS (Forging Our Comprehensive Urban Strategy), the plan lays out policy guidelines to strengthen the urban core into an area where it will be possible to make most trips using public transit and non-motorized modes. However, with some 150 square miles of undeveloped land within the city limits and continuing competition for development from suburban jurisdictions, FOCUS had to include “quality suburban development” as well.

Another positive sign is the spirit of regionalism reflected in a sales tax increase passed in 1996 by voters of four counties to restore Union Station as a “Science City” museum. And the Mid-America Regional Council, the region’s metropolitan planning organization, recently received a three-year grant from the EPA to promote more sustainable land development policies and practices.

who cares?
A couple less Niggers killed by other Niggers is a good thing.

while everyone was busy bashing joco and leawood, did anyone notice that a very, very, small percentage of leawood’s city employees actually live in leawood.

matt, I’m fully aware of geography, I just misspoke. The main underlying point of my comment was that not all Johnson County residents fit under the stereotype of “snotty rich people”. Granted, there are those kind people in Johnson County, but there are quite a few in KCMO also. I still believe the main reason why people moved to Johnson County, my family included, was to get a decent public education. My family used to live in KCMO and loved it, and I wish we still lived there, but the schools were the reason for us moving. KCMO schools need to turn themselves around.

Leawood J, that’s an excellent point…and true.

Go to some parts of JoCo (especially 75th & Nieman vicinity) and tell me it’s not “the hood”. What a f*%king dumpy area.