@BlogKCFor the last couple of years a film crew has been documenting Kansas City’s enormous multi-billion dollar Downtown reconstruction. That documentary is due to be finished next year, but a sneak peak is now available online.
Mending the Heart of an American City documentary project web site.
It’s great that they’re doing this project, but if this clip is any indication, should they really be calling this a documentary?
Maybe docu-PR or docu-feel-good.
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KC is a great city, and is emerging as an ever-greater one. There is not one aspect of KC that is not improving, and now we’re making strides to reverse the horrible sprawl…
Tim,
I might possibly go along with this on a good day:
“KC is a great city, and is emerging as an ever-greater one.”
But this just makes me throw up a little in my mouth:
“There is not one aspect of KC that is not improving …”
Here are three words that negate that sunshiney bullshit: East of Troost.
I go East of Troost from time to time, and I think it’s getting better too. The 18th & Vine district, Shops on Blue Parkway. The improvements may be slower and not as obvious, but they are there. And there’s a growing sense of community in a lot of those neighborhoods. And that’s not a bad thing anywhere.
There are vast areas between 18th and Vine and the Shops on Blue Parkway that have remained unimproved. Two development projects that receive a large amount of public subsidies does not a renaissance make.
Drive down Troost from 18th to 85th Street. With very few exceptions, that stretch of road has gotten worse, not better, in a “development” sense.
And if that wasn’t enough, crime stats aren’t all that great (nor the police response) and the school district still sucks.
I should have added:
It’s hard to argue “There is not one aspect of KC that is not improving …” when roughly half the city is habitually ignored.
Most cities face the same issues. It’s not unique to KC by a long shot. It’s not even unique to the United States. These problems exist in a variety of places including some that wouldn’t come to mind such as Montreal. If you keep waiting for perfect, you will die unhappy and disappointed.