Returning Councilman

This week my attention was drawn to the latest edition of "The Hyde Parker", the newsletter of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association, specifically an article about returning City Council Member Jim Glover.

Glover addresses a number of issues that are recurring concerns of this blog.  So I would like to respond to what he has to say.  I realize, Mr. Glover, that you don't know who I am.  So there's no reason you should listen to what I have to say.  I hope you'll take this as food for thought and realize there are others in your district who agree with my opinions.

Glover favors a systematic partnership with realtors and neighborhood groups to use economic data to both change perceptions and highlight the value of urban living.  "Much of the real estate industry is still showing Johnson County when people move here.  We've all suffered because of it."

I agree in principal, though I hope this partnership is not too overly balanced in favor of realtors.  I've long felt that one of the problems with local government isn't local government per se.  It's that business interests have paid representatives who show up to every meeting while citizens only show up when there is a crisis.  Often that's the only time they can.  There are other problems of course.  But that's another post.

"The key to improving property values west of Troost is to effectively address perceptions and issues to the east."

Once again, I agree. The political key to this is avoiding the gentrification issue, the specter of the affluent pushing out the poor. Provisions for low income housing in dispersed apartment complexes is a good start (more on this later).

Thanks to low property values, people of modest means are sometimes property owners in blighted areas. Contrary to popular belief many of these folks do their best to maintain their properties.  These people should be able to stay in their properties if the area around them gentrifies.  It might dilute some of the class friction that the West side had when it started to gentrify.  If Missouri doesn't have a homesteading law, will you lobby for one?  Will you put this on the city's legislative priorities for the next session?

Speaking of Troost, have you ever considered that the problem with said street isn't the street itself?  Have you considered that it's the density east of Troost that's the problem.  Have you seen how many vacant lots are over there?  If everything else were equal—if the populations on either side of Troost were racially and economically homogeneous—any business that drew customers from the surrounding community would prefer Broadway or Main.

Regarding the Home Depot and Costco at Main and Linwood: A former American Institute of Architects KC chapter president denounced the the plan as a bricks and mortar dinosaur.

I'm with the architect on this one, though I'm not inclined to be too hard on you. You were probably told, "our way or nothing."  Here's the thing.  Many (most?) of us who live in midtown want a more urban environment.  I'm using 'urban' in the sense of 'human scale' and 'walkable', not in the sense of tenement slums.  There are cities that are as much as twenty years ahead of us in revitalizing their historic areas.  Surely there are business entities who already know how to function in an urban environment.  May I suggest that next time you attempt something like the Main and Linwood area, that you seek out these companies instead?

Regarding Main and Linwood, Glover said, "It's one of the few TIF's we've had that pays for itself."

Bravo!  Fewer incentives. More like that one.

"Glover says he'll be pushing to have the E-tax revenue specifically and formally dedicated to ongoing utility infrastructure and maintenance.

I would also allow it's use for emergency services.  Then it would fund the services that non-residents use or may possibly use.  I would also start developing a long term plan to live without it.  I voted for the E-tax, and have even defended it.  But I think it's days are numbered.

Regarding section 8 housing on Armour Boulevard: "We should find the best way to create a diverse, more dispersed housing mix."

I've believed this for years.  Concentrated poverty leads to higher aggregate crime rates.  When people hear that they don't hear all the words.  What they hear is 'poverty leads to crime'.  This is a complicated issue.  It goes without saying that criminals are frequently from the lower classes.  That does not mean that everyone from the lower classes is a criminal.  For whatever reason, the concentration of the lower classes reduces the conditions that inhibit criminal behavior.  I've spoken to many in midtown who understand the fine distinctions.  The affluent in less mixed parts of the city do not.  Which is why I say I hope you can pull it off, but I'm not betting on it.

In conclusion, Councilman Glover, I wish you luck in the next four years.