> "Have you seen Kansas City lately? This city is experiencing $6
> billion investment in development and improvements, the biggest
> building boom in over 35 years. From a world-class sports and
> entertainment arena (The Sprint Center), a Moshe Safdie-designed
> performing arts center (Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts), and
> a nine block entertainment district, to long-needed civic
> improvements, just about every citizen will benefit from the positive
> changes in Kansas City under the leadership of City Manager Wayne A.
> Cauthen."
>
> Nine straight blocks of entertainment—match that, Astoria.
>
> Bring on the trend pieces! Broke artists are flocking to the Midwest
> to replace all the kids whose parents paid for them to flock out
> here! If Kansas City has half the success of, say, Omaha, they'll
> have their own Bright Eyes by the end of the decade, who can lead a
> cultural revival and then move to the Lower East Side once he gets rich.
Uh oh! Word is getting out to the wrong people.
There are several factors at work here. There is all this new development coming online around the city, most prominently in the downtown loop. The city opened the new Sprint Center last week, which I'm now calling the "Crystal Turd." The Sprint Center is supposed to be a basketball/hockey arena, but since they haven't landed any pro teams for this corporate welfare project, they are using it for Elton John, Garth Brooks, and Hannah Montana concerts. The Crystal Turd is anchoring the east side of this bullshit development called the "Power and Light" District. This development is behind schedule, but when it opens it will be several blocks of corporate chains and unofficially privatized streets and sidewalks. Meanwhile, the more organically developed Crossroads Arts District to the south is being taken over by the yuppies, who finally feel safe to move into the condos there. They even have a wine store in the Crossroads now.
Meanwhile, artists are being forced out of the downtown and Crossroads area. Some are coming to the infoshop's neighborhood, but it will be years before the neighborhood sees any gentrification. Given how the economy is going, I suspect that the Troost corridor will never see gentrification on a significant scale.
The story is somewhat correct that artists are flocking to Kansas City, but they aren't coming here because of the multi-billion dollar Cupcakeland set pieces. Kansas City has an excellent arts scene and there are lots of jobs here in design, advertising and construction. Kansas City has some prominent advertising agencies--my little sister works for one and I've interviwed with others this year. We also have Hallmark.
Yes, there is an ongoing influx of artists, hipsters AND radicals into Kansas City. People are drawn here because the cost of living is more affordable, the quality of life is good, we have a good climate, and there are jobs. I'm running into more and more radicals and artists, especially people in their 30s and 40s, who have moved here from the coasts. I know one radical librarian who recently moved here from San Francisco, as well as another prominent artist who also came from SF.
Te most common reason for moving to KC I hear is that the living elsewhere was too expensive.
We are also seeing an influx of anarchists from around the Midwest and cities like Asheville, Minneapolis and Boston. Some people wonder why I don't move to one of the coasts. Well, it's cheap to live here and the radical movement here is growing quickly.
More at my blog: http://chuck.mahost.org/weblog/
Chuck