I Failed KC

Tony has a very amusing post today letting everyone know that it is people like me that are ruining Kansas City.

http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2006/11/kansas-city-voters-have-failed-us-all.html

I'll just giggle for now. Updates coming.

See America - Stay Inside!

I was given a unique opportunity when I attended a conference for work this week. Though it was just a short walk for me, most of the other attendees had just flown into the city. I have attended conferences before, but I've never had the chance to see one in my own city and to see how people react to it.

You would think that, given the opportunity to spend time in a new place, that people would embrace the chance to see the city and experience its quirks and charms. When sitting down for breakfast, I settled in to learn about my fellow convention-goers' experiences from the evening before. I was excited to hear the impressions of the city from the same people that were pleasantly surprised to find out that Kansas City isn't a wheat field the day before.

The first group of guys chime in. They went to the casino. They spent their night in a completely different city rich with opportunities for new experiences in a dark manufactured room playing card games and pulling a handle.

Another group? They went shopping. Assuming maybe they took in the magnificent Country Club Plaza, I listened intently for impressions. Nope. They went somewhere enclosed. I didn't inquire. They spent their time in a new place shopping at chain stores that they have at home.

Is this really what people want? People are treating entire cities as franchise locations, each one with the same offerings and the same things to pass the time. There is no need to try to see anything new as there is something predictable readily available. What does this mean to the identity of our great cities?

Sooner or later, someone will build a runway, a convention hotel, a casino and a mall all connected in the middle of the desert. Context doesn't matter. You've got everything you could ever want right there without the pesky temptation to actually see something new.

When did we get so lazy and completely lose our creativity? Genuine character is obsolete as the sense of discovery is all but dead. If it is worth seeing or doing, it will be marketed as such.

Far be it for anyone to ask for a bit more.

Hiding Behind Hybrid

As a guy that is a celebrity for being self-righteous and defiant about his transportation choices, I find it interesting how many people want to volunteer the fact that they are "considering" a hybrid vehicle to replace their current behemoths. I smile insincerely, as it is better than nothing, but the truth is that I'm not impressed.

Tonight I saw the clincher. "Support America: Get 40 Miles Per Gallon!"

I saw that gem on the bumper sticker of a hybrid in Lenexa. It was motoring along a feeder road to points further into the sprawl. Thanks to that handy hybrid, this lady could live a car dependent lifestyle with joy and ease, guilt covered by the 15 MPG improvement over the cars around her.

It seems that hybrids aren't so much selling fuel efficiency as much as they are selling a get-out-of-jail-free card for the buyer's conscience. In fact, some hybrids offer only marginal fuel economy gains. There are hybrid SUVs that get worse economy than most standard cars.

Driving a hybrid? Great, you are still driving and still creating pollution. Interestingly, in order for a hybrid to make economic sense, one must drive it more than average. I'm sure the sense of satisfaction that many buyers get from hybrids probably make them feel like they can drive it as much as they want without thinking about it. Hey, it's a hybrid!

For me, pollution and fuel consumption are only part of the reason I try to avoid driving. We're still obsessed with road construction, parking lots, car-centric development and massively scaled and sprawling communities. Saving 10 miles per gallon isn't going to fix that problem. Hybrids aren't going to fix Lenexa.

Instead of making ourselves feel better about driving, let's figure out how we can live without it.

Macho Marketing

In the days leading up to the Super Bowl, there was a bit of controversy over an ad that depicted a semi tractor-trailer barreling down residential streets and forcing smaller cars off the road. A trucking industry group was rightfully concerned that this ad reinforced negative stereotypes about the drivers in their industry.

If the group was paying attention, they'd know that they aren't the first victims of a new craze of "macho marketing," a movement apparently attempting to appeal to those who want to buy themselves some tough.

The ad in question is for a sports drink and it depicts this semi rolling through neighborhoods. As manly men see it pass, they take up some sort of manly activity and pursue it. By the end, there is a big studly procession following as the semi forces the Red Bull truck off the road.

I first noticed this trend when I picked up my normal body wash. Though not very manly, I like body wash because it works better. However, that wouldn't be a good enough reason had I not been reassured by the packaging that the product "won't wash away testosterone."

Phew, close one. I was on the verge of being less manly.

The sad thing is that these pleas appeal to the lowest element of masculinity -- the competitive, insecure, tough-guy, fight-fight-fight inner self that is just dying to be given a marketing rational to abandon rational thought.

Are men really so insecure that these tactics work?

Bus buddies and those who need them

Last night, I sauntered outside as twilight was fading to make my way to the bus stop. I usually scope out the stop to see who else is waiting and try to strike up a conversation with people there is they looked bored and agreeable. I've developed a couple of "bus buddies" this way -- people I run into every week or two that live in the neighborhood. It is a nice way to share the walk from the final stop and it is a great way to pass the time on the bus.

After Christmas, I had posted my concerns about the impact my newly acquired MP3 player on my bus experience. I've found that I can't keep it turned on for more than a few minutes as I'm either listening to someone's conversation or participating in my own. I like determining each driver's unique demeanor and I like the wild variety of stuff people discuss on board.

I was talking with my bus buddy, which prevented me from zoning out, when a girl that was obviously unfamiliar with the bus and a bit uncomfortable braved to ask the surly bus driver where to get off for the library. We were at 9th and Oak, already well past the ideal stop for the library and the girl bravely tried to figure out what she should do.

My bus buddy and I took the case, telling her that she missed the best stop but she could get off at 9th and Grand and head to 10th and down the hill. As we were trying to give directions, the driver interrupted, saying "all you have to do is get off up there, it ain't no big deal" while we were trying to make her comfortable with her journey to the library. As we pulled up to the stop, we had to let her know that she should get off here.

You can always tell when people are new to the bus and a friendly driver can make a world of difference. It is an intimidating thing for those that aren't very adventurous. I'm glad I was paying attention so we could help.

I hope we didn't lose this girl to the scary driver. I hope she made it to the library after an enjoyable walk through downtown.

Maybe I'll see this new girl again and we can be bus buddies. As we chat, we'll be ready to help the next brave rider in need of a buddy.

Tony has broughten it

If I had to read just one Kansas City related blog, it would probably be the prolific Tony's Kansas City, an often irreverent and oversimplified but painstakingly updated and funny look at what goes on in KC. I often agree with Tony, particularly in his frustrations with the Star. One frustrating element, however, is that Tony likes to complain about white people and their disassociation with and marginalization of minorities. It is humorous, but not so much so as it is tiresome, particularly when he contradicts himself with a rant about white people that ride the bus.

Tony's rant is that riding the bus "does not make you unique," as if riding the bus was just something people do to be cool and if you aren't poor and non-white, you are a poser.

On the contrary, riding the bus DOES make one unique simply by virtue of it being a rather exclusive activity, particularly among annoying white urbanites like me. The vast majority of trips taken in Kansas City are taken by car, so those that choose to use the bus, particularly with a car available, have made a conscience choice to be different.

I don't quite understand Tony's hostility toward young white people who are willing to take advantage of a transportation solution that so many poor minorities rely upon. Would he prefer that those whities kept to themselves in their safe automobile enclaves, further encouraging a disparity of opportunity between rich and poor and an ignorance toward alternative transportation? In one post, he complains about white people and their ignorance toward minority issues. In the next, he complains that white people are doing the "poor" thing and riding the bus.

If riding the bus becomes some sort of moral vanity, it is a good thing. Increasing the awareness of the bus is good for those riders that rely upon it. Increasing ridership means that those poor, non-white people we white people hate so much will have better transportation options and increased mobility.

Tony suggests that we attach all of the "white people with glasses" to rickshaws and make them useful. What of the people commuting by car? Are these people somehow more useful because they won't ever even have to talk to a person that isn't exactly like them, their entire life being their garage, their office and racist talk radio in between?

Good for us annoying white people who want to ride the bus. We should feel self satisfied. It does make a difference, however small, and it is more than sustainability and the environment at play, which most people don't take the time to realize. There are racial aspects and quality of life aspects. When destinations don't need a parking spot for every person, our city becomes a better environment that brings more opportunity to everyone. Attacking the satisfaction of bus riders smacks of the ignorance that is often employed to dismiss the bus as an option only for the poorest people so one doesn't have to think about their transportation choices or the impact they have on the community.

I guess in Tony's world, the only explanation for a white person that isn't racist is that he is a self-righteous poser. Hmm, which one should I choose?

The Anita Gorman Exposé

Anita Gorman is a well-respected community leader who has won recognition for her contributions to the cause of conservation. She was chairman of the Missouri Conservation Commission, president of the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners and had a park named after her when she retired from that post. The Discovery Center, an urban conservation area along Brush Creek, bears her name. She has figured prominently in several fundraising and charity events and serves on a handful of honorary commissions. Basically, she is a local hero.

Last night, she called me pathetic.

I was participating in a discussion at a public forum regarding the Riverfront Park development being pursued by the Port Authority. One of the discussion-inducing questions was "can you imagine this park without parking in it?," in response to which Gorman immediately became incredulous.

The development is involving some of the best consultants in mixed-used development and urban parks available, and the plan is advocating the leveraging of the adjacent neighborhood to provide event parking. More than 800 on-street spaces will be provided in the neighborhood, in addition to the private parking accommodations of the residents and an independent parking supply for the office space.

Gorman shook her head adamantly.

"You need to let these people know that they aren't getting it when it comes to parking," she said. I indicated, in turn, that I could absolutely envision the park without independent parking. It could leverage the plentiful parking in the area that would only be needed during off-peak times, all without destroying the park in the process.

Clutching her car keys in hand, Gorman began to stare me down. It was immediately clear that she is used to people reverently listening when she speaks, yielding to her legacy. In reaction, she evoked it, discrediting me with a smirk and sharing credentials like "I have been in KC longer than many of you [me] have been alive" and when events were held in Loose Park, neighbors were upset by the impact to the neighborhood. She laughed at the consultants suggestion that we re-route Riverfront Drive, saying the Kansas Citians can surely cross a street while missing the point that the sense of flow and connectivity was at play, not the ability to cross. She advocated keeping the street to accommodate a "sea of parking" for events.

I countered that the layout, connections and neighborhoods that will be near this park couldn't be more different than Loose Park and that a mixed use development is designed differently than a low-density, single-family homes neighborhood of mostly affluent people like the area around Loose Park. I also said that those who choose to live in such a development make a lifestyle choice that includes such complications as people coming in from outside of the neighborhood. In fact, we welcome it.

My continued deviation from her gospel clearly irritated her, and at this point it was visible on her face and apparent in her rushed delivery. She told me that "you'll never change things in Kansas City," "it won't work here," "you don't understand," etc, before ending with "you really are quite pathetic," to the shock of me and the others in attendance.

When challenged to defend her position, she made no defense other than to cite her legacy and then, failing that, to childishly call names.

In our only true riverfront space in Kansas City, this "conservation hero" wanted to make sure there was plenty of parking for her sport utility, despite the fact that parking would sit unused on the vast majority of days, adjacent parking would go underutilized and density and connectivity to the park would be lost.

For this park to be great, things are going to have to change in Kansas City, and they already have and continue to do so. I know because I'm paying attention and I'm an agent of change, not a member of an outdated way of thinking. I may not count for much, but I care about doing things right and I refuse to believe any tired stereotype about our city.

Perhaps everyone who yields to Anita Gorman out of respect alone should put a little more faith in our city and a little less faith in her outdated viewpoint and her childish tactics. I was very disappointed that this respected community symbol, a conservation hero who ironically falls in favor of more parking lots, could not have a constructive conversation about an important topic without attempting to immediately discredit me and call me names, all while undermining the thought that Kansas City can really become world-class.

On the way out, Gorman gave me an insincere smile while carefully analyzing my nametag to remember my name and then gave me the patronizing finale: "Now, Matthew, you won't be too upset if we just have a few parking spaces in our park, now, will you?" I'm sure I'm a marked man now.

Plenty of other people were there to see this and I hope they don't forget her behavior. I certainly won't, and I certainly won't let her legacy stand in the way of the legacy of our city and our return to the river.

If that makes me pathetic, so be it.

Awash in fresh, clear consumerism

Last night, I grew angry when I saw yet another person cart the warehouse-store sized gazillion pack of tiny water bottles into their home.

If you would tell our grandparents that we would be buying water in plastic bottles simply to drink, I should hope they would have called us idiots. It is something that was undoubtedly and should still be an absurd concept, but at some point, someone somewhere figured the right mixture of marketing and trend-setting could convince a gullible public that they needed their water out of a bottle.

I'm not quite sure what compels people to buy water like this. I assume for many it is a combination of laziness and a lack of a sense of consequence. With a bottle of water, you don't have to go through the hassle of filling up the container or carrying it home empty. You just grab that convenient serving size, sip it and then toss the container when you are done. Ahh, refreshing!

Still others probably think that the water is healthier than the stuff that comes out of the faucet.

Isn't it ironic that we're worried about the safety of our water because of all of the pollution we are causing, so we solve the problem by transporting our water in containers that are one of the single most significant presences at landfills? Instead of employing an efficient pipe to bring us water, we're counting on trucks, trains and boats and all of the destructive infrastructure they depend on, just to take a sip.

Maybe if bottled water was really healthier than its tap equivalent, we could begin to talk about whether or not it is worth the other costs -- but it ISN'T. Kansas City has some of the best rated tap water in the country, and regulations controlling water quality from public utilities are more stringent than the FDA's regulation of bottled water.

Yes, your tap water is held to a higher standard, but it has a far smaller marketing budget.

The answer to that age old question "if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you too?" has been answered many times over, resoundingly. Yes, we would, and we do everyday. We've been convinced to act destructively by companies that are more than willing to plummet face first into the rocks, as long as plenty of people come with them and bring their wallets.

With the amount of money that we spend on bottled water, we could do a lot of cleaning up. We could make sure everyone had access to safe, clean tap water no matter where they were, and we wouldn't need a complicated supply chain to get it there. We could protect our water supply instead of pulling it from other places and often causing shortages there.

The American Way is out of sight, out of mind, though, and nobody shall infringe upon our right to our Dasani.

Next up, bottled air, so we can all get a breath of fresh country air, brought to you via long haul diesel truck.

Key Economic Indicators

Recently departed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was famous for his interest in mundane statistics and what they meant to the larger economic picture. He tied standard indicators like the consumer price index in with funky ones, like the number of cardboard boxes that were ordered in the quarter, to try to get the clearest picture of how things were doing in the economy.

Like Greenspan, I'm a curious sort, and I'm pretty much constantly observing that world around me. Our human brains were given the added feature of reasoning, so I also attempt to derive meaning from those observations. As anyone that reads this blog knows, I'm very interested in the health and growth of the city, so I often tie my empirical observation in with other growth metrics. Like Greenspan, the typical urban health metrics aren't enough for me.

Here are some I subconsciously use:

Number of young, attractive people on the bus:
This metric has weight on a couple of different levels. First of all, attractive young people attract attractive young people. Downtown needs to be the "happening" place, and people will be attracted to areas where they can meet and interact with exciting, interesting and attractive people.

The bus element is even more critical, as it shows that young people are abandoning the negative stereotypes about the bus, even if they have the means to drive. More young people on the bus means more people wanting to advocate a truly urban lifestyle instead of bringing a drive in, drive out mentality with them, and it means one less parking spot used at their destination.

Central Library bustle:
KC's new Central Library is a great accomplishment for the greater downtown cause. A conversion of an old bank building, it features an ornate setting with lots of space for people to use its resources. When I see people that are likely downtown residents using the library, I know that they are educated and interested in culture. Most importantly, they probably walked to the library, adding life and bustle to the streets.

Office Chit-Chat:
I came from a company that might as well have been in another country from the urban core of Kansas City, where most of the employees lived very isolated lives with little interest in the city center. Now, I work downtown and I get a different view. There are still plenty of people that complain about the city for the various tired reasons, but there are also a lot of people that are interested and excited about what is happening downtown. Every time someone asks me what they are building here or there or tells me they tried a new restaurant downtown, I know that is someone that has opened their eyes to the excitement of downtown. The chatter is good.

Bicycles:
Like the bus, this points to alternative transportation and all of the benefits that comes with. It also puts people on the street in a human-scaled way.

People Talking:
When people stop using the city as the place they work or the place they pass through on the way to other places, they start to interact with it. When people live here, they start to form a community with others that live here. Too often, I see people in isolation, focused only on their own paths without regard to the world around them. So, when there are a few people chatting on a street corner, making small talk at a bus stop or sitting around in a street-facing restaurant window shooting the breeze after a meal, I know downtown is becoming more of a community and less of just a place.

Amtrak:
When the trains let out at Union Station, the passengers enter one of our grand public spaces and walk to hotels or transit to begin enjoying the city. Straight to the heart of it all, no parking required.

Tourists/Directions:
When you think of hot vacation destinations, you don't often think Kansas City, so when I give people directions or hear people talking about KC from an outsiders perspective, I know that someone is being exposed to what is an underappreciated place. Tourism often places people on the streets, fills up the restaurants and supports transit. If tourists can use and love our resources, so can the people whose hearts we are trying to win over from the fringes of the metro. Hopefully, after I provide directions, that person will find their way again.

Good beer on tap:
This one might just be personal bias, but when I go to bars that have good, less common beer available on tap, I feel like the market it getting more sophisticated. When I see people opt for a local Boulevard draught over St. Louis swill, I feel good about the money that is pumping back into the local economy and that presence of mind or good taste of the consumer who makes that decision. Bars become places to enjoy and commune and less places to drink as much cheap alcohol as possible before getting sick on the way home.

Taxis:
This one is like the bus one, only without all the bus stuff. A little discouraging if the bus was a good alternative, but just as satisfying after the busses stop running or to strange places with multiple people.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Because I am deeply involved in all of this, I feel as if I can tell you more about what is happening in the city than anyone with "traditional" data at their fingertips.

My analysis? Regression analysis points to a distinct... er, who am I kidding? I don't have time for that, I'm too busy talking to young people on the bus, passing an ever-busier library on my way to my downtown home. Ah, community.

Microwave on high until help arrives

While many people degrade the experience of the standard office job, it does provide valuable experience. The lessons are both professionally relevant and personally useful, depending on the context. Today, my brain was conditioned to associate someone letting a microwave cook indefinitely with big red trucks pulling up in front of the office.

Yes, a very small portion of my office, approximately the size of the inside of a break room microwave, caught fire today. The forsaken lunch was a total loss.

There were a few things that struck me as profound about this experience. First of all, the building I work in has a lot of people in it. I seldom see more than 10 people in one place and I'll see a steady trickle of cars leaving the garage at night. When the building spills its contents onto the sidewalk, there are people everywhere. I can only imagine what it would be like if even half of these people walked around outside from time to time, or arrived via bus or foot. A snapshot of those sidewalks at that time would have looked like Tokyo. More importantly, those people brought life to the streets. They interacted with their surroundings. They dropped into neighboring buildings they may not otherwise visit. They lived my life - the human-scaled existence - for a few minutes.

One of the places that the horde ducked into was Union Station, which is hosting a rather impressive can sculpture contest to provide food for the food banks. It was a rather cold day, with a wind that made it uncomfortable to stand around for long, and people used Union Station to pass the time and keep warm. I wonder if anyone realized how nice it was to have a public place to step into and enjoy, or at least to stay warm, that is available to everyone. I'm sure it was taken for granted and I'm sure the commuters who motor home to their suburban communities will still complain about the taxes that went to save our grand station -- one of the rare times that outsiders contribute to our regional attractions.

Another cool thing about fire evacuations is that they make everyone equal. The CEO of the company and the janitors all have to head outside as part of the same drill. Nobody is above it and everyone suffers the same plight. One had no choice but to go out into the street and wait it out.

I think we need to have grand fire drills. It will force us to get out on the street and see what things look like from our own perspectives. It will make us walk around and talk to other people. It will make us experience things we should be experiencing anyway, if we're living richly.

Instead, we're too busy to even grab our lunches out of the microwave.

Character Development

I'm starting to get involved with a new project at work and with that comes the meetings and the new people that I'll be associated with. On Friday, I immediately felt as if I recognized one of the participants. I glanced at her occassionally, trying to place her, when it finally hit me.

It wasn't her that I knew, but she reminded me of somebody. The somebody she reminded me of, I finally realized, was Geanie Bowen. I met Geanie a week earlier via another Kansas Citian -- the Kansas Citian that created her.

Geanie Bowen is a character in the book I referenced earlier and finished last week, and the woman in the meeting I attended looked exactly like I had pictured Geanie from the book. The likeness was so profound and my image of Geanie so developed that my mind attempted to associate reality with fiction.

I was careful not to regard Geanie's likeness like I would have the character herself.

It is a testament to the power of imagination and of engrossing writing that one can have an automatic response to someone that isn't even real. She reminded me of someone I know -- someone I know from a good book.

Picket Fences

I'm currently engrossed in Whitney Terrell's novel The King of Kings County, an account of the development of the Kansas-side suburbs of Kansas City that thinly veils some real players and some real tactics. The story is a "coming of age" bit about the son of an aspiring developer who becomes involved with Prudential Bowen, who is doubtlessly modeled after prolific KC real estate mogel J.C. Nichols.

The story is powerful, however, in that it makes its point in a story that has the son riding along. It doesn't pontificate directly, but it makes one think. It is an added perk that I recognize many of the areas mentioned in the book.

It is clear that Whitney and I share the same views regarding the responsibility of ones choice of residence. It is implicit in the book. It is expressed in this quotation I found from an interview:

“The idea that just because you don’t know how your neighborhood was formed ... doesn’t mean that you aren’t an active participant in a society or a city that has chosen to divide itself up that way. I guess the argument would be that Kansas Citians and Americans know how segregation works, and in public they’re against it, but in private, in the way that they buy their houses, they still enforce that old system.”

Buy the book. Read the book. Enjoy the book.

Journalism Found Dead After 41 Hours

I picked up a copy of the paper from the coffee shop on Wednesday because I was struck by the headline: "12 Miners Alive After 41 Hours." I knew from NPR's Morning Edition that morning that the headline was incorrect.

I can't imagine the process that the families of these miners went through. First, optimism that they could reach the miners quickly. Then, when poor air quality indications hit, they doubtlessly began to doubt. Time passed and they may have begun to come to terms with what seemed more and more inevitable. They were partly ready for the news.

That whole process was cancelled out when the good news of their survival arrived. In reality, the company has indicated that they had found the miners, not that they were alive. The message was bungled and when the families began to celebrate, the press ran with the story without looking back. The Star quoted the governor and family members, saying that they "just wanted to dance."

The dance ended 3 hours later when the error was corrected, though first runs of major city newspapers like The Star, the Times and the Post led with the wrong headline. Perhaps any dance in celebration of an effective corporate media ended at the same time.

There are several reasons to mourn about this, particularly in how the irresponsibility of media has exacerbated the obvious pain that the families have dealt with. I can't help but think that we should all be mourning the fact that those miners faced the risks they faced in the first place. In 2006, we are still sending men deep underground to extract a fossilized fuel source to run our high-tech gizmos? This cheap source of energy has a higher cost than we thought, between the millions that suffer from respiratory problems from the soot we put into the air and the countless miners who risk their lives to go get the stuff out of the ground.

Perhaps it is time that our energy sources, and our news sources, join us in the 21st century.