Bay Area Transplant Living in KC for over a year now. I love the city, but am worried about gentrification... (self.kansascity)
submitted 8 hours ago by kthrowc
I never thought I would live in KC. I grew up in the Bay Area for most of my life, worked for the city in economic development. I watched most of my friends move away from the city because of the high standard of living, or just lived with their parents well into their late 20s to early 30s. I was lucky enough to get into law school and extend my stay in the bay area a bit longer. But one thing was for sure, I could not stay...
I lived in DC, Boston, Chicago, and NYC for a couple of years. But then I found KC. My god, what a lovely city. It absolutely blew my mind what a hidden gem this city is: the people, transit (I know its new, but still awesome that the street car is free, and the buses are the cleanest I've ever seen.), and the FOOD. OH MY GOD THE FOOD. This food rivals and beats out almost any other city. I applied for a summer job at a big firm about 3 years ago, got it, and they hired me after I graduate.
I am doing well for myself. My wife and I are able to afford our own apartment instead of living with my parents to save money. We are able to go out and live our lives, not counting pennies like we used to in SF. Get great food, awesome entertainment (sports, concerts, events, etc.), and getting involved with the community.
Then, I started to get worried from what I am seeing.
I started to see more and more young professionals moving in places that were "revitalized". I started to notice more and more people are getting "pushed out of the city" and how they are also being priced out to enjoy the city as much as these young people with money. I started to notice the term "economic development" being used to justify looking down at poor people, racial inequality, and investment in things that really do not help people, but rather just bringing wealth...
I started to notice gentrification.
I really fell in love with this city. I know how revamping places like downtown that were once ghost towns were really necessary to even bring people like me into the city. But as someone who lived in a place that literally priced me out, on top of working in economic development... it's starting to bother me that this is happening to a place like this.
I really just want to raise a major red flag about gentrification. KC is really up and coming, but promoting the wrong economic steps can really push natives out, deepen divides, and have the city lose its soul to wealth rather than keeping it for its people. I am a firm believer in community programs that help people over tax breaks for developers. This may be an unpopular opinion coming from an outsider, but I have witness and experienced the effects of gentrification, and noticed its signs here.
Please stay involved, listen to other people that do not have big-business interests, invest in people (not corporations), intensely study new development projects that actually meet the needs of everyone, and vote down any measure that may change the spirit of a neighborhood through out-pricing its people.
Thank you, KC.