A Desire Named Streetcar

For those of you who thought that potentially wasteful capital improvement in the "City of Fountains" was limited to a massive study group that seems intent to replace a perfectly good airport with one that's better suited to TSA security features and which has a better Food Court, "au contraire mon ami".  (That's French.  Look it up.)   

Not only is KC attempting to convince local taxpayers into funding the replacement of an airport known nation-wide as one of the most friendly to get into and out of at a cost them over $1.2 billion, it's also looking to add, or replace, upgrade (depending on who you talk to) chunks of its existing (and mostly under-used) public transportation system of buses with the more attractive (and expensive) alternative of streetcars. 

The 'initial phase' of this Streetcar system, which will run for some 2.2 miles, is ready to begin construction at an estimated cost of about $102 million.  While some $20 million in federal assistance has been secured (we thank you all for your contribution, of course), the bulk of the cost (along with its inevitable cost overruns) is to be paid by a 25-year, one-cent sales tax that will fall only on the neighborhood in which this phase of the system is to be built.  This tax was approved by voters in a rather shrewd ballot maneuver in which only residents of the area surrounding the line were able to vote on its approval, while business owners in the same area (unless they lived in their buildings) were not.  

While this new streetcar will be rather limited in route, it's expected by supporters to bring not only new businesses, but new (and rather high-priced) residential living to the area.  Perhaps I'm missing something in the thinking here, but other than the 'gee whiz' factor or riding the lines soon after their opening, I fail to see its benefits that new businesses will receive.  

While they will certainly get to be subject to the 'sales tax district' paying for the line, it would be surprising to find that their workers will get to use the line for their normal daily commute.  I say that because most of the residential projects being discussed in this tax district involve condos that go for $250,000+ and apartments that rent for $1,200 per month and more.  Even if we assumed that people shopping for housing in this range were those who normally ride public transportation (yeah, right ...) we're left with fact that other than the City Market, this area is a food desert with no grocery stores within the line's commuter route.

In typical government fashion however, that an expensive and perhaps unsustainable capital improvement project should never be limited by practicality or common sense, supporters are quick to tout that 'this is only the beginning'.  Before the initial stretch of track has even begun to be laid, before this concept has proven itself with increased ridership levels, increased interest in the neighborhood involved, or has in any way proved that it can pay for the massive capital investment involved; the city is already planning to add to it.   

Kansas City's City Council has in fact recently approved almost $2.5 million in funding to a consultant team to produce a route expansion study. A route on Main Street from Union Station to either 63rd Street or 75th Street, a second route from Independence Avenue that goes east to a yet-to-be determined end point, and a third from Linwood Boulevard or 31st Street to yet another undetermined end point have already been approved for further consideration.  If this expected additional 8.8 miles of track is finally approved by the city (and the bandwagon seems to have already gathered some serious momentum), it's estimated to cost taxpayers some $545 million.

Regardless of the apparent Dyslexic nature of this title, it's obvious that this is not about nostalgia over an old Tennessee Williams play written in 1947 or even a 1951 Elia Kazan movie starring Marlon Brando.  In fact, rather than even being a play on words of the title of the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" this post should probably have been filed under "Field of Dreams".  For it's the iconic line from this 1989 Phil Alden Robinson cinematic effort that, "If you build it, he will come" that seems to rule all discussion on the subject.  Speaking of discussion, Kevin Costner (who starred in the effort) might relate to Kansas City's legislators, who appear to be 'hearing voices' where subject is concerned.  Not only that, but his character's single minded devotion to nonsensical construction in the face of sanity, if not common sense certainly defines the thinking in KC on this pipe dream of a project.

 

If You Build It, They Will Come

Kansas City is a classic example of a modern Midwestern city that aspires to be oh so much more than it is.  Not content to remain a quaint little place with the nickname of "City of Fountains", they want to be a player. Like many of these urban 'wanna be's', it seeks to do so through massive infrastructure projects; hoping that by building them, something (or someone) will come.  All of these projects of course, come with a price tag, but what are such costs to a city attempting to make a name for itself.

Like many before them, KC encouraged the building of condos, and provided lavish property tax incentives in the hopes of luring young urban professionals to move downtown.  Unfortunately, they weren't smart enough to realize that they couldn't create real and sustainable neighborhoods if they couldn't force retailers necessary to creating such an atmosphere to move with them, providing everything from groceries to shoelaces (and they couldn't).  

Not dismayed by this apparent lack of urban planning success, someone in the city determined that their failure was merely one of scope and scale, and that to address this what they needed was a grander plan, including perhaps a shining glass bowl of a arena.  So they built the "Sprint Center" as a state-of-the-art facility with some private investment, but also over $200 million financed by the city through future hotel tax revenue.  When completed, they had indeed provided a superior downtown entertainment experience ... but unfortunately it sat empty most nights because the city had no professional sports franchise to anchor or support this rather pricey venue (and still doesn't).  (As a side note, not having such an entertainment venue in use didn't help the hotel tax revenues much either.)


No matter.  If they couldn't get entertainment to come to the arena, they'd build some around it.  So the next thing you know, taxpayer money was being invested in what would come to be known as the "Power and Light District".  This area would provide shops, clubs, and restaurants that would bring people downtown when nothing was happening at the Sprint Center; and add to the entertainment value of downtown when there was.  Of course nothing in life's free, and like it's predecessor, entertainment venues can be rather expensive.  The Power and Light District was expected to be a investment development of some $850 million dollars.  The city however, found itself financing some $180 million of it in loans as part of the deal.

But as Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman will tell you, the only reason that government investment fails in its efforts to stimulate the economy is because they fail to spend enough, or double down every time that there's an opportunity.  Kansas City was listening.

A group of city officials is now scrambling to put together paperwork in time to meet the application deadline for a Federal DOT grant of $25 million for ... (wait for it) ... a downtown street car system.  Obviously the city needs a new specialized transportation system to allow the few people who got suckered into the downtown condos (and who are now broke on these pricey units with their mortgages upside down), along with those who aren't going to the Sprint Center (because there's no game going on), and those not going to the Power and Light District (because the venues aren't enough to attract enough people to make this a break even proposition) to get from point to point within a very limited area of downtown. 

Besides, if they can get the Federal funding (Which is free after all, having fallen off the federal money tree, right?) the city will then only have to finance another $75 million of a transportation system that will go into an area already serviced more than adequately by buses.  Of course tearing up streets to put in tracks will probably have a deleterious effect on the businesses that this system is designed to serve until it's completed, perhaps even bankrupting them in this already lousy economy; but when it's done, there will be a beautiful (at least for a while) system to serve the businesses that will no longer need it.

You know, looking back in history, we like to throw stones at the 'robber-barons' of last couple of centuries, but at least they didn't ask for government bailouts when things failed to pan out.  Oh sure, many of them, like their more modern counterparts, got their share of government subsidies (in land, if not in cash); but they ended up being some of the most generous people in this nation's history.  Sure they were 'evil capitalists and shameless profiteers', but a lot of their ill gotten gains later went into the building schools, libraries, museums, and theaters to promote education and the arts in projects that didn't cost the city a cent.

Say what you will about sports owners of the past: that they abused "The Reserve Clause", failed to pay players their fair market value, and waited far too long to allow African-Americans into professional sports; but at least they built their own stadiums.  They may have bought and sold player contracts like they were trading in the futures market, but they didn't ask fans and non-fans alike to risk municipal and state funds on monuments to their own egos.

Kansas City has I fear, become the rule rather than the exception with its machinations, and few such projects here or anywhere else would even be attempted these days without a federal grant, state assistance, and municipal bonds to offset actual costs that will inevitably reach 100% budget overruns (if you're lucky).

In the end, what do any of these cities have to show for such city largess.  The average stadium or dome is lucky to last 30 years without demolition and replacement, often long before the last of the debt is paid off. Kemper Arena for example, once the shining jewel of Kansas City, now sits on demolition row as planners seek a smaller, friendlier, and more intimate venue to replace it.  The fact that KC can't support two such arenas only points to how fickle our civic leaders can be when there's a shiny new toy to play with. The disrepair and shabby condition in which Kemper is currently kept only heralds its doom and reincarnation.

But in the end, neighborhoods will rise and fall on the fickle nature of real estate investors as they always have; and even tax incentives won't produce a viable neighborhood, only a speculative one.  Entertainment Districts will go in and out of fashion with the regularity of women's hemlines,  and the latest craze (or taxpayer-backed project) will be hyped as the next salvation of the city while the plywood gets nailed over the windows of its predecessor.  Current public servants meanwhile, will merely hope that no one will notice that the last one is far from paid off while touting the benefits of the next.  The newest arenas become old quickly, and less attractive to fickle sports team owners who want a better scoreboard, owner's box, or more clever naming rights.  Before we know it, Kansas City will soon find itself doing urban renewal on what now are its two great attractions.  

Spring training is all but over and the baseball season is upon us.  Soon the Royals (who along with the Chiefs, got $575 million in taxpayer-funded stadium upgrades) will once more be seeking a prize that has eluded them since 1985.  City officials will likewise be misguidedly hoping that their investment will in some way be paid off by those coming for this year's All Star game, hoping the notoriety will likewise make them a winner.  

As it often does every baseball season,  hope spring eternal that such winners will come their way (being a Cubs fan, I ought to know).  For city officials however, real hope will undoubtedly be saved for the next city financed project; a dream that it will be the one that finally brings them a winner and makes a name for Kansas City.  Well, surprise gentlemen: I've got a new one for you already.  I vote that we rename KC from the 'City of Fountains' to the 'Field of Dreams', for it's obvious that its leaders are overcome with the spirit of the Kevin Costner film, "if you build it, they will come".

(For my friends in Toledo chuckling at the pratfalls of my current place of residence.  Don't laugh too quickly.  Instead, take this as the cautionary tale it was meant to be.)