Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Meck
Dude, I had a studio at 16th and Grand for ten years, and have worked in this area on and off since the late 90's.. At the beginning of that time, you could literally see tumbleweeds blowing down Grand certain times of year. Then artists started renting lofts down there. There would be rent parties, which would be live music shows, which led to actual live music venues, and art galleries, and cool little hole in the wall restaurants. It was beginning to happen, and the First Friday thing started, and early on, that was all local and grew naturally, no corporate bullshit, just like a real KC thing. Then Power and Light, and the arena, and the artists all run out for luxury loft living. Now the people in the luxury lofts are complaining about all the noise from the live music clubs and especially from Grinders, which is an outdoor smallish concert venue.
So, did 'people' go to the area before? Well, people that were part of things that were happening, yeah. People who were or were interested in art and music.
Did suburban people who want to eat chain food because that's what they know and drink $10 bud lights come by the thousands? Well, no.
Somehow people from the suburbs think things are either whitebread chain bullshit or gang war territory. It's entirely untrue and pretty insulting, really.
Not that YOU were being insulting, just that the concept of what makes a city interesting and unique is entirely lost on most people.
There is still a lot of cool stuff in the Crossroads district, but most of it will be gone soon with the rent hikes coming with a stadium build less than a mile away.
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I lived in the RM and my now wife lived on 16th and Walnut pre-P&L, arena, Star building, etc. and this brings back fond memories. There would be random parties in the Crossroads at art spaces that you could just walk into, DIY music spaces, etc. Felt like everyone knew one another and after a certain time of day there was no one outside of that who was really down there at that time.
That said, and its 100% because I don't live there anymore, I do enjoy going back and seeing the evolution. Yeah its weird booking a Hampton Inn right across the street from where I once hung out, but seeing people out walking around or out walking their dogs feels nice.
I get both sides of it. If I were still down there I'm not sure how I'd feel. As an out of towner I enjoy visiting the Crossroads.
Hopefully they do it right but I totally get the feeling that it hasn't and won't end well for a lot of folks down there.