Tony: Ward Parkway Center is Not Quite The Landing

I enjoy keeping myself apprised of the fears of white people.

Not so long ago, the thought of interracial dating terrorized a great many folks. In Arizona, so many Mexicans has sparked people to throw out the Bill Of Rights and endorse a police state in order to save residents from Day Laborers. The thought of African-American young people using technology to organize has to be a big part of Plaza panic especially when a few Saturday night fights are thrown into the equation.

In addition to all of this there’s always the long-term threat of demographic shifts that keep real estate agents in business and homeowner nervous.

Let’s start with the fact that, other than Oak Park Mall, indoor shopping centers have always been a tricky business in the metro. And then let’s finally acknowledge that lots of people in this town get scared when a mall “goes Black.” There have been many anonymous Internet blog hints which use scare tactics and claim that Independence Center is on its way to becoming “The New Bannister Mall.” But over the past few years traffic at the mall has held up. Likewise, it’s continually feared that Ward Parkway will go the way of the now nearly abandoned Landing Mall.

On this subject there is hope.

Back in the days of massive white flight The Landing was simply out of luck with it’s Troost Location. When the middle-class white people fled Kansas City en masse because of the end of segregation Troost was the defacto dividing line and The Landing was simply on the “wrong side” of town. The mall held on for a while and when I was a kid, the African-American community still used to shop there . . . Now it’s pretty much a tomb.

Similarly, Ward Parkway will probably never revive its past history but a close proximity to Leawood and JoCo somehow manages to keep the retail location kicking. Sure, it’s not quite a hotbed of economic activity but the place has survived panic over African-American kids congregating to see movies (gasp) and even the rampage of a deranged guy with a gun. And still, there’s a nice mix of people at the place, The Target holds on to some decent foot traffic and for the moment, just most people during this Great Recession, the place could be doing better but is still chugging along.

Therefore, what we can infer from this bit of retail analysis is that homogeneous retail options never last but diverse populations of potential buyers can endure even during the worst of circumstances.

Tony Botello

http://www.mb-kc.com/
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8 Responses to Tony: Ward Parkway Center is Not Quite The Landing

  1. Anonymous says:

    bschloz
    Great picture ….
    I think that’s my Mom and Dad.
    Lets see.. why do people go to the Plaza? Maybe because The Plaza is Fantastic! Just like Times Square!
    Everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.
    Do The Right Thing!

  2. Anonymous says:

    smartman
    I’m black
    I smoke crack
    I don’t like the Royals but I do like Zak
    Jeremiah Wright is my Daddy Mac
    If you’re a white folk I will attack
    I’ll eat anything BBQ’d but I won’t eat yak.
    I prefer Smokey Robinson to The Knack. When I smoke weed with my 40 I get really whack. I go to KFC when I need a snack. I do like to travel but got no clothes to pack. Tony Botello, he’s just a hack. I got no health care but I got Aflac. I like the duck when he go quack-quack. I like a big booty with a real nice rack. My rhymes is simple, sharp as a tack. I want all the things that I lack. My ride got a stereo but it’s an 8-Track. I got one tape it’s Roberta Flack. My momma baby daddy looked like Robert Stack. Don’t aks me cause I don’t know jack. This is my Pants on the Ground and that’s a fack.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Peter Pan
    I have a business at the Landing. we’re doing fine. Thanks for asking.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Tim
    You have a business at the Landing? Do you seel hair?

  5. Anonymous says:

    Peter Pan
    no other men’s treasures

  6. Anonymous says:

    pony
    South KC is one of the better integrated neighborhoods in town.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Precious
    Oh so the AZ law throws out the bill of rights? I’m guessing you have not bothered to actually READ the law. In fact the vast majority of ignorant protesters have not read the law at all. Nowhere does it saw that people can be stopped based on their skin color. Seriously you people are getting to be worse than the blacks calling racism over any perceived slight. There are massive fiscal and criminal issues related to illegal immigrants in AZ. This law simply instructs LEO’s to follow the letter of the law that has been on the book forever. If you are here illegally GTFO.

  8. Anonymous says:

    jojo
    precious…wrong again. This law was intended
    to promote racial profiling. Without “reasonable
    cause” a police officer can walk up to a group
    of people he wants and ask for papers.
    And it gives average citizens the right to sue
    the police if the police don’t enforce thelaw.
    So as the tuscon sheriff said…damned if i do..
    damned if i dont. I fill up my jail and cost
    the citizens millions ofdollars in waste.”
    Your right wing buddies had 8 years to clean
    this imiagration problem up…did they?
    NO…and now you have 16% of the american
    people fired up to throw these right wing
    nuts out of office. For the dems…this is
    golden…without states who in 2012 will have
    elections decided by the latino/hispanic vote
    the repubs are cooked.
    Its politics buddy…and the repubs shot themselves in the foot agian.
    They might pick up some victories in 2010
    if the economy isn’t roaring (which it appears
    on its way to coming back)…but 2012 with obama on the ticket and with 600 million dollars to
    spend in just 2 months the repubs are cooked.
    The can’t kick the illegals out…the big
    corporations depend on this cheap labor to stay
    in biz..do you think the big corps are gonna let
    the pols send these people back to mexico?
    No way buddy. They are here to stay and
    without those 12 million illegals you get no
    winter fruit..no construction…no restaurants..
    no labor….essentially the economy shuts down.
    So if you don’t mind taking those $8 and hour
    job..fine…go ahead with your unconstitutional
    law.
    But it ain’t gonna happen. Too much money and
    too many people need that labor market to stay
    alive.
    Get real.

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