Kansas City’s Black elected officials — U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver and those on the City Council — are determined to make the 18th and Vine Jazz District succeed as a tourist attraction.
Back in 2016, the City Council approved $7 million for a new round of improvements, and if there was any doubt about Black elected officials’ determination to go even bigger, it was erased this week when $6 million was included in the U.S. House of Representatives’ surface transportation bill.
Eighteenth and Vine is one of five projects totaling more than $18 million Cleaver was able to get included in the INVEST in America Act, which the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has begun to consider.
The transportation bill, which comes up every five years, marks the the return of Congressional “earmarks,” in which senators and representatives are able to direct funds to specific projects in their states and districts.
Earmarks went away a decade ago after they became synonymous with corruption, but now they are back with a fresh start and a chance to create projects that will give cities and states a lift.
If this particular earmark would put 18th and Vine on the map again, as more than an East Side attraction, it would be a great thing for Kansas City. As we’ve all seen, redevelopment at the legendary jazz district has proceeded in fits and starts. It’s still a long way from becoming a reliably strong tourist area, where people of all races converge to have fun, but the new project could be a big step forward.
It provides for creation of a “pedestrian plaza,” which would involve closing 18th Street to vehicles along a two-block stretch, from the Paseo to Highland Avenue. Here’s the area in question.
Supporters of the plaza envision farmers markets, festivals, outdoor concerts and more along the plaza.
Cleaver, brandishing his usual optimism, said, “The plaza area is going to be one of the most beautiful spots in Kansas City.”
Who can say for sure it won’t be? Several outstanding attractions are there now, headed by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and the area is ripe with possibilities.
The district will never go big-time, however, unless people feel safe going there. A big setback on the safety front took place April 25 when a 34-year-old personal trainer named Gary Taylor was killed in a bout of gunfire.
Twenty-nine-year-old Jerronn Anderson has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
It was just the kind of incident that is all too common on Kansas City’s East Side streets. Court documents say Taylor was walking south on Vine Street with two of his friends. As the group approached 19th Street, Taylor stopped and turned toward the north. Anderson approached the three from that direction, and as Taylor turned away, Anderson brought out a handgun and fired. As Taylor fell to the ground, his two companions pulled out guns and fired toward Anderson, who later showed up wounded at an area hospital.
Now, that’s not a prescription for success, but that’s not to say the problem can’t be brought under control. It’s easy to say, “It’ll never happen,” but stranger things have happened, and millions of dollars of investment have produced some impressive results so far.
To me, the pedestrian plaza idea is worth a try. If that area could one day be something akin to Westport, it would be a remarkable feat. If that happened, as you traveled around the country, you’d hear a lot more people in other cities singing Wilbert Harrison’s immortal words, “Goin’ to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.“
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Besides 18th and Vine, here are the other Cleaver-sponsored projects that made it into the surface transportation bill…
:: $6 million for the KCATA to purchase zero-fare electric buses. (Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids filed a separate request for an additional $4.5 million.)
:: $2.16 million for improvements to Cliff Drive Scenic Byway in northeast Kansas City.
:: $3.1 million to replace a bridge in Lawson.
:: $900,000 for infrastructure improvements in downtown Odessa.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Some might say this is big spending. Hardly. I like spending to do good things because it also buys hope. Let Bezos pay for it — he’s taken a lot of our money for a space ride. Let’s have him do some real good stuff here on earth.
I wish we had a tax system that forced Bezos, Buffett and the other 1 percenters to pay their rightful share. Elizabeth Warren is exactly right: Tax the wealth more than the income.
How did Bezos get so rich? The same way that Steve Jobs, Patrick Mahomes, George Clooney, Elon Musk, Drake and the Halls did: A lot of the 99% chose to give them their money because they saw value in doing so.
If you believe someone in the 1% makes too much money, stop buying their cars, tickets, phones, jerseys, cards, streams, etc.
When I played with Cotton we used to practice at the Mutual Musicians Foundation just down the street from 18th and Vine, and it’s a really awesome place. (Cotton was a charter member of the Foundation.) The history of that area in the development of Kansas City as a major urban center cannot be overestimated. And to be able to practice in the same room where so many Kansas City jazz greats played was truly inspiring.
On summer evenings when we would get done I would sit on the steps of the Foundation and look out on the skyscrapers just a few blocks away and never once did I feel unsafe. Indeed, just the opposite. It was relaxing and I could feel the vibe of the area even though the streets were usually deserted.
Sometimes you surprise the shit out of me, John, and that’s one reason you’re a valued reader and commenter. I could have anticipated a rant about violence on the East Side and why throw more money away, etc. But there you are, reinforcing the message about 18th and Vine’s legacy and future possibilities. Spend the money!