Maybe billionaires could find their utopia if they looked in different places | Opinion
Urban rebuilding
Regarding the story “Billionaires’ secretive plan for tech utopia is backfiring,” rather than starting from scratch, why not take on completely rebuilding a large, depressed section in a metropolitan area? (Sept. 3, 12A) This would be of much greater benefit and, long term, more cost effective.
We have got to rebuild our cities with priorities given to reduced needs for private transportation, better access to public services, reduced energy consumption, genuinely affordable housing, etc. Only total rebuilds should receive tax advantages — and these should be stepped down as redevelopment occurs.
- Charles E. Downing, Roeland Park
Royal revenue
If a new ballpark in downtown Kansas City will generate as much revenue as Royals officials are boasting, let’s ask them why the club isn’t financing the whole package so it can rake in all that cash for the next 30 years? (Aug. 28, 1A, “Experts question Royals on stadium’s economic benefits”) The Royals wouldn’t respond, but we know what they’d be thinking: “We’re not that stupid!”
News flash, Royals, neither are the residents of Kansas City.
- John Goodnow, Olathe
NFL fumble
For the first time in my life, the beginning of football season is no longer fun. Unlike past years, when I gleefully set up my football recordings and bookmarked the NCAA and NFL schedules in my browser, I now need an Ivy League degree, three remotes, three inputs, satellite equipment, my phone, four apps on my TV, four apps on my phone, a calendar and the moon to align with Venus to find and watch my favorite football teams.
I am a football fan. I watch a dozen games a week during the football season (OK, more). I am no longer relaxing and watching football. I am in a constant state of trying to figure out whether I have this channel, that TV app, phone app, remote and subscription, before I can even think about watching football.
For those younger than me, maybe none of this is hard. For those older than me, I imagine they are just tuning to Fox News and saying, “Forget it.”
I think the folks at the top who set us up for this nasty, expensive, hybrid cluster of a sports-watching experience ought to hear from us and understand what they have done.
Good luck, football fans.
- Jamie Stoughton, Linwood, Kansas
Maui vs. Ukraine
President Joe Biden gives a few million dollars to taxpayers in Maui who lost everything they own, but he wants to give another $24 billion to Ukraine. (Sept. 2, 5A, “White House ups ante on emergency disaster aid”)
Industrial war complex vs. citizens who pay taxes. Stop with the “Biden is a decent man” narrative. He could care less.
- Frank Green, Kansas City
No renters, please
Shortsighted, though not surprising, the Shawnee City Council sent back to the planning commission plans for an apartment complex near Kansas 7 and 55th Street. (Sept. 1, 1A “Shawnee apartment plan stalls again after neighbors object”)
One council member claimed it was for safety concerns, but The Star’s story made it clear the real reason is neighbors trying to keep out those who choose to live in apartments or can’t afford to buy homes in elitist Shawnee.
Johnson County cities have a long history of segregation, and the Shawnee residents are trying to keep that history alive. One resident complained, “Can you imagine being on your deck and then you’ve got this thing going on 24 hours a day?” What “thing”? People? Living in apartments?
It is equally bigoted to suggest, as one resident did, “Our slogan should be ‘Shawnee, where people own homes ...’” Why? Because people who don’t own homes are beneath them?
I also laughed at the person who said he moved to the area, with neighbors such as Walmart and a new fancy car wash, for its “hometown feeling.” Spare me. Downtown Shawnee may be “hometown,” but not this example of our suburban sprawl.
- Thomas McCormally, Overland Park
