Old glories in Kansas City

Ever been to Kansas City? Not the old, frontier town in the song rejoicing that everything’s up to date. Not Tom’s town, the town of graft and political bosses. I mean the modern Kansas City, the City of Fountains, the City of Ward Parkway, the City of The Plaza, the home of the Chiefs.
Kansas City is my home now. I migrated here from Ohio about twenty-five years ago, and since 1978 I’ve prowled its streets with my camera, taking photographs of its changes and its old glories. Intrigued by its politics, I’ve followed the stories of how the downtown was lost, of how the Royals and Chiefs built their stadiums too far away from the city, of how negligence and racism have caused the city to decay.
Some of these contentions are true . The downtown is empty after 5 p.m. The tax incentive plans for re-development (TIF’S) are being used for businesses far away from the downtown core. The Royals and Chiefs have resisted a return to the city. And racism is one of the reasons why Kansas City suffers from urban sprawl.