Is the Kansas City Power & Light District helping to curb crime?

July 22, 7:26 PMKansas City Crime ExaminerJay Adkins

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AP Photo/Kansas City Power & Light District

 According to NeighborhoodScout.com, Kansas City is safer to live in than two percent of all cities in the US. That doesn't paint a very pretty picture of our city.

Apparently they don't live in the Kansas City that I know and love so well. I mean sure, their are parts of the city you wouldn't visit, even in an armored vehicle, but a majority of KC is very safe and an all-around decent place to live.

With the new Power & Light District, the Sprint Center, and all of the other amazing amenities coming to Kansas City, creating jobs, the crime rate will actually be drastically reduced over the coming years. I'm not blind. I understand it will take several years but let us not forget that we are currently in a recession because our wonderful government. Both past and present, local and national can't remove their heads from their back-sides long enough to realize how poorly our nation really is doing.

According to the Kansas City Police Department's website (Scribd), KC has seen 66 homicides so far in 2009. If I'm doing my math correctly, as I usually do, with my fingers and toes, that means there have been just seven more murders this year than in 2008. Not good, but not really all that bad considering the turbulent economy we're in at the moment. For years, people were leaving the inner-city by the hundreds in search of that warm and cozy feeling that only Johnson County can bring.

Now that isn't so much the case. Plenty of people are ditching the carefully manicured lawns and blocks with a well-known coffee shop on every corner for those nice, fancy suites. I believe the new amenities have everything to do with it.

Let's face it. Before Power & Light, Downtown KC was a huge flop and before the Sprint Center and the other entertainment destinations, no one wanted to be within a mile or two of the inner-city. Very few bars dotted the poorly lit streets, making people weary of going there for...well, anything really unless they had to. Let us all be proud now that our wonderful city is starting to breathe the air of a new life, and may we all hope that it will only get better with time.

Either way, KC is still home and I'm no fair weather fan. I have faith that the new attractions in our great city will help to cut down on crime due to the simple fact that theyr'e bringing more jobs to town and when people are busy, they're committing fewer crimes.

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