“If the current people who are in power, the mayor and the aldermen in different cities, don’t show a responsiveness to these issues, they’re going to be defeated by reformers.” “The cities are a little out of balance: The well-to-do are doing quite well, but there are a lot of neighborhoods in which poverty, crime, bad schools and a bad life experience is still too prevalent,” said Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman who advised his city’s newly elected mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

Meanwhile, other neighborhoods - often those whose residents are mainly black or Hispanic - continue to lack basic amenities like grocery stores and restaurants.Įlected leaders are now being confronted with a critical question: How will they ensure that the whole city benefits from the downtown building booms that have soaked up so many tax dollars? City officials have managed to revamp parts of their urban landscapes, sparking the construction of new office towers, condominiums and upscale businesses such as yoga studios. That tension between a vibrant downtown and the distressed neighborhoods that surround it lies at the core of the race to become Kansas City’s next mayor, which the city’s voters will decide on Tuesday.Īt nearly every campaign stop, the two candidates in the race, like many municipal politicians across the country, have vowed to make sure that economic growth in their city extends to neighborhoods that have felt left behind.įrom Chicago to Detroit to Birmingham, Ala., the downtown-neighborhood debate is playing out in the wake of efforts by many cities to stem economic slides and population losses by heavily subsidizing development. Bowman, 49, who lives in the predominantly black East Side.

“I love downtown, and I would love to see it grow, too, but you’ve got to be real,” said Ms. The shiny cafes and storefronts are almost nonexistent there, and residents like LaTonya Bowman feel forgotten. It is visible in the art galleries and clothing boutiques flanking the new 2-mile streetcar line, and in the open-air bar and restaurant promenade that is packed with people when the weather is nice.īut in the shadows of the city’s thriving business and entertainment district are languishing East Side neighborhoods pocked with boarded-up homes and overgrown, trash-strewn lots. The resurgence of downtown Kansas City, Mo., radiates from the luxury apartment towers with floor-to-ceiling windows and a rooftop pool.

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