urbanSTL

StlAlex wrote:

PlatinumBlues wrote:I don’t get the discourse about KC hosting the WC it’s not like STL had a real shot at hosting it in the first place & we’ve likely saved ourselves a lot of embarrassment on how downtown looks specially with the big sinkhole underneath the highway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The point is KC, like STL, had/has no business hosting the World Cup. FIFA chose KC over a city like Denver or Nashville, and it's just a crazy choice on every level, as we are seeing in real time.

No one is saying STL deserved it or anything like that, it's more just animosity over KC getting spoon fed sh*t it doesn't deserve because it's a golden boy city. Again, KC literally has a higher violent crime rate than STL, but no one is aware of that, in part because eveyone ignores KC's flaws while we have baseball announcers taking cheap shots at STL because stock footage of a fountain downtown had no people in it.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

On the ground my friends doing WC roadtrips said the KC experience is good aside from getting to the stadium later than they would have liked yesterday. Fan Fest was set up well and fans have filled in around the rest of downtown and the Plaza area.

Nashville is probably THE golden boy when it comes to skating past crime. On a metro level their violent crime rates for many years exceeded KC and I believe STL but because they have a merged city and county it’s less apparent.

For WC bidding, it was between KC, Nashville, and Cincinnati to be the Midwest host. KC had the best mix of soccer culture and hosting infrastructure at the time. Back in 2021/22, the Titans were actively lobbying the Nashville and State of Tennessee to fund their new stadium on the grounds that the existing, which would have hosted the WC, was in the bottom tier of NFL stadiums. FIFA was picking between the golden boy NFL cathedral at Arrowhead or a stadium whose owners and tenant were very publicly agreeing was much much worse. Nashville wins on the hotel quality and capacity front though I think KC’s fan fest is a nicer location than something in the heart of Lower Broadway or the Nissan stadium parking lot.

StlAlex wrote:

PlatinumBlues wrote:I don’t get the discourse about KC hosting the WC it’s not like STL had a real shot at hosting it in the first place & we’ve likely saved ourselves a lot of embarrassment on how downtown looks specially with the big sinkhole underneath the highway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The point is KC, like STL, had/has no business hosting the World Cup. FIFA chose KC over a city like Denver or Nashville, and it's just a crazy choice on every level, as we are seeing in real time.

No one is saying STL deserved it or anything like that, it's more just animosity over KC getting spoon fed sh*t it doesn't deserve because it's a golden boy city. Again, KC literally has a higher violent crime rate than STL, but no one is aware of that, in part because eveyone ignores KC's flaws while we have baseball announcers taking cheap shots at STL because stock footage of a fountain downtown had no people in it.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

I get what you’re saying but saying KC has no real legit reason to host the WC is ludicrous. Hey their slogan is soccer capitol of America so yeah they have a reason to host. If St.Louis leaders behaved in a way that makes it easier to promote development & growth & actually being serious about changing St.Louis’s trajectory in a positive direction while also creating a way that would get crime under control particularly in the north side then I think things would be different & im not blaming the entirety on St.Louis political leaders but our business leaders are truly abysmal when it comes to promoting St.Louis particularly downtown they’ve helped create the exodus & continue to do so without any hesitations or guilt. While I’m not a fan of KC I do think they are every bit of deserving of the WC as other host cities. If St.Louis wants to be off the list of most dangerous cities then they had better change what they are doing now cause the last 80 years has nearly killed this region as a whole..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

PlatinumBlues wrote:

StlAlex wrote:

PlatinumBlues wrote:I don’t get the discourse about KC hosting the WC it’s not like STL had a real shot at hosting it in the first place & we’ve likely saved ourselves a lot of embarrassment on how downtown looks specially with the big sinkhole underneath the highway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The point is KC, like STL, had/has no business hosting the World Cup. FIFA chose KC over a city like Denver or Nashville, and it's just a crazy choice on every level, as we are seeing in real time.

No one is saying STL deserved it or anything like that, it's more just animosity over KC getting spoon fed sh*t it doesn't deserve because it's a golden boy city. Again, KC literally has a higher violent crime rate than STL, but no one is aware of that, in part because eveyone ignores KC's flaws while we have baseball announcers taking cheap shots at STL because stock footage of a fountain downtown had no people in it.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

I get what you’re saying but saying KC has no real legit reason to host the WC is ludicrous. Hey their slogan is soccer capitol of America so yeah they have a reason to host. If St.Louis leaders behaved in a way that makes it easier to promote development & growth & actually being serious about changing St.Louis’s trajectory in a positive direction while also creating a way that would get crime under control particularly in the north side then I think things would be different & im not blaming the entirety on St.Louis political leaders but our business leaders are truly abysmal when it comes to promoting St.Louis particularly downtown they’ve helped create the exodus & continue to do so without any hesitations or guilt. While I’m not a fan of KC I do think they are every bit of deserving of the WC as other host cities. If St.Louis wants to be off the list of most dangerous cities then they had better change what they are doing now cause the last 80 years has nearly killed this region as a whole..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Okay but you're not understanding KC literally has a worse crime problem than St. Louis and it simply does not matter. You're making out STL's crime as a major problem but in KC it just isn't a problem that carries anywhere near the negative ramifications that it brings to STL.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

Yeah, this attempt to dig up any negative tidbits about the World Cup in KC is pretty sad.  Yeah, there was traffic and delays in getting to the stadium.  It's a massive event with tight security to get in - which was controlled by FIFA. There have been similar security delays at other world cup stadiums. But from the packed crowd, obviously people made it in.
The energy and vibes in the city have been crazy.  At the same time as the match at Arrowhead last night, you had 20k+ people at the Fan Fest:



8K People at Power and Light



Argentinian and Algerian fans have been partying around the city for the past several days, packing bars and the streetcar.  The reviews I have seen from guests have been overwhelmingly positive.  

Argentinians rallying by the Plaza



Algerian fans going crazy in Washington Square Park and the Crossroads:

Lmao now someone literally getting shot/shot at is a negative tid bit. I wish people treated STL the way they treat KC

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

StlAlex wrote:Lmao now someone literally getting shot/shot at is a negative tid bit. I wish people treated STL the way they treat KC

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

It was just the latest cherry picked negative story posted by DB across his various social media. The national news and reported vibes on the ground are much more positive. Think we should be happy for KC and more focused on how we win the 2031 Women’s World Cup which is being bid on soon.

How do we better ourselves to host the next big event? STL did score a few Olympics games in 2028 which will be fun.

StlAlex wrote: ↑

6:06 AM - Jun 18

Lmao now someone literally getting shot/shot at is a negative tid bit. I wish people treated STL the way they treat KC

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

Yes. I do too. That’s the point you are missing.

I don’t even care for soccer and don’t watch a whole lot of the world cup and I am even jealous just because of the notoriety and energy KC is getting out of this

And some cities that aren’t hosting are still getting some international attention and visitors but unfortunately I think we are getting passed over because we are becoming less and less known across the world. Obviously the world cup would have helped that

I agree with the commenter that StL’s biggest issue right now is a waning optimism about our region. Just look at the articles and social media commentary coming out of places that aren’t necessarily boom towns like Omaha, KC, Detroit, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, etc. It might be sunshine pumping a little bit but it has slowly attracted developers and people to those places even if the economics aren’t necessarily there. StL publicity is so negative compared to its peers. There are pockets of people doing a great job of promoting the region and showing pride but there’s just a constant vibe and narrative that doesnt match reality of the region and it drives people away


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the negativity should be on how many of these stadiums, Arrowhead included, are in absolute crappy locations.  Off the top of my head, stadiums in urban locations are: Seattle, Atlanta, Vancouver, Toronto and I assume the Mexico stadiums. The rest are parking lots with stadiums dropped in them. 

Bart Harley Jarvis wrote:I think the negativity should be on how many of these stadiums, Arrowhead included, are in absolute crappy locations.  Off the top of my head, stadiums in urban locations are: Seattle, Atlanta, Vancouver, Toronto and I assume the Mexico stadiums. The rest are parking lots with stadiums dropped in them. 

Even Seattle’s location isn’t great. Close to downtown but not a great neighborhood.


FIFA says KC’s game Tuesday had one of the largest international audiences of any game played thus far.



Do we know if St Louis is bidding on the 2031 Women’s World Cup yet?

ldai_phs wrote:

Bart Harley Jarvis wrote:I think the negativity should be on how many of these stadiums, Arrowhead included, are in absolute crappy locations.  Off the top of my head, stadiums in urban locations are: Seattle, Atlanta, Vancouver, Toronto and I assume the Mexico stadiums. The rest are parking lots with stadiums dropped in them. 

Even Seattle’s location isn’t great. Close to downtown but not a great neighborhood.


FIFA says KC’s game Tuesday had one of the largest international audiences of any game played thus far.



Do we know if St Louis is bidding on the 2031 Women’s World Cup yet?

Yes the Sports Commission is putting in a bid for STL at Energizer Park.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

StlAlex wrote:

ldai_phs wrote:

StlAlex wrote:Lmao now someone literally getting shot/shot at is a negative tid bit. I wish people treated STL the way they treat KC

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

It was just the latest cherry picked negative story posted by DB across his various social media. The national news and reported vibes on the ground are much more positive. Think we should be happy for KC and more focused on how we win the 2031 Women’s World Cup which is being bid on soon.

How do we better ourselves to host the next big event? STL did score a few Olympics games in 2028 which will be fun.

But it's not cherry picked? A car break in or something like that would be one thing, this is someone literally getting shot and an international tourist experiencing a drive by shooting.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

I’m not going to litigate this anymore but DB consistently cherry picks negative articles about WC and KC generally across his social media platforms. I get why but also it’s boring after a while and not productive.

About 10 years ago I wrote a piece comparing crime in KC metro and STL metro using crime by zip code data from moving.com.  (They no longer provide that crime data.). Here are 3 charts from my piece that show St. Louis had higher crime rates in the inner core,  but KC had a higher rate in the suburbs.  And a higher rate overall.  https://missouricurrent.com/2016/04/18/ ... nsas-city/

This is called concentrated poverty and is a result of historic and current segregation.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

Do you guys not remember the chaos that was Atlanta Olympics '96? The city was hit with many negative headlines, especially once the bombing happened. They too had coach busses shuttling people around, and ended up having massive transportation problems. Yet, the city came out of it a winner, and now look at Atl. I know some of you want these headlines to hurt KC, but looking at a city that was similar to KC we can see that even a bombing didn't stop a city of a huge international event from capitalizing off of it by transforming their city and growing their population. 

1996 Olympics catapulted Atlanta onto global stage
Mayor addressing infrastructure issues.
Businesses not seeing economic boom they were told they would see.
Buses that don't show up, stranding athletes and spectators. Technical snafus that have left journalists fuming. A tight security system that was breached on the first night.
Olympic Bombing.

Metro Atlanta had more than 2.9 million people in 1990 and by 1996 was likely in the 3.8 million range. By 2000, it was the 11th largest city in the US. Atlanta had multiple recent censuses where it grew by more than 30% by 1996. KC is growing by a respectable but not insane ~10% clip every decade, hasn't exceeded 30% since 1960. At 2.27 million, KC is the 31st largest city (lower than it was in 2000) and will likely be passed by Columbus, Indianapolis, and Nashville soon, possibly by 2030. Are all these cities comparable to 1996 Atlanta then?

These types of comparisons are kinda exactly what we are talking about when we say people glaze Kansas City for no reason at all other than it being a golden boy city.



Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

I feel like you missed most of my point. What I am saying is that when Atlanta bid to host the Olympics it was an underdog, much like KC. Many locals complained about Atlanta's infrastructure and doubted if it could support a massive influx of people, much like Kansas Citians. The main point that I was trying to make was amidst the tweets and some headlines about KC having the highest homicide rate of the host cities, the I-70 shooter, and the England theft situation, I don't think any of these negative headlines are going to mean anything. KC is using the World Cup to present itself to the world, much like Atlanta did with the Olympics. Yet, during the ATL Olympics there was crime, severe transportation issues, tech issues, business didn't see a rush, and most of all there was a bombing that killed hundreds. Despite all of that it still helped put Atlanta on the map and many locals credit the Olympics for Atlanta's success today even though it was plagued with negative headlines. 

Pretty sure Atlanta was already on the map considering Hartsfield-Jackson was like the 2nd busiest airport in the US and was already a massive international hub. I'm sure part of the reason they got the Olympics was because of their airport's vast international connections.

I'm not even really saying you're wrong, yes KC is obviously trying to use the World Cup to boost it's brand. Not dissimilar to Indianapolis and its brand as a city that can host big events. The SEVERAL mass shootings Indy has had in the heart of downtown and man getting murdered inside the convention center during the day didn't stick to Indy's reputation.

You're probably right that these bad headlines related to hosting an event like this in a city as factually dangerous as KC won't stick. But that's partially the point. If STL had team property stolen, an international fan involved in a drive by, and a mass shooting all while hosting the World Cup, I don't even want to think about what ramifications and permenant reputation hits we would get.

Remember, we have lost conventions over relatively isolated events and are losing a F1000 company because some windows get shot out in the middle of the night on occasion.

Sent from my SM-S936U using Tapatalk

Dev7 wrote:I feel like you missed most of my point. What I am saying is that when Atlanta bid to host the Olympics it was an underdog, much like KC. Many locals complained about Atlanta's infrastructure and doubted if it could support a massive influx of people, much like Kansas Citians. The main point that I was trying to make was amidst the tweets and some headlines about KC having the highest homicide rate of the host cities, the I-70 shooter, and the England theft situation, I don't think any of these negative headlines are going to mean anything. KC is using the World Cup to present itself to the world, much like Atlanta did with the Olympics. Yet, during the ATL Olympics there was crime, severe transportation issues, tech issues, business didn't see a rush, and most of all there was a bombing that killed hundreds. Despite all of that it still helped put Atlanta on the map and many locals credit the Olympics for Atlanta's success today even though it was plagued with negative headlines. 

A key difference was that Atlanta and Georgia had to build out a lot of brand new infrastructure to host the games. This infrastructure formed the base for the city’s rapid growth in the 90s and 2000s

ldai_phs wrote: ↑

4:45 AM - Jun 21

Dev7 wrote:I feel like you missed most of my point. What I am saying is that when Atlanta bid to host the Olympics it was an underdog, much like KC. Many locals complained about Atlanta's infrastructure and doubted if it could support a massive influx of people, much like Kansas Citians. The main point that I was trying to make was amidst the tweets and some headlines about KC having the highest homicide rate of the host cities, the I-70 shooter, and the England theft situation, I don't think any of these negative headlines are going to mean anything. KC is using the World Cup to present itself to the world, much like Atlanta did with the Olympics. Yet, during the ATL Olympics there was crime, severe transportation issues, tech issues, business didn't see a rush, and most of all there was a bombing that killed hundreds. Despite all of that it still helped put Atlanta on the map and many locals credit the Olympics for Atlanta's success today even though it was plagued with negative headlines. 

A key difference was that Atlanta and Georgia had to build out a lot of brand new infrastructure to host the games. This infrastructure formed the base for the city’s rapid growth in the 90s and 2000s

I’d also say an Olympics when your city is the only city and named at every single event from the time it happened and going forward when referring to those Olympics is different than one of 15 or however many host cities there are. I am not sure I could name more than one or two host cities for past world cups and it’s because they are the biggest city in the host country.

That all said, I don’t think negative headlines will matter 5 years from now because most won’t even remember what cities hosted 5 years from now. They will remember New York and LA and probably forget the rest.

Dev7 wrote: ↑

4:06 AM - Jun 21

most of all there was a bombing that killed hundreds. 

The bombing only killed one person, and injured about 100. 

I was curious to see what types of stories/headlines are coming out about KC and how much press these negative stories were getting, so I did a google news search for "Kansas City World Cup Host" to see results from the past week.  These are the top headlines from national/international news sources without cherry picking:

Forbes: Why The World Cup’s Big Winner Could Be Kansas City

NY Times: The World Cup Gives Kansas City a Rare Turn in the Global Spotlight

Front Office Sports: The Soccer Capital of America Is Now the Soccer Capital of the World

Financial Times: World Cup’s smallest host city aims to become a global sports hub

USA Today: Why Kansas City is 'the heart of soccer' during 2026 World Cup