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Letters
Six Marvelous Years
First and foremost, congratulations on 6 marvelous years
at the helm of the premier business and community magazine in Kansas City.
Your passion and love for Kansas City continues to resonate throughout
Ingram’s.
I found this month's editor’s note on the lack of strategy extremely
timely...
I recently spent several days in Oklahoma City and was reminded again
of what true revitalization looks like. The transformation of their downtown
over the past several years is amazing. And anyone you ask about it points
to the former Mayor and his ability to create a coalition of business
and community leaders who were willing to take significant risks in order
to reap significant rewards.
Congratulations on your milestone.
Greg Ferguson, Director National Expansion Camp Fire USA National Headquarters.
Another Home
Run
Just got my copy of Ingram’s. Jack Cashill’s
“The Baskin-Robbins of American Cities” column on KC’s
branding/tagline problems was fabulous! I was expecting more of a dig
at the “diversity” implications, but presume he’s getting
polite in his old age.
Perhaps they forgot: “The first P in marketing is PRODUCT.”
Martha Gershun, Pres. & CEO
BizSpace, Inc.
“Never Doubt that a small
group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s
the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead.
Appreciation at Gardner Institute
Everyone affiliated with the Gardner
Institute enjoyed reading about our own executive director, Sister Vickie
Perkins in the January edition. The writer crafted a good (and accurate!)
summary of the story of Gardner Institute, its origins and its goals.
Thank’s for recognizing someone who has devoted her life to children
and education. We’ve heard from many people who read the article
and took the time to call or write. We are very grateful to Ingram’s
for its selection of Gardner Institute as “a worthy not-for-profit
that serves the needs of the community.”
As Sister Vickie stated, there’s still much to be done.
Mary Bridget Kratofil, Development Director
Influential In The Community
It was a great honor to be included in the business leaders
group you featured in Ingram’s. Your magazine is influential
in the community and is respected by all. I was looking forward to the
breakfast meeting. I would not have missed it, except there was a critical
(emergency) situation at the hospital and it was impossible for me to
leave. Thanks for including me in this influential group.
Irene M. Cumming, Pres. & CEO
KU Med Center
The Tall Tale of Johnson
County
I read the article “The
Tall Tale of Johnson County” in Ingram’s and enjoyed
it very much. I’m an attorney in the area and would like to look
further into the figures you printed in your article. I would like to
discover the information for Cass County, Missouri over the last 10 years.
Matthew Hamilton
Why Business Moves to the
Burbs?
In the same issue, you say
our city is failing and falling behind. Conventions are way down, our
downtown is still in need of redevelopment and KC has no urban fabric
or sense of place. Yet, the back twenty pages tells of Johnson County’s
amazing track record of affluent and new growth. The “premier”
office district of the city, hundreds of thousands of new jobs (many of
which simply moved from KC’s urban core and continue to do so). Sprawl
is what killed “metro” KC and sprawl will continue to do so
unless local companies step up and stop moving to the suburbs (and that
means investing in our community). KC is too small to have College Blvd.
type corridors. Denver and St. Louis are bigger than KC, yet they do not
have as much office development in the outer suburbs. Why is this so hard
to understand? The suburbs can not continue to freeload off KCMO for metro
attractions while at the same time, pull jobs and residents out of the
core and expect our city to ever compete with second tier cities again.
Nobody outside of KC cares about Johnson County or Lee’s Summit.
What they want to see is a vibrant Downtown to Plaza corridor with lots
to do and see and a decent transit system. Until that happens, KC will
continue to be passed up by cities we once dwarfed in size and culture,
regardless of what occurs in JOCO.
Bill Cobb, Blue Springs, MO
816.228.6497 kcgridlock@yahoo.com
Correction
The Transportation Industry
Outlook of Ingram’s February issue includes the incorrect spelling
of Ed DeSoignie of the Heavy Constructors Association.
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