northeastkc's Blog

Downtown Motors 3400 Truman Road has been family owned and operated since 1961. Home of the Loan Arranger , anyone financed motto. The family has been community leaders in so many ways. Recently the owners   have helped  by purchasing  vacant lots around the neighborhood  .

Then cleaning them of debris and all around urban blithe. They  planted  community gardens in  some of those vacant lots that were once so full of trash that it took several dumpsters to remove it. All in an effort to keep community pride in the NEKCMO area..

An area that was once so bad, that nobody wanted to walk the streets .. Downtown  Motors has always  worked with the city to keep crime down and residence safe.

If you are ever in need of a quality used car you can count on Downtown Motors and their years of service to Kansas City. A long standing reputalbe family  owned and operated business working hard for our community.

How pretty some areas of KC are, how amazingly beautiful areas  of Indep. are..... and how Funky some are.. i wonder if the Mayor of KC has any ideas of what to do with all the trash piles in NEKCMO now that the special pick up has changed drastically.

The children of NEKCMO have nowhere to play. They walk past piles of debris as if it were a parked car. It is so common in the area i have enough photos from one single day of shooting trash piles that i could make about 3 videos of stills.. .

Who wants their babies to walk to school past that crud ? Who wants to walk their children to the park when the parks look like they do ?

I am asking for prayers at this point... NOTHING ELSE IS WORKING! I am sad, I am so flippan sad and angry over this mess , What in the world happened to NEKCMO?

 Pray , Kansas City , PRAY LIKE NEVER BEFORE , that NEKCMO and its problems dont keep traveling like the plague to Independence MO and the other surrounding areas...

We have an epidemic on our hands ....and it is inching its way east .

 oy..  : |  

keep reading , ill keep posting , Look out for the family dressed in game gear , that will be us...

peace and prayers from NortheastKC aka MJfromKC

Even Harry Truman has ate at here!!  .. and once you read the history of the Englewood Cafe, you can see why Harry Truman or Ginger Rogers would eat there. . It is the definition of Independence MO and the Englewood/ Square area.

This restaurant is truly how Harry Truman would have wanted his town to be, family oriented , friendly atmosphere,  neghorbors visiting neighbors, community pride and darn good pies..... ill add that the ladies that wait on the tables are just as sweet as the pies.

For decades the breakfast and lunch rush was standing room only at times. It was owned by the same family, the Stapeltons, until a few years ago, when the new owners bought it and kept the same menu and values

Englewood Cafe has left it's  mark on the community threw hard work ,good family values. quality homecooked food and those delicious homemade pies.

 

Jims Hot Tamales has proudly been serving the Kansas City metro area for FOUR generations. I can remember going school clothes shopping down town at the Sears building, and begging my mom for them.

As a teen I would drive out of my way to obtain them. For about 2 bucks you can still get a darn good lunch, add a can of cold soda too if you want. Delivered to your car , fresh and hot.

You could not ask for a nicer bunch , when i came in to shoot the photos and video, the family was as concerned about the North East KC area as i was.

Good quality food at a fair decent price from hardworking folks. What more could you ask for , Thank you Jim's Tamales for serving KC for many years.

 Hum Dinger in the North east KCMO area sits at 9th and Prospect. I cant tell you how many times threw the years that i have ate there. The sign says it all "ever eat here"

 The kids and i have spent many summer afternoons getting grape shakes and chilli burgers. I have deep hunger for their tenderloins and Italian Steaks . In fact i dont believe i have missed anything on the menu. The Big Kahauna is a favoriate of my oldest son. The tacos are my moms favoriate thing there. I say order everything at least once , they even serve a mean hot dog.

While in the resturant take a look around, same location and family owned for over 35 years.. without any major incidents .No matter the neighborhood around it, the staff looks out for its customers as well as themselves and that is a quality often missing in area business...

We love Hum Dingers for staying in KC threw good times and bad. I have never felt unsafe or left the establishment sorry that  i came. Thank You Hum Dingers for proudly and safely serving NEKCMO for over 35 years .

I chose the song Beautiful Noise because the city there  once ha this beautiful noise about it. Its hard to explain but the area used to anyway, have this sort of sound , a rhythm of  sorts , ... Maybe whats missing is the rest of the stores that are also gone from that area, but if you were around in the 70's and 80's , or even as late as the 90's , you remember what that corner was once like.

North East KCMO. This is Lykins Park.It was once the neighborhood hangout. It boasted a pool , tennis courts, basketball courts and a play ground.

It's Center stood just across the park at the wall, In the summer time the kids would leave the pool at noon to get a free sack lunch.Then when the new center opened the kids would walk to it and get a free hot lunch from the cafeteria.

It was the Center of the Community . Families would meet for reunions and BBQ's .

Sadly once the center closed, the park then deteriorated soon the neighborhood began its fast decline.Notice the sign it says no alcoholic beverages in Spanish FIRST.This is the sign of the times in KC.

Back in the 70 and 80's though the cute boys in the neighborhood used to line the stone wall and wait on the girls to pass by.It was a sure place to meet up with your friends.

Gone are the days when the kids filled this park with laughter. Gone are the days when children could safely play or shoot hoops after dark. Now after dark all there is is shootings.

Also featured is Independence Ave and Wilson road, the homeless wait all day at that bus stop. This one has a guitar and his friend has a Santa hat on. It is the new face of Northeast KC.
At the beginning of the video ,it is the wall on 9th and Hardesty. The peace wall.

The Saint John Garden is also featured in this video, Yay for them in keeping KC fed and beautiful.

The Git n Go is also featured in the video , good for them for staying in KC for so long.Honest I dont know how they do. I see they changed with the times too & now have Hispanic signs up .

How in the world did NEKCMO get like this? I am not lying when i say it was once a safe place to raise a family, where everybody knew everybody.
There was a time when driving on 9th or the avenue or sitting in Lykins meant HOME.

Random KC shots. ...

This is Cliff Drive in North East Kansas City Missouri.

It is such an important road to me, I could not tell you how many times i have driven this scenic byway.

It was closed for such a long time. Then Senator Ronnie De Pasco , who is from NEKCMO took it under his wing and it is back beautiful as ever .

I spent many afternoons as a young teen there and many afternoons as a mom driving with my children.

http://cliffdrive.org/history

http://cliffdrive.org/kessler_park

Pace's Body had been a part of Northeast Kansas City Mo for as long as i can remember.... and no matter how many times we run into him at Jim's family restaurant , we cant get over it says Independence Mo on it... I miss seeing his store front on the avenue man... i remember when you could here the sounds of his shop .. and see the cute boys working in the summer time... we girls would do a drive by and honk .. spin it around and go once around Cliff Drive head to the Dairy Queen to get a Mr Misty ... and back past Pace's to honk at them fellers. lol..very good times in NEKCMO back then . Where did all those wonderful business's go to of my generation ?

so is this erosion ?  ummm Phallus ? or a World War 1 memorial erected ..er um.. in Raytown MO ..

i am thinking that they sure used the word erected right... :)

i dont mean to make light of the World War 1 Heroes honest i dont , but i am wondering if anyone else sees what i see..... a huge phallic symbol in the middle of a grass pad with a flag saluting it.

 i call this video ...get er done .. : ) ..  like my granny used to say .. "never let anything stand in your way" 


nekc

In KC sadly we have many homeless, if you look to the left of the video you can see a homeless man laying face forward on the cement railing . This is on Independence Ave near the Paseo Bridge , to the right you can also see another homeless man holding up a sign. This has become so common in KC ,and even now Independence MO that they are invisible . We as citizens have come numb to it. I see them hanging out on the wall near that QT on 435 and Independence Ave. I am sure that Butch's Tattoo Parlor , the Car Lots , the QT and the home owners in that area don't see them as invisible. It is so disheartening to watch the demise of our little town. I dont think that a light rail is gonna help folks (IMO) . I dont think all the Sprint Centers in the world , or Power and Light Districts will clean up all of KC. What about the outskirts of KC? Like my NEKCMO ? SouthKC ? the Eastside ? Near the City Market?? What is going to happen when our "out of towners" drive down the highway from the hotels on 170 and Little Blue River Prkwy , get off downtown and make a wrong turn and see the blithe that KC has become ? For such a small town we have such big problems . Keep reading KC and ill keep posting , watch out for the family dressed all in KC gear , chances are that's us . peace n love MJ from KC

Peter May's house of Kielbasa . I have driven by many times but have never had the pleasure of eating there myself , so next week i am going down and eating ... They are open Monday to Friday from 7 am to 5 pm . They are at 1654 Bristol in KCMO . In the East side.A very long standing business in our community lets here it for Peter May's House of Kielbasa same location since 1928! Proudly Family Owned .

Hocker Heights has been in Independence Mo for as long as i have lived in the Indep and NEKCMO area. Some say that crime has taken over . They are trying to take it back. They now have a garden there and are working on the community as a group .This was there first year to plant and harvest vegetables threw the Independence MO Health Dept .




Theresa's drive in , a great place to eat , sits on the corner of Truman Road and Bennington. This long standing business in the community makes terrific burgers and Italian stakes




Kansas City Mo , the EastSide of KC Truman Road and Hardesty , and headed east on 12th.

At the end of the video , you can see where the scrappers have stolen the guard rails from the bridge and turned it over to the scrap metal business for cash.
KC had to crack down on the scrap metal theft like never before .

You see Whatsoever on the right hand side of 12th just past Bennington.

Whatsoever Community Center has served KC as long as I can remember.It has trained many Golden Gloves Champions and is well known for its boxers both male and female in the community .

You'll also see huge piles trash , right along side baseball fields.

KCMO in general has huge trash issues .