Population and Income
Kansas City is a city rich with cultural, racial, and economic diversity, but it also has the space and spread for that diversity to concentrate into specific areas.
Take a look at the population and income distributions of Kansas City.
Population
In terms of population, there is no one geographic region that holds significantly more people than another. There are dense pockets of population all throughout the city. You have zip codes that are certainly more populous than others, but there is a good variation in populations all throughout the center of the city until you approach the more rural and suburban fringes of the city.
Income
Contrast the population to the income distribution, where there is a considerable lack of wealth in the heart of the city. The concentration of income in Kansas City is overwhelmingly on the edges. This is commonplace in most U.S. cities as people with money migrate to areas with larger homes and fewer neighbors.
In Kansas City, the most significant difference is in zip codes 64112 and 64113 where a dense population of the highest income exists relatively close to the city center. Other than those zip codes, the diverse distribution of population does not extend itself to the characteristic of income.
Crime and Punishment in Kansas City
Crime
Kansas City is a relatively large city (38th in the U.S.) with all of the usual advantages and challenges. The obvious one being Crime.
Despite a consistently rising population since 2010, Kansas City has seen relatively small drops in crime over that timeframe. The city does not have a crime problem on the surface, so it is worth investigating more closely.
The following animation shows crimes per 1000 residents to allow for a fair comparison across zip codes.
Over time, crimes remain relatively constant in specific zip codes with no significant changes. Crime rate is significantly higher in the downtown area, likely due to the increased concentration of businesses and traffic during the work week with few residents in the mostly commercial district.
Types of Crime
While the crime rate is concentrated in downtown, it is worth investigating the types of crimes perpetrated throughout the city.
The maps show that while downtown may experience a higher rate per 1000 residents, the neighborhoods with less income experience a higher rate of domestic and violent crime than the wealthier neighborhoods. In the worst case, nearly 12% of crimes are domestic violence and almost 8% of crimes involve firearms in the 64130 zip code.
Property Violations & Punishment
Kansas City also implements a financial penalty system for violations of the housing ordinances (property violations). Most of the property violations are reported by neighbors of those homes through the city information system. After an investigation by a city official, fines are assessed and charged to homeowners for violations ranging from overgrown grass and chipping paint to structures that are deemed dangerous for habitation.
The graph makes it apparent that property violations have nearly doubled since 2010, but it cannot show if this is due to increased necessity (aging homes, more dangerous buildings) or increased popularity (more neighbors calling in violations). More data can be understood examining the property violation rate (per 1000 residents) across year and zip code.
Here we can see that the property violations are much higher in neighborhoods with less income. Not only that, but the rate at which property violations have increased is also much higher in those same neighborhoods. Considering the costs to fix these property violations and the fines charged by the city, the neighborhoods with the least income are experiencing even further financial burdens under the current enforcement system.
Summary
- Though laws and property codes are enforced throughout the city, their prevalence is mostly concentrated in the zip codes with lower income.
- Not only do zip codes with lower income experience more crimes and fines, but the crimes in those zip codes are more personal (higher rate of domestic violence) and more violent (higher rate of firearm use).
Moving Forward
- In Kansas City, a lack of economic resources exposes residents to a series of dangerous and costly consequences.
- While property code enforcement has increased since 2010, it has not provided improved safety to those communities; rather, it has increased their financial burden.
