Your elected state government officials have convened in Jefferson City to do something about “violent crime.” You think you will feel safer after they get done in a couple of weeks?
Probably not.
Oh, sure they are trying to do something, but the disconnect between the current political and social climate is nearly ignored by the politicians wanting to pass laws and spend money to solve violent crime. As a society, we have pandered to people chanting for police reform in the streets, yet the politicians call for more laws and more money to “fight” violent crime.
Is it too much of a stretch to believe that the political viewpoints on police and the rule of law have created some of the spike in crime? It is hard to have much respect for the law when your friends and neighbors are marching in the streets with people that are consistently tearing down the departments, figuratively and literally. Even violent criminals are probably victims of peer pressure.
Anyway, a bunch of guys and gals in suits are going to pass some laws and spend some money in an effort to get a bunch of criminals to not shoot people. Color me pessimistic.
Shout out to Platte County’s Park University. They continue to be leaders in the community, but more importantly they are unabashed leaders in moving with change. Within weeks of seeing the shift in educational patterns caused by COVID, Park was advertising for students that were considering “gap” years or those that were attending schools that might not be meeting in person this fall.
It was a seamless transition for the private university that utilizes “Redefine Possible” as their mission statement. They have rolled out a “flat fee solution” pricing and have aggressively sought out new students in a time of higher education transformation. The other side of this pandemic is going to look quite different on the education front. State regional universities have had major cuts. Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph has had as bad a public relations year as possible with a president hire that lasted less than a year and deep program cuts.
Students are going to seek different paths in the coming years that may not include the traditional 4 years on campus experience. The trend appears to see many seek less expensive alternatives for general education requirements. Park is ahead of the game by getting to those students now, rather than wallowing in the challenges presented by the pandemic.
Platte County real estate continues to drive the area economy. The average sales price for Q2 is up from 2019. Sellers got 99.2% of original list price in Q2. Inventory is down 38% yet closed sales were only down .4%. That is the equivalent of car dealers selling everything they got on the lot. The average days on market was only 46 days. The average sales price in Platte City zip code is now $285,764 American dollars. In 2016, the average sales price was approximately $225,000. I am not sure how many euro’s that would be, but it seems like it would be a lot.
Mind you, these numbers are from the middle of a pandemic, you do you real estate.
(Guy Speckman can be reached at gspeckman@me.com or trying to buy a house with euros)