I’ve been thinking lately. We don’t elect bearded presidents anymore. Maybe that’s the wrong turn we took. Last one was James Garfield and his term ended in 1881. The others in this select group were Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes.
I’m really not sure if that is a good group of presidents or not, but we’ve kind of worn ourselves out with the clean-shaven dudes, maybe move on at this point.
I also got to thinking about the City of Riverside recently. I’m not sure who should get the credit, probably a lot of people, but this Platte County community has totally remade themselves over the last 20 years. If you’re a long time Riverside fan don’t send me hate mail, but to many outsiders Riverside was Red X, some warehouses, the Corner Cafe and a riverboat for years. Not much else. That was probably not accurate, but it certainly was the thoughts of many.
Well don’t look now, but Riverside is a thriving and balanced community at this point with an up-and-coming momentum in the metro. I got to thinking about it after reading about the KC Current training facility. KC Current, the women’s professional soccer team, has a state-of-the-art training facility in Riverside. Situated just off Interstate 635, the modern structure is a striking presence for the tens of thousands of cars that drive between Missouri and Kansas each day.
It is a super cool looking facility, and it is indicative of the change Riverside has made in their reputation to outsiders. The interesting thing about Riverside is that it is a very young town, in terms of towns. Incorporated in June of 1951, it’s a baby compared to most. As with most river-based towns, it has had its love and struggles with the river, but that history seems well settled as they now have a well-balanced mix of recreation, housing and industrial development.
They have a community center, fitness court, city pool, trails, parks and even pickleball courts if you’re into the pickleballing.
One of the last mixes to this equation has been taking advantage of their proximity to Kansas City and that has come in the form of upper market housing. The Palisades, a high-end homes development just to the west of the well-known Briarcliff area of Kansas City, has changed the local housing market at just the right time, bringing million dollar plus and near million-dollar homes with views of the Kansas City skyline to the community and contributing to the overall perception change.
Don’t take my word for it, take a drive through and see for yourself.
I’m all for progress and stuff, but I’m not advocating for a bearded woman to be elected president. That’s a bit much for me. If you’d prefer to break the gender barrier before we return to a bearded president, I’m willing to wait. I hoping I got at least two or three more presidents in me.
Don’t mistake me for a person that does not understand that Riverside’s Red X was and remains a national treasure and nothing in this column refutes that premise. If you can’t enjoy buying some booze, lottery tickets and a sandwich at the Red X, you don’t understand being an American. Honestly, you should lose your rights to listen to Lee Greenwood if you don’t appreciate the Red X, but I don’t make the rules on this stuff.
(Guy Speckman can be reached gspeckman@me.com <mailto:gspeckman@me.com> or growing his beard for 2024)