Ask anyone from Kansas City which area of the metro is the most crime ridden , blight filled part of town. Most will say the East side, or KCK. While both of these areas are definitely contenders, there are countless smaller pockets throughout the city. Over the next few weeks, I am going to take you to some of them. So lock your doors, roll up your window, and put on your best fake cop face. Here we go.
Forty Highway, maybe you drive it on your way to work, or to the Chiefs and Royals games. Unless you are completely unaware of your surroundings, which 
makes you an excellent target by the way, then you have probably noticed a few rundown motels and trailer parks scattered among the mostly commercial section that runs east from Van Brunt. Hopefully you have never had an urge to explore the interior of these trailer parks, and if you felt the urge you were smart enough to not act on it. Lucky for you I'm neither particularly smart or easily frightened. I really love the grit and grime that stubbornly clings to the city.There is a mile or two stretch of 40 hwy that stand as testament to vice in its most base form. Sex and Drugs, and Rock, minus the Roll. While the hookers don't stroll through here in the same numbers as Independence Avenue or even Troost or Prospect, they are here. It is a safe assumption to say that hookers and smokers use the small No Tell Motels as their base of operations. 
You don't have to be Mike Hammer to figure out the appeal of cheap motels that don't require, or probably even accept credit cards. The smaller motels , I'm gonna go out on a limb here, are family owned, probably East Indian families. Some of the bigger hotels have not fared so well. The largest motel on 40 hwy, the old Stadium Inn, later named the Sunset Inn sits abandoned, and probably stripped of its copper pipes and wires. I'm willing to bet, its empty rooms are home to a few of the nocturnal inhabitants of this area.
The only way to be sure is to walk inside the abandoned building, and that just ain't gonna happen. Now, crack and prostitution are just two of the three deadly sins that are a mainstay of the 40 hwy strip. In fact, as ragged and filthy as these motels and the occupants may be, they are living in the Ritz Carlton in comparison to what you are about to see. So make sure the boss isn't looking over your shoulder, put down that donut, trust me you don't want to be eating right now. Let's take a ride through Bunker Hill and Mayfair, hands down the single most filthy place this side of the landfill, where Meth is surely the drug of chioce.
Bunker Hill and Mayfair trailer parks sit side by side, nestled 100 feet or so off of 40 hwy. Strangely enough this may well be the most integrated area in the city. Whites and Blacks live in harmony. Okay, that bit about harmony, was bullshit. I doubt peace and harmony have ever set foot in this rats nest that passes for a trailer court. In fact, trailer park residents everywhere may file a class action suit against me for defamation of character. These two parks are cesspools, pure and simple. When I turned in to the Mayfair, the first thing I noticed was the absence of any dogs, and thankfully, children. I should say that I heard dogs barking, several of them, but I didn't see a single one. 
As I idled through the park , I passed a wire thin guy in bibs with a bushy beard that clearly hadn't seen comb nor soap since it was a 5 O'clock shadow, but more about him in a minute. Here are a few of the classier places in the Mayfair. Actually, this Is hands down the cleanest looking building in the two parks. And the only one that doesn't have a hitch and wheels, I might add. As I rounded the bend on the far end of this horseshoe shaped park, I came across this airy and spacious custom painted home. Someone has really put a great deal of time and effort in to the place. 
You don't have to be Mike Hammer to figure out the appeal of cheap motels that don't require, or probably even accept credit cards. The smaller motels , I'm gonna go out on a limb here, are family owned, probably East Indian families. Some of the bigger hotels have not fared so well. The largest motel on 40 hwy, the old Stadium Inn, later named the Sunset Inn sits abandoned, and probably stripped of its copper pipes and wires. I'm willing to bet, its empty rooms are home to a few of the nocturnal inhabitants of this area.
The only way to be sure is to walk inside the abandoned building, and that just ain't gonna happen. Now, crack and prostitution are just two of the three deadly sins that are a mainstay of the 40 hwy strip. In fact, as ragged and filthy as these motels and the occupants may be, they are living in the Ritz Carlton in comparison to what you are about to see. So make sure the boss isn't looking over your shoulder, put down that donut, trust me you don't want to be eating right now. Let's take a ride through Bunker Hill and Mayfair, hands down the single most filthy place this side of the landfill, where Meth is surely the drug of chioce.
Bunker Hill and Mayfair trailer parks sit side by side, nestled 100 feet or so off of 40 hwy. Strangely enough this may well be the most integrated area in the city. Whites and Blacks live in harmony. Okay, that bit about harmony, was bullshit. I doubt peace and harmony have ever set foot in this rats nest that passes for a trailer court. In fact, trailer park residents everywhere may file a class action suit against me for defamation of character. These two parks are cesspools, pure and simple. When I turned in to the Mayfair, the first thing I noticed was the absence of any dogs, and thankfully, children. I should say that I heard dogs barking, several of them, but I didn't see a single one. 
As I idled through the park , I passed a wire thin guy in bibs with a bushy beard that clearly hadn't seen comb nor soap since it was a 5 O'clock shadow, but more about him in a minute. Here are a few of the classier places in the Mayfair. Actually, this Is hands down the cleanest looking building in the two parks. And the only one that doesn't have a hitch and wheels, I might add. As I rounded the bend on the far end of this horseshoe shaped park, I came across this airy and spacious custom painted home. Someone has really put a great deal of time and effort in to the place. 
And I found the source of the earlier mentioned barking dogs. This RV was literally rocking back and forth and the dogs were raising hell. I was almost tempted to free them, but didn't want to end up eaten by hungry pit bulls.
So, as I'm making the last turn that leads 
out of the Park , to my surprise, Bearded Bib Guy, Trailer Park Princess, and a black guy with a big plastic sack, are standing in front of bib guys trailer. Princess was doing the Meth inspired Ozark high Step. Meth users have this funny thing they do with their legs when they have been up too long. Like the Funky Chicken or the Jed Clampett dance. Well she is pointing at my car and then back up to the trailer, and I swear to god, she makes a sign language gesture of me taking pictures. That was my cue to leave, but how could I without one last parting shot for posterity. I stopped the car, leaned out the window zoomed to the best of my ability, and fired away. Bib guy was a whole lot smarter than the other two. He understood that if someone is snapping pictures, and you don't want to be captured on film, you move out of sight. He was smart, the other two, not so much. 
