Areas around the Plaza, Nelson are a mess. Get it together before the World Cup, KC | Opinion

In less than four years from now, Kansas City will be on a global stage with the World Cup. The city must begin to clean up its act — and it should start with the area around the Country Club Plaza and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

I am a homeowner who lives in the Nelson-Plaza area. I walk the neighborhood twice a day for one to two hours, once in the morning and again in the evening. Kansas City needs to get the litter, construction debris and other detritus under control to become a positive American city representative that is worthy as host to an important sporting event that will be seen around the world.

To begin, the excellent walking and physical fitness stops along the trail in Mill Creek Park are in dire need of wildlife-proof trash cans like the ones we see in our national parks. People and animals such as squirrels dig through the open trash cans there now. On a daily basis, I have to keep my dog from eating old food and God knows what else while we’re walking in the park. I recently had to fight to pull a moldy egg roll out of her mouth.

I’m even more concerned about the countless other dog walkers — and there are many — hoping their innocent pets don’t consume some life-threatening substance.

I am also very worried about broken glass, knives and dangerous obstacles to pedestrians left behind by construction crews, such as holes in the ground. There has been one such deep hole in the ground for a couple months at the corner of Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Main Street. My own beloved dog fell into the hole and smacked her head and neck, and we had to stop for her to recover from the blow. Recently, I found a scary hunting knife in the backyard of my condo.

Broken glass on the streets is a big and ongoing problem. There seems to be a lot of it on every block, and no one is cleaning it up. A bottle breaks, or there’s a smash-and-grab theft through a car window, and the glass just lays there and spreads for months.

I regularly see a flock of at least 100 geese on Brush Creek. Is the water safe enough for them? Wouldn’t it be grand if Kansas City made the commitment to spruce up such a prominent attraction? The area should be known for welcoming sidewalks along the picturesque canal, and gondola rides to create memories like a visit to Venice.

The eastern side of the Plaza has become extremely loud. The emergency room and ambulances at Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City are active and loud at all hours. We neighborhood residents understand and tolerate the need for noise as construction crews work in the area and emergency vehicles do their important service, but it’s disruptive and thunderous nonetheless.

Thankfully, the classic Winstead’s restaurant is busy, but unfortunately it’s loud with annoyed, impatient and aggressive behavior surrounding it. There’s regular scary drag racing on Cleaver Boulevard, especially in summer, and police don’t seem to be able to do anything to stop it. It seems they’re reluctant to conduct high speed chases, so this dangerous behavior continues.

The beautiful Nelson-Atkins is a real pride and treasure of Kansas City. The blocks around the museum are important to its quality image. We need to clean up our act — literally.

Minneapolis is noteworthy for its clean city and airport. How do the people there do it? Santa Cruz, California, employs disabled adults who want to work to clean up their city. Street cleaners exist in Kansas City, but clearly there are not enough of them and they don’t work with enough frequency.

The area around the Plaza and the Nelson is an amazingly beautiful, fun and delightful place to live, but we can and must show a better way of living for World Cup audiences. Please, let’s get it together before the games begin.