When should Wichita compare itself to peers?

In a Wichita Eagle article about the Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita, we see Wichita public relations consultant Vera Bothner complain that Wichita is being unfairly compared to other cities in our region, in particular Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Kansas City. Wichita is smaller than these cities, she says, and we should not hold Wichita to a standard that it can’t meet.

But in public life, we find Wichita frequently compared to these cities. These three cities are part of the four metropolitan areas that Visioneering Wichita choose as peers. (The other is Omaha.)

During the recent sales tax campaign, pro-tax advocates often mentioned Oklahoma City and Tulsa as cities that Wichita should emulate.

So it may be confusing for Wichita voters to determine when a comparison of Wichita to Oklahoma City and Tulsa is valid, and when it is not.

There is a trend, however. For the Wichita business establishment, represented by the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce (Bothner is a member of its executive committee), the trend is for more taxes and more government spending. Whenever a comparison can be made that results in the conclusion that there’s not enough taxation and government spending in Wichita, it’s likely the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce will do that.

(By the way, if people are worried about running government like a business, a good place to start this discipline would be Intrust Bank Arena, with treating its finances like an actual business. Proper attention given to the depreciation expense of Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita would recognize and account for the sacrifices of the people of Sedgwick County and its visitors to pay for the arena. But that doesn’t happen. See Intrust Bank Arena: Not accounted for like a business.)

Here’s an excerpt from After 5 years, Intrust Bank Arena still battles image problem.

Comparing Intrust Bank Arena to Tulsa’s BOK center is a mistake, although a common one, said Vera Bothner, whom SMG hired as a local consultant. Comparing it to Kansas City’s Sprint Center or Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena are even bigger mistakes. But many fans do that, she found.

Tulsa’s population base, for one, is Wichita’s and a half. Wichita has about 637,000 people in its metro area. Tulsa has 960,000. Tulsa’s arena is bigger, too, with 4,000 more seats.

Oklahoma City and Kansas City are even further out of Wichita’s league. Kansas City’s population is 2.05 million, and its Sprint Center seats 19,500. Oklahoma City has 1.32 million people, and its arena holds 18,200.

In reality, Bothner said, Wichita is more comparable to Little Rock, Ark., which has a population of 725,000 and an 18,000-seat arena; Des Moines, with 600,000 people and a 17,000-seat arena; and Bossier City, La., and its 14,000-seat CenturyLink Center.

“The economics of this particular marketplace have just been hard for people to understand, I think, because geographically we compare ourselves to these other cities, and we do that a lot,” Bothner said. “But just because arenas are in our geographic region does not mean that the demographics and the size of the city are similar enough to make a good comparison.”