Rankings, lists, and such

[earthling]

'Smartest' states, based on SAT, ACT, IQ estimates and % college graduates.

KS came in 6th and MO came in 16th...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the ... the-union/

[KCtoBrooklyn]

You can look up the number of building permits issued on the Census Bureau's website, both by metro area:
http://www.census.gov/construction/bps/msamonthly.html

and by city:
http://censtats.census.gov/bldg/bldgprmt.shtml

Here are the metro numbers for KC compared to some midwest peer cities. Our numbers fare pretty well, aside from Minneapolis (as to be expected). These numbers are through October this year:


And here are the numbers for just the city:

[flyingember]

3-4 unit size is the sweet spot missing in KC. They're cheap to build so they can be affordable to live in, reasonably dense yet fit into existing neighborhoods without a lot of fighting. They're perfect for zero lot line designs where you have a side path for a small yard every other home so you can put windows the full length of the side, a nice touch.

5+ is nice but costly and hard to put on the east side where 2-4 is way easier.

That's the best sign I've seen KC has good things happening. If we could get more of this in suburban development it would be a big deal for the northland. Second Creek with even half designed as 4-plex structures would be a huge coup for better density

[FangKC]

Chicago Tribune travel article on Kansas City.

Beyond BBQ: Kansas City surprises visitors with treasure-trove of delights

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyle ... t-RHYFAm1b

[KCLofts]

Brits sample and rank 8 KC BBQ joints

[bobbyhawks]

barbecue food?

[earthling]

Brits eating with their hands? Gasp.

[grovester]

Good article! Definitely not a fluff piece.

[brewcrew1000]

Wonder if they have ever had Texas BBQ or the other kinds? Some people don't like KC BBQ at all and swear by Texas Style. Franklin BBQ has people lining up at 4am for its BBQ. I've never had Texas BBQ so I can't really compare it.

[earthling]

The reason some don't like KC BBQ is because there is no one style and they vary widely. There are so many different styles that there is a good chance many won't like 75% out there - there are only 3 or 4 that I particularly like that others don't care for. You have to try many to understand and some visitors just try one or two places. That is what makes KC the capital, no one way of doing BBQ and we smoke most anything edible, including jackfruit. And you can find Texas, Memphis, Carolina styles in KC. Texas essentially has one style.

Agree with their 10/10 rating for Q39. I was a bit critical of Q39 when if first opened but they now have it down. Their ribs are consistently great and the brisket/burntends platter is well above avg. Didn't think much of them when they first opened but now maybe my favorite even though pricey.

[normalthings]

Parkhill South High School ran an article about the best places to go downtown. Park Hill HS is making a film about the streetcar for thei announcements. I think getting kids ,especially teens who are about to decide if they wanna stay or leave Kc, interested and visiting downtown is a a great tool to keep local talent here and drum up interest in moving downtown. A lot of kids don't realize how cool KC and thus want to leave, taking their skills and talents away from our local labor market. Just a thought but By promoting downtown in school publications we can strum up interest in teens of staying in KC.
Also at least in the Parkhill Disrtrict a number of kids are streetcar supporters and are keen to ride it on opening day.

[scooterj]

Brits sample and rank 8 KC BBQ joints

Great article! Also I laughed aloud at the "watch out for tornadoes!" at the end.

[mean]

Wonder if they have ever had Texas BBQ or the other kinds? Some people don't like KC BBQ at all and swear by Texas Style. Franklin BBQ has people lining up at 4am for its BBQ. I've never had Texas BBQ so I can't really compare it.

Having had BBQ all over the place, I think that most people claiming to like or not like particular regional variations are usually being homers. Smoked meat is smoked meat at the end of the day. Although as someone who really really hates sweet BBQ sauce, I kinda get the KC-hate. Too much focus on sauce that, frankly, usually sucks.

[Highlander]

Wonder if they have ever had Texas BBQ or the other kinds? Some people don't like KC BBQ at all and swear by Texas Style. Franklin BBQ has people lining up at 4am for its BBQ. I've never had Texas BBQ so I can't really compare it.

Texas Style. Think beef and brisket. Sauce has a lot of vinegar. I don't particularly care for it but sometimes I will order to go and doctor up with KC sauce. The meat is generally lean but the pork ribs are not generally as good and I cannot stand the sauce. I live in Houston but rarely eat BBQ. Believe it or not, BBQ isn't really all that popular here from what I can tell. Most of the places around town aren't that busy. Lockhart and Austin much busier albeit not all that much better in my opinion. Been to the famous places in Lockhart and a few in Austin - about as described above. Not a real fan.

Also - they don't serve fries with BBQ here. The restaurants are like Beirgartens, big long tables.

[Highlander]

Wonder if they have ever had Texas BBQ or the other kinds? Some people don't like KC BBQ at all and swear by Texas Style. Franklin BBQ has people lining up at 4am for its BBQ. I've never had Texas BBQ so I can't really compare it.

Having had BBQ all over the place, I think that most people claiming to like or not like particular regional variations are usually being homers. Smoked meat is smoked meat at the end of the day. Although as someone who really really hates sweet BBQ sauce, I kinda get the KC-hate. Too much focus on sauce that, frankly, usually sucks.

Not really. The bbq down here is very different to what is served in KC. See my other post. KC sauce can also be pretty spicy. Texas sauce has a very distinct vinegar taste - I'd take the sweet any day over vinegar but prefer the spicy.

[mean]

I stand by my assertion that it isn't. Yes, the sauces are distinctly different from region to region, but contrary to what people from KC seem to think, sauce is not what makes BBQ. Smoked meat is what makes BBQ, and it shouldn't be a huge surprise that smoked brisket in Austin tastes very similar to smoked brisket in Kansas City. I happen to rather like the Texas style sauce, personally, but it is just a condiment. You seem to be saying that you don't like Vienna Beef hot dogs because in Chicago they often put sport peppers and celery salt on them.

[shinatoo]

Ate at Fargo's in Beaumont TX. a couple of weeks ago. Beff ribs were fantastic, the rub really set them off. The sauce was unremarkable, very umami, like ketchup. I think Kansas Citians are much more open to other regions because we are so willing to try to cook anything ourselves. Lots of closed mindedness in Texas, Carolinas and Memphis.

[missingkc]

Carolinians are convinced that bbq was invented here. I find it difficult to believe that techniques of slow cooking and smoking meat were unknown to the human race prior to 300 years ago.

[Highlander]

I stand by my assertion that it isn't. Yes, the sauces are distinctly different from region to region, but contrary to what people from KC seem to think, sauce is not what makes BBQ. Smoked meat is what makes BBQ, and it shouldn't be a huge surprise that smoked brisket in Austin tastes very similar to smoked brisket in Kansas City. I happen to rather like the Texas style sauce, personally, but it is just a condiment. You seem to be saying that you don't like Vienna Beef hot dogs because in Chicago they often put sport peppers and celery salt on them.

The sauce is certainly part of the genre. It's probably the biggest thing that changes from region to region.

On another plane - there are only a finite amount of things you can change in BBQ for sure. But the same is true for curries, Mexican food, beer (a very few things), whisky (even fewer things) but we all have our favorites. Even in the realm of "Kansas City BBQ" there has to be something that distinguishes Gates from Bryants from KCJoes from Jackstack. Otherwise we are just fooling ourselves.

[aknowledgeableperson]

I stand by my assertion that it isn't. Yes, the sauces are distinctly different from region to region, but contrary to what people from KC seem to think, sauce is not what makes BBQ. Smoked meat is what makes BBQ, and it shouldn't be a huge surprise that smoked brisket in Austin tastes very similar to smoked brisket in Kansas City. I happen to rather like the Texas style sauce, personally, but it is just a condiment. You seem to be saying that you don't like Vienna Beef hot dogs because in Chicago they often put sport peppers and celery salt on them.

It's really the whole package - meat, wood used to smoke the meat, and then the sauce that compliments the meat. And I will take it a step further. The beans. Been to a few so-called BBQ restaurants outside of KC. Meat was good but the experience was ruined by beans that tasted just out of a can with a little bit of sauce added.
And I have found out in a few instances "burnt ends" means different things to different restaurants. And some places you can not get the meat with the sauce on the side, the meat comes all sauced up.