Uptown Arts Bar to open in Betsy Ross Building

[KCMax]

The Uptown Arts Bar officially opens on Friday night

[FangKC]

That block is such a mix of architectural styles.

[beautyfromashes]

I love the connection to 'Uptown', working to create a whole new district between Midtown and Downtown. It gives the neighborhood a whole new identity.

[chingon]

Except it makes no sense. Geographically speaking.

[beautyfromashes]

Except it makes no sense. Geographically speaking.

And 'midtown' does?

[chingon]

I just meant midtown is -- by definition -- supposed to be between downtown and uptown.

But yes, I think midtown as its used in KC does make sense.

[earthling]

Is curious how KC has the Uptown hood (around Uptown Theatre) that is surrounded by Midtown. But in the early days, Xroads used to be called Midtown - have seen it on old maps. Does the City have an official boundary for modern Midtown as they do for 'greater Downtown'? I tend to think 'greater Midtown' is 31st to Westport (including Westport) and Troost to State Line.

Not crazy about the 'arts' bar name, is literal, but looking forward to checking it out.

[beautyfromashes]

I just meant midtown is -- by definition -- supposed to be But yes, I think midtown as its used in KC does make sense.

So, if 'downtown' is downtown; and 'midtown' is midtown; then where is 'uptown' supposed to be? Waldo?

[chingon]

Earthling is right. What is now midtown used to be considered uptown and the Crossroads was midtown. I have never heard anyone in the modern era refer to anything in KC as "uptown", and I hope they don't start. Though, if they were going to, I'd think the Plaza would be our "uptown".

Not that it makes any kind of difference. I have never cottoned to official neighborhood designations. Kind of defeats the idea in my opinion, but to each his own. Neighborhood names should be organic and malleable, they should change with time by public consensus.

The city-designated, atomistic and often meaningless official neighborhood scheme is one of the things I have always thought was lame about St Louis. Not that the city doesn't have great neighborhoods, just that the official version doesn't synch with the reality of St Louis in its current state (and likely never did). It is more or less a kind of sad piece of failed marketing which is only one step removed from referring how developers name subdivisions or how suburbanites call them "neighborhoods". I feel the same way about downtown definitions (ours included).

I do, however, still think it would be weird -- and not in a quirky, cool way (more like an unnecessarily confusing, stupid way) -- if our uptown somehow morphed into a neighborhood between downtown and midtown.

[beautyfromashes]

Personally, I hate the term 'midtown'. It has such a wishy-washy, no man's land, almost but not quite reference. 'Uptown' sounds so much more positive. Perhaps we should just, in the spirit of reverse sprawl, change midtown back to uptown.

[chingon]

Yeah, I'm not crazy about the term midtown either, but I think uptown has the same inherent flaws: generic, wishy-washy, etc. Ditto "Downtown", for that matter, though that one seems ubiquitous and unavoidable.

That's why I like that our uptown is called "the Plaza", and why I hope that stretch of what I would call Valentine -- or yes, midtown -- doesn't get start getting called uptown just because the "Uptown Theater" is there.

Regardless, I wish the bar luck. I do love that stretch of midtown, though my Kenny's/Lava Room/Blarney Stone golden triangle is a thing of the past, now.

[beautyfromashes]

But, it'd be so much better than 'Old Hyde Park', the most generic, negative neighborhood district I've ever heard of.

[chingon]

I don't ever like the word "old" or "historic" in a neighborhood name, myself. When I lived in Northeast, I used to argue about that all the time with neighborhood people.

I lost.

[beautyfromashes]

I love the name 'Valentine' as a district. I don't understand why everyone is fighting over the Hyde Park name (Old, North, South, Historic etc. ad nauseum) when Valentine sounds so much cooler. I wonder if they've ever thought of having some type of celebration or tie in with Valentine's Day.

[earthling]

Downtown, midtown, uptown terms are OK to use for general vicinity. There are already distinct neighborhood names within each of those vicinities. I live in Westport zipcode but usually call myself a Midtowner and friends in Hyde Park are Midtowners, as are friends in Roanoke. We have common interests across midtown, not just the hoods we live in. Neighborhood and vicinity names have their place.

[FangKC]

Midtown can refer to a greater area than an individual neighborhood. For example, Midtown Manhattan in New York City incorporates neighborhoods like Sutton Place, Murray Hill, Clinton (Hell's Kitchen), Chelsea, Kip's Bay, Union Square, Gramercy Park, the Theatre District, and the Flatiron District.

Here in Kansas City, I think Midtown includes Coleman Highlands, Roanoke, Valentine, Volker, Hyde Park, and Old Westport.

[earthling]

^And oddly Uptown is a specific hood within Midtown.

[FangKC]

The actual city name on maps for that area of Broadway are:

West of Broadway is Valentine, where Uptown Theater is.
East of Broadway is Hanover Place, where the Betsy Ross building is.

[beautyfromashes]

Was it an anti-German decision during WWI/II to stop using Hanover Place and replace with Old Hyde Park? I know a lot of people changed their German sounding names because of fear of being called anti-American. Some even started calling their ancestory Black Dutch instead of German. I think Hanover Place is a much better name then any of the Hyde Park alternatives.

[FangKC]

There is a subdivision called Greystone north of Linwood and south of 31st Street between Pennsylvania and Wyandotte. The Greystone Historic District lies in this area as well.

http://www.kcmo.org/idc/groups/cityplan ... 017789.pdf