San Diego, LA, Vegas, Phoenix...

[KCgridlock]

I'm back!

I am adding San Diego to my short list of favorite cities. I have now explored nearly every major city in the US and only have a few left to visit.

San Diego is a nice drive, go through CO though at least one direction of travel rather than the desert. Put over 4000 miles on the car!

Anyway, after visiting SD, LA, Vegas and Phoenix (all for the first time), I once again have thoughts about KC. KC is in bad shape and KC is not so bad. Make sense?

Vegas is cool to visit for a day or two but could never imagine living in that place. Why is it growing so fast?

Phoenix has built up a nice, clean downtown and the stadium is sweet, but it's a giant suburb and a hot suburb at that. And why are they building that new arena in the middle of nowhere? Phoenix is nothing special at all, but we will return to Surprise (stadium complex is pretty cool, better than baseball city). I'm sure it's a nice city to visit in the spring, but again, why is this place growing so fast? (being sarcastic here) Great Mexican food though.

Did not spend a lot of time in LA, but it's what I expected, traffic, freeways, sprawl, no sense of place etc. We stayed in Orange County with relatives. Imagine JoCo on steroids, enough said.

San Diego is freaking awesome. It reminds me of Denver on the ocean instead of near the Rockies. That new downtown baseball stadium is really going to push the Downtown area to the next level, even though SD already has a very vibrant Downtown and a huge Downtown population, like Denver, SD manages to have a vibrant Downtown, great urban districts and nice suburbs and beach areas too, nice transit system, clean, well maintained infrastructure and no vacant buildings.

I will go more into the trip if anybody is interested, but will stop for now other than a few thoughts about KC.

KC is in an awesome setting, no mountains or beaches, but much better than Vegas or Phoenix or many other cities like Dallas or Indy. I was so happing to see trees again.

KC has a long way to go to clean up it's Downtown and it's general appearance. Nearly every city I visit puts KC to shame when it comes to general aesthetics or first impression. I can only imagine someone driving through KC on it's horribly outdated highway system and getting off Downtown to see so much decay and extremely old infrastructure like traffic signals and sidewalks, not to mention all the vacant building and under used parking lots.

I know there is a lot going on in KC, and there are only a few cities that I truly would leave KC for, but KC has got to get going, even with all that is going on in KC, places like SD, Denver and even Phoenix are truly leaving us in thier dust.

We have got to get more bi-state cooperation and build up KCMO at whatever the cost. Build transit, build new stadiums, rebuild the roads and bridges.

The thing that bugs me the most is that KC still could really be a top city in the U.S. This city by far has more potential than any city I have visited, but it's just not capitializing on it. KC is too conservative, too much of a tightass and too busy competing within it's own metro area to get the things done that every other city out there seems to be doing.

But hey, it's cheap to live here and you can easily travel the country .

[dangerboy]

San Diego is an awesome city and is doing a lot things right. If Southern California can attract 20,000 downtown residents and build a light rail system, then any city in America can do it. Their City of Villages plan is really cool - it encourages multiple neighborhood clusters of homes, jobs, schools, etc. centered around transit stops. Neighborhoods that accept higher densities are rewarded with a higher priority for infrastructure and development.

L.A. is not the sprawled wasteland that it is perceived to be. Yeah it takes up a lot of room, but there are 10 million people there. Look at the "suburban" areas in the San Fernando Vallley - small houes on small lots with no cul-de-sacs - nothing like Overland Park or Lee's Summit. Now that L.A. has filled up most of their developable space, it is actually becoming one of the densest metro areas in the country. Like San Diego, they are also building up downtown, adding light rail, and heavily focusing on improving the bus system.

[QueSi2Opie]

I'll be askin' for some San Diego info sometime next year.

Anyhow, I agree with you on everything you said about Kansas City. Streetscape should be our number one priority...and that should include street lights, traffic signals, trees, weed removal, sidewalk/curb/street repair, directional signs, graffiti removal and even replacing boards with new windows and throwing up "For Sale/Lease" signs on these old buildings.

My wife and I have already been to the Negro Leagues Museum a couple of years ago, so yesterday we decided to go to the American Jazz Museum across the lobby. The 18th & Vine area was full of tourists...mostly Minnesotans. But it was sad after the film on KC's Jazz Era finished to hear one of them say,"Kansas City looked like it use to be a really nice place, what the hell happened to it?" Sad, but true.

I pictured myself as a visitor from such a clean city like Minneapolis and visiting such a dirty city like Kansas City. I drove down 18th Street towards Grand...then I drove up Grand towards City Market but couldn't help but notice the decay and boarded up buildings. City Market was nice (I thought to myself as a visitor).

Then I went to Broadway and started to drive towards Midtown. The curbs near Penn Valley Park on Broadway have nearly desolved, and why so many "Spaces Available" signs on these buildings? Once you get towards Uptown and Chubby's more businesses appear. The Westport area is cool and the Plaza is amazing, so let's turn towards Main Street.

Going back up Main towards downtown..."ouch, damn pothole...why are the roads so bumpy?"

We get to I-70. Let's drive to the Sports Complex. "Wow! Look at the billboards...I guess if we're lookin' for entertainment, KC has plenty of nudie clubs to offer." From I-70, I'm staring off towards a huge concrete lot covered with weeds in one direction (former drive-in movie theater) and some trailer park surrounded by junkyards in the other direction. I think to myself sarcastically,"Oh my, the stadiums must be in the nicer part of the city."

I finally get to the stadiums and notice the Adam's Mark Hotel surrounded by second-class motels disguised as hotels and absolutely no entertainment nearby. "At least the stadiums themselves are pretty cool.", I think to myself.

After the game I open up my AAA book and look for a nearby mall to pick up a souvenier. "Hey hon, let's go to Blue Ridge Mall...it's nearby." So we head off to the mall.

"JESUS CHRIST! IS THIS A MALL?!?!?!" Back in the car we go. "Let's get the HELL out of Kansas City...maybe we'll stop by one of the casinos on the way out of town since that's all I saw on the billboards on the way in town."

[trailerkid]

QueSi2Opie... you're right for the most part. Before I lived in Lawrence(KC area), I had visited both the Twin Cities and KC. I always thought of them as equals. From what I remember, Worlds of Fun blows away Valleyfair, the Plaza blows away Nicollet, Westport blows away Uptown. Twin Cities have about 8 indoor malls that are full and similar in scope to Independence Center.

KC just has a lot more urban decay and blight. I guess I'd rather have nice old abandoned buildings than new glass tacky ones like the Target headquarters.

[phxcat]

Vegas is cool to visit for a day or two but could never imagine living in that place. Why is it growing so fast?

My thoughts exactly!

Phoenix has built up a nice, clean downtown and the stadium is sweet, but it's a giant suburb and a hot suburb at that. And why are they building that new arena in the middle of nowhere? Phoenix is nothing special at all, but we will return to Surprise (stadium complex is pretty cool, better than baseball city). I'm sure it's a nice city to visit in the spring, but again, why is this place growing so fast?

I just went out with a girl from Philly last night- we went downtown and tried to go someqhere to eat. Nothing is open on Saturday nights! Downtown is very clean, very new, but there are no people- there are not even many bums!- despite the fact that three major league teams compete downtown. The Coyotes are moving to the middle of nowhere because Glendale offered them a sweat deal to move out there and away from downtown. (actually, the reason is that America West is not good for hockey- the upper deck hangs over the goals.) The Cardinals are moving out there soon too, next to the arena. In a few years, Phoenix will have two arenas and two retractable domes.

I think that people here just don't care. The aren't city people. Surprise will be nice, but why on earth would you want to live out there when you are an hour from the city, or more, with no highway access?

I do not understand how you can say that Phoenix is leaving KC behind- it is a shiney new downtown, but there are no tall buildings (reatviely speaking), a handful of older buildings (a small handful), Did you get the feeling that Central Avenue (the stretch of buildings north of Downtown) was Phoenix's answer to College Boulevard? And that is the only urban district we have out here. There is very little sense of place. I think that people who live here- natives have no concept of what a city is, and transplants are either suburbanites who don't care about the city and immigrants.

I could go on forever, on this, but I won't!

[QueSi2Opie]

QueSi2Opie... you're right for the most part. Before I lived in Lawrence(KC area), I had visited both the Twin Cities and KC. I always thought of them as equals. From what I remember, Worlds of Fun blows away Valleyfair, the Plaza blows away Nicollet, Westport blows away Uptown. Twin Cities have about 8 indoor malls that are full and similar in scope to Independence Center.

KC just has a lot more urban decay and blight. I guess I'd rather have nice old abandoned buildings than new glass tacky ones like the Target headquarters.

There's no place in the United States like the Plaza.

I love the old buildings...jus' wish we can fill'em with businesses and residents. Starts with how things appear from ground-level.

[KCgridlock]

I was not saying that Phoenix is better than KC, just that even though it is a very suburban town, it is still managing to build a nice city (even if nobody cares or uses it).

I love KC's old buildings, but gladly tear some of them down for something better. Renovate them or replace them, but the vacant buildings and sidewalks have to go.

KC should do a 200 million dollar bond issue and just do asthetics and basic infrastructure replacement over the entire river to plaza corridor.

Replace all traffic signals, signs, install new signs, crosswalks, rebuild curbs, put in proper pavement parkings on streets, install trash cans, bike lanes, replace sidewalks, landscape everything, dress up bridges, the list goes on and on. Street lights are the only things up to date in KCMO.

KC looks trashed out compared to most major cities and very unkept. KCMO is doing a lot to fix these problems, I just hope they are widspread and done right.

[trailerkid]

I don't know Grid...I hear ya, but I don't. Remember how people complained about Guilani cleaning up Manhattan...how they said he took all the fun out of it? I just don't ever want to see KC look like Disneyland.

[phxcat]

Trailerkid's right. It would be nice to clean it up a bit, but you don't want to lose the grit! That'sa what makes a city a city. Downtown Phoenix looks like Corporate Woods with the buildings at the edge of the streets. And, the only reason that it is clean is because it is new, and the only reason there are fewer vacant buildings is because they are all new, and there are nowhere near as many of them. I wouldn't be surprised if KC has four or five times the square footage inside the loop as Phoenix has downtown.

[QueSi2Opie]

Trailerkid's right. It would be nice to clean it up a bit, but you don't want to lose the grit! That'sa what makes a city a city.

There's a difference between grit and garbage. I consider grit to be Chicago, Philly, Cleveland, Cincy and New Orleans. Even many of the southern cities that use to be garbage have cleaned themselves up quite a bit in the last decade. KC has a ton of history and interesting urban neighborhoods to offer, but let's continue fixing up downtown faster than a snail's pace.

[dangerboy]

KC has a ton of history and interesting urban neighborhoods to offer, but let's continue fixing up downtown faster than a snail's pace.

Snail's pace? Your perception that Downtown is going at a snail's pace is exactly the kind of problem that we have - people who don't realize how exciting Downtown is becoming, and how good it is already.

Downtown has turned around 180 degrees in the last five years. Builders can't finish projects fast enough to meet the demand. People are falling all over themselves to announce new loft, condo, and restaurant developments. National developers have learned of our downtown's emerging reputation and are clamoring to get in on the action.

[QueSi2Opie]

Downtown has turned around 180 degrees in the last five years. Builders can't finish projects fast enough to meet the demand. People are falling all over themselves to announce new loft, condo, and restaurant developments. National developers have learned of our downtown's emerging reputation and are clamoring to get in on the action.

How many companies/businesses have abandoned downtown in the last five years?

[KC0KEK]

KC should do a 200 million dollar bond issue and just do asthetics and basic infrastructure replacement over the entire river to plaza corridor.

Exactly. The city should devote its resources to basic infrastrucutre, not arenas and stadiums. Let the team owners pay for those. After all, when companies are deciding whether to stay in or come to KC, they look at schools and infrastructure, not sports.

[KCgridlock]

You are taking this wrong, I love KC’s grit, but we can have our grit and have decent curbs, bridges, sidewalks, signs, street lights, traffic signals etc. I don’t want to tear down our city, Phoenix is a giant OP, we all know we don’t want that. Just clean it up and fix it up. KC is doing a lot, but we have a long way to go. It seems like every single city out there is a step ahead of KC with not only a booming Downtown and condo towers going up right and left, but retail, new stadiums, light rail, tourist attractions etc.

KC can’t even get the arena off the drawing board, let alone everything else. Just frustrating that’s all. I know there is more going on in urban KCMO then ever, but we still need to pick up the pace.