My Journey to KC
Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:18 pm
So this was my third time visiting Kansas City but I hadn’t explored the city in-depth until this trip. I arrived from Indianapolis on a Thursday evening with a brief stop in St. Louis and Columbia, MO after hearing about how nice a college town it was (enjoyed!). The hotel was at The Country Club Plaza area so I explored that along with the Armour Hills and neighborhoods around there and was thoroughly blown away with all the nice, beautiful residential neighborhoods there along with the Kansas side at night. The boulevards and landscaping were top-notch! After some rest, on Friday morning I decided to explore Columbus Park first which I had heard was the city’s Little Italy. I was a little disappointed by the disjointedness of the neighborhood businesses (it seemed like The Hill, STL but hillier) but overall thought it was fine. Headed over to the River Market area and enjoyed Delaware Street with the streetcar along with the City Market seemingly active. Got a little bite to eat and loved seeing the Asian influence in that area which was a pleasant surprise! I did find a little too much parking but overall thought it was a great city amenity and wish Indy’s City Market would take notes!
Taking the streetcar (Free! Nice!), ended up downtown and walked around the core for about an hour. I knew COVID had decimated many city downtowns, including my own city's, but I was genuinely shocked to see no foot OR car traffic at all in downtown KC on an early Friday afternoon. There were quite a few vacant lots and mid-block parking garages along with beautiful buildings and seemingly good street widths for pedestrians. One thing that did stand out was the many uses of unnecessary lawns that I found glaring in comparison to other Midwest cities. Generally in Midwest cities, you’ll see parking lots where vacant buildings once stood but in downtown KC there were an overabundance of lawns, particularly on the eastern side of downtown near City Hall, that didn’t seem to have a reason to exist. I’ve never really seen that in any other city and chalked it up to being in the Great Plains region, but it was definitely noticeable. The good news is that these lawns could eventually be infill without the hassle of parking lots to take over. Went over to Quality Hill and loved the cathedral. I thought there would be more historic architecture, but overall I thought it was a pleasant little neighborhood. I will say, I saw a drive-thru Jimmy John’s along Broadway and thought that it should've been torn down immediately for some type of new infill. Those several blocks of the Garment District are fantastic and KC should be proud to have that type of street-wall that many cities have torn down through the years. Went to that Power and Light District and thought it reminded me of Louisville’s 4th Street Live but a bit more plain. It was okay to have near that arena, but overall not really a place I’d spend any time in. Went inside the P&L Building and it was awesome! What a treat to have! Overall, I thought KC’s downtown had great potential, a little sleepy, but certainly better than downtown St. Louis.
After downtown, I made my way over to the 18th and Vine District and thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of the Negro Leagues and jazz history. I’m a baseball fan so that was a real treat! Then headed over to the Crossroads District and, honestly, I found it kinda underwhelming for what the visitor guide’s mentioned about it being. I expected something like a Mass Avenue here in Indianapolis but it seemed disjointed, lacked trees, more lawns on the westside, and kinda blah. I see that it’s an up-and-coming area and hopefully improves its urbanity as it continues to grow, but for now it needs a little bit of work. Headed over to Crown Center and again, the lawns were everywhere. Didn’t seem walkable for being a “Midtown” type of CBD and reminded me of Houston’s Galleria area. Went to Liberty Memorial for the view, which was awesome. I was surprised to see a lot of large, anti-pedestrian buildings like that IRS building being so close to a marquee park/memorial. Then went to the Union Station which was one of the best I’ve ever been inside. Headed south of there, I went into some neighborhoods such as Hyde Park and Union Hill and, I hate sounding like a broken record, but useless lawns were everywhere. There was a Home Depot with a lawn in front of it in a city neighborhood and was shocked to see it wasn’t just a parking lot or, well, a building. That whole area felt more suburban than I thought it would since it was so close to good urbanity like Armour Blvd (loved!) and Old Westport. Old Westport felt like Broad Ripple here in Indy so I kinda just skimmed through it and walked towards the County Club Plaza. Again, the pervasiveness of lawns along Broadway Blvd was glaring. It seemed even parking garages had lawns in front, which I found odd. Got to The Country Club Plaza and while I liked some of the older architecture, the stores seemed a bit down-market for being a destination-type of place. I thought it would be like Keystone here in Indy but it was more Rally House-types. The streets seemed too wide, the buildings underutilized for what they probably had, and not many people there for a Friday late afternoon/dinner time. It felt kinda sad for what you could tell was once a great development. They had random tennis courts along with streets that seemed to take the space of what could be a great location for urbanism. I think it could do with an urban makeover and bring it back to its former glory.
After I walked the Country Club Plaza, I headed over to Brush Creek and saw many families walking along the pathways, which was nice. Headed over to the Nelson-Atkins Museum and, again, was greeted by lawns which didn’t seem to be utilized by people. There was even a Whole Foods with a lawn along the street, which I found odd. In Indy and other cities I’ve been to, those types of developments are up to the street with parking in the back. I didn’t know if it was a Great Plains thing or not due to all the space, but I didn’t find it pedestrian-friendly. After that, I went down to the Brookside neighborhood and loved the Tudor architecture and vibe of the whole place. Streetcar suburban in a good way. The bike trail there reminded me of some of the ones we have in Indy and were well-utilized for a Friday evening. After that, I had dinner at Joe’s (delicious) and headed back to the hotel.
Taking the streetcar (Free! Nice!), ended up downtown and walked around the core for about an hour. I knew COVID had decimated many city downtowns, including my own city's, but I was genuinely shocked to see no foot OR car traffic at all in downtown KC on an early Friday afternoon. There were quite a few vacant lots and mid-block parking garages along with beautiful buildings and seemingly good street widths for pedestrians. One thing that did stand out was the many uses of unnecessary lawns that I found glaring in comparison to other Midwest cities. Generally in Midwest cities, you’ll see parking lots where vacant buildings once stood but in downtown KC there were an overabundance of lawns, particularly on the eastern side of downtown near City Hall, that didn’t seem to have a reason to exist. I’ve never really seen that in any other city and chalked it up to being in the Great Plains region, but it was definitely noticeable. The good news is that these lawns could eventually be infill without the hassle of parking lots to take over. Went over to Quality Hill and loved the cathedral. I thought there would be more historic architecture, but overall I thought it was a pleasant little neighborhood. I will say, I saw a drive-thru Jimmy John’s along Broadway and thought that it should've been torn down immediately for some type of new infill. Those several blocks of the Garment District are fantastic and KC should be proud to have that type of street-wall that many cities have torn down through the years. Went to that Power and Light District and thought it reminded me of Louisville’s 4th Street Live but a bit more plain. It was okay to have near that arena, but overall not really a place I’d spend any time in. Went inside the P&L Building and it was awesome! What a treat to have! Overall, I thought KC’s downtown had great potential, a little sleepy, but certainly better than downtown St. Louis.
After downtown, I made my way over to the 18th and Vine District and thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history of the Negro Leagues and jazz history. I’m a baseball fan so that was a real treat! Then headed over to the Crossroads District and, honestly, I found it kinda underwhelming for what the visitor guide’s mentioned about it being. I expected something like a Mass Avenue here in Indianapolis but it seemed disjointed, lacked trees, more lawns on the westside, and kinda blah. I see that it’s an up-and-coming area and hopefully improves its urbanity as it continues to grow, but for now it needs a little bit of work. Headed over to Crown Center and again, the lawns were everywhere. Didn’t seem walkable for being a “Midtown” type of CBD and reminded me of Houston’s Galleria area. Went to Liberty Memorial for the view, which was awesome. I was surprised to see a lot of large, anti-pedestrian buildings like that IRS building being so close to a marquee park/memorial. Then went to the Union Station which was one of the best I’ve ever been inside. Headed south of there, I went into some neighborhoods such as Hyde Park and Union Hill and, I hate sounding like a broken record, but useless lawns were everywhere. There was a Home Depot with a lawn in front of it in a city neighborhood and was shocked to see it wasn’t just a parking lot or, well, a building. That whole area felt more suburban than I thought it would since it was so close to good urbanity like Armour Blvd (loved!) and Old Westport. Old Westport felt like Broad Ripple here in Indy so I kinda just skimmed through it and walked towards the County Club Plaza. Again, the pervasiveness of lawns along Broadway Blvd was glaring. It seemed even parking garages had lawns in front, which I found odd. Got to The Country Club Plaza and while I liked some of the older architecture, the stores seemed a bit down-market for being a destination-type of place. I thought it would be like Keystone here in Indy but it was more Rally House-types. The streets seemed too wide, the buildings underutilized for what they probably had, and not many people there for a Friday late afternoon/dinner time. It felt kinda sad for what you could tell was once a great development. They had random tennis courts along with streets that seemed to take the space of what could be a great location for urbanism. I think it could do with an urban makeover and bring it back to its former glory.
After I walked the Country Club Plaza, I headed over to Brush Creek and saw many families walking along the pathways, which was nice. Headed over to the Nelson-Atkins Museum and, again, was greeted by lawns which didn’t seem to be utilized by people. There was even a Whole Foods with a lawn along the street, which I found odd. In Indy and other cities I’ve been to, those types of developments are up to the street with parking in the back. I didn’t know if it was a Great Plains thing or not due to all the space, but I didn’t find it pedestrian-friendly. After that, I went down to the Brookside neighborhood and loved the Tudor architecture and vibe of the whole place. Streetcar suburban in a good way. The bike trail there reminded me of some of the ones we have in Indy and were well-utilized for a Friday evening. After that, I had dinner at Joe’s (delicious) and headed back to the hotel.