My Journey to KC

Verdugo · Post by **Verdugo** » 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.

Verdugo · Post by **Verdugo** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:19 pm

Saturday morning, I wanted to see more of KC so I went over to Troost Avenue to see that part of town. While I could tell it had seen better days, I found the architecture pleasing, some potential along some NBDs, and the people friendly. Wanted to see Kauffman and Arrowhead and was kinda surprised it was in a bad area of town. There was an abandoned hotel I took photos of that reminded me of Detroit. The stadiums didn’t disappoint and I really appreciate the architecture of that era. Went to Raytown and didn’t really see anything there, so I hopped on the highway and headed over to North Kansas City. I could tell they put some investment into their downtown but wish it had more trees. Otherwise, I think it’ll be fine. Then I headed over to the West Bottoms neighborhood. I thought it was okay but kinda empty. Went over to the Kansas side and started in KCK. The downtown had potential, but you could tell it had better days in the past. Being a Latino, it was nice to see some Latino businesses over there, which I found lacking over on the Missouri side in comparison. Then went over to Overland Park and Mission Hills and while they were clearly suburban and not diverse, they seemed a bit more “well-kept” regarding roads, sidewalks, landscaping, etc. versus the Missouri side. It seemed the Kansas side was where all the “money” is in the region, kinda like Hamilton County, IN versus my home county of Marion.

Overall, I’m glad I got to explore Kansas City and see, what I believe, was a more comprehensive side of the city. Aside from the glaring, useless lawns everywhere, I thought the city was quite suitable for enjoying the different neighborhoods. I just wish they were better connected, structurally, as it seemed a little disjointed. But I believe that’s a problem with Midwest cities in general, so that’s no knock to KC at all. In comparison to St. Louis, KC’s NBDs seemed more active, more intact, and generally more youthful. I didn’t really see a homeless issue in KC, and the people were prideful of their great city. I’m looking forward to a return to the city in the future!

Here are some pictures from my trip:

Kansas City by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City Skyline by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City Skyline by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City - Garment District by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City - Quality Hill by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City - The Crossroads by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City - Country Club Plaza by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Verdugo · Post by **Verdugo** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:19 pm

Kansas City - Country Club Plaza by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City - Brookside by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

Kansas City - Country Club by MCC_Indianapolis, on Flickr

dukuboy1 · Post by **dukuboy1** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:47 pm

awesome pictures, thanks for sharing and thanks for visiting KC! Sounds like you had a good time and appreciate you sharing your thoughts. KC definitely has a unique vibe & layout. It's similar in many ways to other Midwestern Cities for sure. One thing I always thought set it apart, and in some ways has slowed development & growth over the years is just simple geography. The city is sort of divided by the river and then it has a large section on the SW side that has no natural boundary to another state, just a street, aptly named State Line Road. I feel those 2 features have at times caused a tug of war that other Metros don't have to deal with that much that impacted KC.

For STL, yes there are some suburbs on the IL side and development but its not connected to STL, at least in feeling. However in KC Metro some of the largest and most prosperous suburbs are in KS. Overland Park, Olathe, etc. are like the Chesterfield, Brentwood, etc. places in STL but instead in a different state. It is unique but has made the development trickier at times

Highlander · Post by **Highlander** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 1:04 pm

Nice synopsis and great pictures!

I have the same thoughts when I head downtown. Despite a large number of apartments being built in the downtown area of KC over the last decade and a half or so, it can seem pretty dead at times, especially inside the loop. And it really lacks retail inside the loop. One of the major issues is that most of KC's larger companies reside outside the loop and even city with HQ's or operational centers in the burbs (Oracle, TMobile, Garmin and several others have large operating centers or HQ's in KC but they are spread all over the suburban parts of the city).

The Plaza as you correctly surmise is a little down market for the style in which it has been built. That area was once the center of wealth in KC and the Plaza was the upscale shopping area in KC until relatively recently when the center of wealth in town began to migrate further and further SW into Johnson County Kansas with south Leawood becoming the new epicenter. Still a lot of wealth in the Plaza area but KC is not large enough to accommodate two large upscale retail centers.

Jblanco · Post by **Jblanco** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 2:58 pm

Thanks for the post and the photos. I noticed that only the last 2 photos you (residential) took have grass in front.

I think for a visitor your comments are fair. On the East side of downtown (we call it the East Village) you noticed large lots that were grass. These are actually assembled and reserved for the newly planned MLB Royals Stadium and baseball neighborhood. The land has been acquired over time and structures demolished. The grass area on 12th St just west is from a large office building recently torn down. It had a planned hotel project scheduled but it fell through. The lot remains grass because it is going to be developed soon. There is already another project in the works to develop it.

You are correct about the large grass lots south of Crown Center. Hallmark has stalled it's development of these lots. Most here are very aggravated by this fact. The new streetcar extension running right by these lots that is finishing in a year+ should bring more interest in developing these vacant lots.

As far as small strips of grass you noticed in front to retail buildings, (you mentioned Whole Foods specifically) that is along a "parkway" and that's just something we do here. Some visitors find that charming, others (like you) find it a negative.

You mentioned KC kansas having more latino influence that you found lacking on the Missouri side. Well that's just not true. You simply did not venture into the Northeast and East Sides of KCMO which has hundreds of Latino shops, restaurants, markets and retail services, a vast area that in my opinion is much larger than the KC kansas side. Also the "West Side" of downtown KCMO has the oldest Latino neighborhood. These are easy to miss for a visitor so I'm not slighting you, just giving you more info.

I thought your comparison of Westport to Broad Ripple was way off. I mean, BR is a short suburb. And you must have noticed that KC has unique neighborhoods and architecture that simply doesn't exist in Indy. Like the West Bottoms, Indy has nothing similar. Also Crown Center/Union Station and the Plaza. These districts running from downtown have their own skylines. There is nothing similar in Indy. And certainly you noticed that the urbanized area of KC is over twice the size of urban Indianapolis? From the River Market to the south Plaza is 4 miles of continuous mid to high-rises, nothing Indy has outside of the immediate small downtown.

https://i.redd.it/so2roi6k7lsa1.jpg

Jblanco · Post by **Jblanco** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 3:20 pm

https://youtu.be/tkILoyhZdzY?t=1028

TheUrbanRoo · Post by **TheUrbanRoo** » Tue Jul 18, 2023 5:50 pm

1. Agreed that River Market is the most enjoyable part of KC-- 3 of those prime surface lots are going away this year with City Harvest, Ashland, and 3rd & Grand projects. It'll look different very quickly.

2. If you're not into P&L and all that then downtown KC prob won't be great in your view because that's like THE anchor of downtown drawing people in. It is a young person thing though.

3. Come back after the streetcar extension, South Loop Cap, and Royals downtown...in 4ish years

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