Westport

[NDTeve]

Bojangles, Gus', and so on.

[brewcrew1000]

If warby parker, apple and a hipster hoodie store were to go in would people protest this project?.

[brewcrew1000]

I think Westport would be an ideal location for gus's chicken. It's not to far from the urban black population but it's also not to exotic for the suburban white population

[flyingember]

If warby parker, apple and a hipster hoodie store were to go in would people protest this project?.

with the traffic from an apple store, you better believe it.

[Stockton]

I'd like to clarify that Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken is a sit-down restaurant, not fast food like Bojangles' and Popeye's. With that said, in my opinion, Stroud's is a joke compared to Gus's. I'm not actually impressed with Stroud's at all really, except for their cinnamon rolls. With Gus's, Kansas City will finally have some very good fried chicken. I visited Little Rock for the first time a few months ago and ate at Gus's River Market location there, and was very impressed. I knew it was a Memphis institution with only several locations. I was thinking Kansas City really needed one, but never thought it would actually happen, especially with the restaurant's strong emphasis on all things Southern.

I would also like to add that I believe Gus's is a black-owned business and that I was very impressed by the natural racial mixing in Arkansas, including at Gus's. If Gus's can bring a little bit of that to Kansas City, that would be great. I think Gus's would make a great addition to the Plaza, actually. Are there even any black-owned stores or restaurants on the Plaza? If not, Gus's could change that. I thought I heard on the news they're in negotiation with Power and Light, but I may have misheard because I can't find that in any articles. All that said, Gus's very well could be going into one of the Westport buildings being outfitted for restaurants if the Power and Light thing isn't true, and I think Westport would definitely be a better location.

Here is Gus's website:

http://gusfriedchicken.com/

[DaveKCMO]

i've been to the (rebuilt, but still "original") gus' in mason, tennessee, twice and it is f*ing amazing. best FC i've ever had, period. spice!

[kucer]

I would also like to add that I believe Gus's is a black-owned business and that I was very impressed by the natural racial mixing in Arkansas, including at Gus's. If Gus's can bring a little bit of that to Kansas City, that would be great. I think Gus's would make a great addition to the Plaza, actually. Are there even any black-owned stores or restaurants on the Plaza? If not, Gus's could change that. I thought I heard on the news they're in negotiation with Power and Light, but I may have misheard because I can't find that in any articles. All that said, Gus's very well could be going into one of the Westport buildings being outfitted for restaurants if the Power and Light thing isn't true, and I think Westport would definitely be a better location.

Here is Gus's website:

http://gusfriedchicken.com/

I thought KCK was the destination...could be wrong.

[NDTeve]

I would also like to add that I believe Gus's is a black-owned business and that I was very impressed by the natural racial mixing in Arkansas, including at Gus's. If Gus's can bring a little bit of that to Kansas City, that would be great. I think Gus's would make a great addition to the Plaza, actually. Are there even any black-owned stores or restaurants on the Plaza? If not, Gus's could change that. I thought I heard on the news they're in negotiation with Power and Light, but I may have misheard because I can't find that in any articles. All that said, Gus's very well could be going into one of the Westport buildings being outfitted for restaurants if the Power and Light thing isn't true, and I think Westport would definitely be a better location.

Here is Gus's website:

http://gusfriedchicken.com/

I thought KCK was the destination...could be wrong.

Probably right but hope you're wrong.

[mgh7676]

I would also like to add that I believe Gus's is a black-owned business and that I was very impressed by the natural racial mixing in Arkansas, including at Gus's. If Gus's can bring a little bit of that to Kansas City, that would be great. I think Gus's would make a great addition to the Plaza, actually. Are there even any black-owned stores or restaurants on the Plaza? If not, Gus's could change that. I thought I heard on the news they're in negotiation with Power and Light, but I may have misheard because I can't find that in any articles. All that said, Gus's very well could be going into one of the Westport buildings being outfitted for restaurants if the Power and Light thing isn't true, and I think Westport would definitely be a better location.

Here is Gus's website:

http://gusfriedchicken.com/

I thought KCK was the destination...could be wrong.

Probably right but hope you're wrong.

FWIW, I thought it had been mentioned that they were now looking on both side's of the state line.

[FangKC]

Westport Presbyterian reconstruction.

http://billtammeus.typepad.com/my_weblo ... -6-15.html

[KCMax]

Marriott's AC Hotel in Westport is now open
http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives ... s-now-open

[chaglang]

Marriott's AC Hotel in Westport is now open
http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives ... s-now-open

The reno came out pretty well. For those who haven't been by, they added a third color (kind of a dark royal blue) to the exterior.

[ChandraNH]

I believe Gus's is white owned now. Purchased by a young woman a few years ago (they were on the show man eats food). But yes, every Gus's location I've visited has had quite a bit of racial integration, about 50/50 b/w split or even 40/60 b/w, much more so than I've seen in KC during the 6 years we've been here, where I'm very often the only black person I see in a lot of non-black owned places we primarily frequent. That just doesn't seem to happen here. A kcur show not long ago lamented the lack of white response to the death of a black transgender person here in KC, and one of the panelists said it wasn't surprising since the non-lgbtq groups are t integrated, so there's no reason for the lgbtq groups to be.

[Stockton]

^Interesting. I wonder if the difference in racial mixing is simply the difference between the South and Midwest. Even in Hope, Arkansas, the small town Bill Clinton is from, the local restaurant I ate at, Sheba's, was very mixed, and naturally and casually so.

[pash]

.

[aknowledgeableperson]

but I think a third part is just that there are so few black people here in my social demographic.

Not quite sure what "social demographic" you are but if you mean something similar to this:

[/ the college-educated, middle- or upper-middle class black Kansas Citian is a rare beast, and that means you aren't likely to see many black people at brunch at Westport Cafe most Sundays.
quote]

There are far more in the metro than you think. But from what I can tell they may not be as "urbanized" (whatever that means) as you seem to be. They are located east of Swope Park, west of Blue Ridge. They may also be found in KCMO that is east of Raytown. Even in Grandview. In other words look in the Raytown and Grandview school districts. Many have fled the KCMO school district with their children.
The above locations will not be the only places you will find your "college-educated, middle- or upper-middle class black Kansas Citian". You will find them all around the KC Metro area. They're not that rare. Guess you do not visit where they visit.

[missingkc]

^Interesting. I wonder if the difference in racial mixing is simply the difference between the South and Midwest.

There has historically been a huge difference. I believe it is largely due to traditional residence patterns. I have read (and my experience is) that residential segregation in southern towns and cities has traditionally existed at a much finer geographic level in the South than in the Midwest. For example, in the small city where I live outside Charlotte the old, affluent neighborhoods back up to low income African American neighborhoods. Income and housing stock can change from the top 10% to the bottom on the two halves of a block. It seems different to me from what I see in Missouri. I think, too, of my experience growing up in Missouri. My Dad grew up in Noel which, as you may know, was once a resort town, largely for families that would take the KC Southern down from KC, according to my Dad. Anyway, when he was growing up there in the '20s and '30s, the town had an ordinance that prohibited African Americans from spending the night within the city limits even though many of the touring bands had African American members and support staff. Again, I went to high school in Warrenton, Mo. No African Americans lived in town. There was a small community a couple of miles away called Simsville that was entirely African American. I haven't seen that sort of thing in my time in Georgia and North Carolina.

Anyway, since we all live close together here, lots of passing on the street, we go to the same grocery stores, gas stations and such. Lots of mingling and shoulder rubbing. Doesn't mean people here aren't racist, though. You should hear the way some of them talk. Or, maybe you shouldn't.

[Stockton]

Thanks for sharing, pash. You've helped me think about this subject in a whole new way. But I tend to agree with AKP about educated black people in KC. While KC may not be teeming with black college grads, especially stereotypical young professionals, it's been my experience that there are plenty here. They just seem to be fairly segregated and amongst themselves, even despite their education, and some may not even be recognizable on the surface. They're maybe more humble, family/roots-oriented, and even 'conservative' in a way, at least judging from my experience.

missingkc- What you've said is definitely interesting. The residence patterns you described sounds to me like what I've observed a certain era was like, like the turn of the century. The town I went to HS in was like that, especially historically, but is in Kansas. Northeast is/was the closest thing to what I'm thinking of here in KC, and maybe parts of Midtown, or really much of the city north of Brush Creek, especially or at least historically. This is if I'm understanding you correctly. I think also in small towns the fact is people can't just abandon huge areas like they have in places like KC without abandoning the whole town.

[ChandraNH]

I think it's a little bit of what everyone has said.

KC doesn't have the same black middle/upper class visibility the way Memphis, ATL, DC/VA and some other spots do (and potentially doesn't have the same numbers. In many black circles, people are advised to seek corporate jobs in other locations outside the South and Southesque places (rightly or wrongly, I place KC into the Southesque bucket. It feels very much like the south) to have a better shot at an even playing field when it comes to getting jobs and higher salary. I brought my job to KC with me from New Hampshire but a good portion of our local office staff is black and from KC, with an average salary of 60K and many, many upwards of that, all with undergraduate degrees and many with graduate degrees and industry certifications and they live mostly in Raytown, Grandview and up north right outside KCK in Wyandotte county. The only way I'd move back to the South would be to take my job with me, and that's with two graduate degrees, or in retirement.

I also think there is a certain familiarity in the South, that leads to people rubbing elbows more, even if they'd rather not or aren't necessarily genuine in their interactions (which I'm not saying is the case). So in Memphis, you're more likely to see blacks and whites together in all places. Memphis had/has it's share of white flight (There's an aptly named subdivision called Whitehaven in Memphis). From Whitehaven whites moved to Germantown and recently have begun moving over the Mississippi and Arkansas state lines (my mother is an RN in Memphis and laments the fact that city agencies (including the regional hospital owned by the state/city) don't require employees live in Memphis).

Edited to add: the first time my mother came out to visit here in KC, she looked around and asked me where all the black people were as she didn't see them in the restaurants (either as patrons or employees), the shops, the museums, etc. Of course she also asked the same thing the first time she came to New Hampshire.

[flyingember]

the black middle class headed outwards into the suburbs.
amazingly someone put all the class photos for a recent class up so you can see how ethnically diverse the southern northland is
http://www.northkansascityhighschool.co ... s/2012.htm