KCMO looked good on TV last night

A place to post and request pictures of Kansas City.
User avatar
Chris Stritzel
Penntower
Penntower
Posts: 2294
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 9:27 pm

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by Chris Stritzel »

My favorite view of the skyline is going south of 169 towards Downtown. Looks huge and I like how all the buildings seem to go up to a central highpoint before stepping back down.

If only things were different up in North KC, maybe that would be the "postcard" shot and the view that defines KC more than the view from Liberty Memorial
User avatar
AlkaliAxel
Broadway Square
Broadway Square
Posts: 2948
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:58 pm
Location: West Plaza

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by AlkaliAxel »

Another underrated view of KC is when you're coming towards the Buck Oneill Bridge. Looks massive and symmetrical.
User avatar
im2kull
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3926
Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 4:33 pm
Location: KCMO

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by im2kull »

normalthings wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:30 pm
moderne wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:27 pm Don't think any national audience would be impressed unless from Wichita or Wall Walla.
When the National Audience expects it to look like Witchita, these images are "impressive."
Exactly.
User avatar
im2kull
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3926
Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 4:33 pm
Location: KCMO

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by im2kull »

KCDowntownLoop wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:17 pm I know this: Indy's skyline during the CFB championship game did not impress me like KC's did Sunday night.
Indys skyline and downtown is so incredibly underwhelming. The only thing going for it is the fact that it has a couple of tall, attractive towers that were built to look similar (The all white look is a nice touch), and the sailors memorial/monument. Other than that it's dead, not dense, and just sparse. However, the newer JW and the newest high rise hotels will have a big change on that citys skyline.
User avatar
GRID
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 17083
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 12:20 pm
Contact:

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by GRID »

Highlander wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:27 pm What really helps downtown KC is the fact that it sits on a hill and provides quite an evocative view from the Liberty Memorial. It's a nice looking downtown from any vantage point (although it does look smaller viewed from the east) but the southern view creates one of the more attractive downtown views in the US with Liberty Memorial and Downtown sitting on opposing hills. It may not be one of the more impressive skylines but the setting makes it really beautiful and the TV crews did a great job enhancing that.
Yeah. KC's skyline is odd. I mean, the views form the east and west make the city look very small, like a city of well under a million. While the views from the north and especially the south, make it look more like a metro of 3 million.

I think the view from the east village or east of the loop area is the worst by far. Not only does downtown look very small, but downtown just looks like crap from that area. Low density, lots of parking lots and very few buildings can be seen that are newer than 1960 and most are much older than that. I love City Hall etc, but the east side of downtown void of anything that resembles what a large city downtown should be like.
Last edited by GRID on Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:31 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
im2kull
Bryant Building
Bryant Building
Posts: 3926
Joined: Tue May 24, 2005 4:33 pm
Location: KCMO

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by im2kull »

Chris Stritzel wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:35 pm My favorite view of the skyline is going south of 169 towards Downtown. Looks huge and I like how all the buildings seem to go up to a central highpoint before stepping back down.

If only things were different up in North KC, maybe that would be the "postcard" shot and the view that defines KC more than the view from Liberty Memorial
The view from the North going South on 169 is incredibly underrated and unknown to most. Downtown looks massive from that angle, and perfectly stair stepped. Losing the Buck O Neil bridge will hurt that view a bit. It is really showcased from that direction.

Image
User avatar
GRID
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 17083
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 12:20 pm
Contact:

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by GRID »

im2kull wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:24 am
Chris Stritzel wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:35 pm My favorite view of the skyline is going south of 169 towards Downtown. Looks huge and I like how all the buildings seem to go up to a central highpoint before stepping back down.

If only things were different up in North KC, maybe that would be the "postcard" shot and the view that defines KC more than the view from Liberty Memorial
The view from the North going South on 169 is incredibly underrated and unknown to most. Downtown looks massive from that angle, and perfectly stair stepped. Losing the Buck O Neil bridge will hurt that view a bit. It is really showcased from that direction.
Yeah, the view from the north is nice. Going to miss the bridge.
Image

South too
Image
User avatar
Chris Stritzel
Penntower
Penntower
Posts: 2294
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 9:27 pm

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by Chris Stritzel »

im2kull wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:24 am
Chris Stritzel wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:35 pm My favorite view of the skyline is going south of 169 towards Downtown. Looks huge and I like how all the buildings seem to go up to a central highpoint before stepping back down.

If only things were different up in North KC, maybe that would be the "postcard" shot and the view that defines KC more than the view from Liberty Memorial
The view from the North going South on 169 is incredibly underrated and unknown to most. Downtown looks massive from that angle, and perfectly stair stepped. Losing the Buck O Neil bridge will hurt that view a bit. It is really showcased from that direction.

Image
This is the picture I took in December 2020. My favorite view. Although the one you shared from the airport is nice too.
Image
User avatar
GRID
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 17083
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 12:20 pm
Contact:

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by GRID »

im2kull wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:15 am
KCDowntownLoop wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:17 pm I know this: Indy's skyline during the CFB championship game did not impress me like KC's did Sunday night.
Indys skyline and downtown is so incredibly underwhelming. The only thing going for it is the fact that it has a couple of tall, attractive towers that were built to look similar (The all white look is a nice touch), and the sailors memorial/monument. Other than that it's dead, not dense, and just sparse. However, the newer JW and the newest high rise hotels will have a big change on that citys skyline.
KCMO's skyline looks like Boston compared to Indy from "most" angles. From the east Indy is way better. Speaking of skylines that looks massive from certain angles. Columbus has a nice skyline from the river (south) like most people see it, but that skyline from the east rivals KC's from the south.
User avatar
Highlander
City Center Square
City Center Square
Posts: 10168
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:40 pm
Location: Houston

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by Highlander »

GRID wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:20 am
Highlander wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:27 pm What really helps downtown KC is the fact that it sits on a hill and provides quite an evocative view from the Liberty Memorial. It's a nice looking downtown from any vantage point (although it does look smaller viewed from the east) but the southern view creates one of the more attractive downtown views in the US with Liberty Memorial and Downtown sitting on opposing hills. It may not be one of the more impressive skylines but the setting makes it really beautiful and the TV crews did a great job enhancing that.
Yeah. KC's skyline is odd. I mean, the views form the east and west make the city look very small, like a city of well under a million. While the views from the north and especially the south, make it look more like a metro of 3 million.

I think the view from the east village or east of the loop area is the worst by far. Not only does downtown look very small, but downtown just looks like crap from that area. Low density, lots of parking lots and very few buildings can be seen that are newer than 1960 and most are much older than that. I love City Hall etc, but the east side of downtown void of anything that resembles what a large city downtown should be like.
East definitely makes the skyline look smaller. That's because the buildings are aligned mostly E to W so you see a narrow band of buildings with the more diminutive eastern buildings in the foreground. But it's essentially like looking at a wall on its end rather than facing it.

From the west, however, there are some excellent views from KCK because you are looking at considerable relief coming out of the Kansas River floodplain up the bluff on the west side of downtown to downtown proper. The perspective is the same as on the east (looking down the axis of downtown) but the prominence is much greater due to the terrain on the west than on the east.
brewcrew1000
Hotel President
Hotel President
Posts: 3104
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:10 am
Location: Broadway/Gilham according to google maps

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by brewcrew1000 »

FangKC wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:23 pm
TheLastGentleman wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:32 pm
GRID wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:40 am Again, KC's skyline is pretty average for the size of the metro
What metros around 2 million do you think have better skylines?
Pittsburgh.
Honolulu hands down

Why is GRID so obbessed with skyline? I would rather have no skyline and density like a European city where all the action is on the ground. Once we achieve density the skyline can move to Overland Park for all I care similar to what European cities do in the first place
User avatar
AlkaliAxel
Broadway Square
Broadway Square
Posts: 2948
Joined: Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:58 pm
Location: West Plaza

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by AlkaliAxel »

Metros around 2 mil with a better skyline…Austin? I think Pittsburgh is on par, I don’t think it’s better. But seriously though, Pittsburgh and KC have skylines that can go toe to toe with cities of 4 million or more. I think KC’s will surpass Pitt as the growth continues. Minneapolis is almost twice the size and there’s arguable isn’t even as good as KC’s.
User avatar
GRID
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 17083
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 12:20 pm
Contact:

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by GRID »

brewcrew1000 wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:55 pm
FangKC wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:23 pm
TheLastGentleman wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 2:32 pm

What metros around 2 million do you think have better skylines?
Pittsburgh.
Honolulu hands down

Why is GRID so obbessed with skyline? I would rather have no skyline and density like a European city where all the action is on the ground. Once we achieve density the skyline can move to Overland Park for all I care similar to what European cities do in the first place
Well, I like skylines. Have you seen my website haha. I totally agree with you though. However I think KC has plenty of room for a couple more modern towers, especially east of grand inside the loop and still have plenty of room for infill density. They don't have to be office, they could be hotel or residential etc. And they don't have to be 50 stories, but a few 30-40 story buildings would really modernize the skyline.

Actually the main reason I hate the views of downtown from the east is not really the lack of towers, but the lack of anything at all. Driving through KC on the east loop is depressing as hell looking out over all that parking (most of which is not even being used). Now you have that little transit center that is smaller than most suburban transit centers. I mean, that thing is so small it could have been in the bottom of a parking structure or something. Why did the city and ATA not make that a part of something bigger or at least more urban/attractive.

Anyway, as you enter downtown from the east, KC just looks tired, decayed, small etc. I hope the stadium situation is figured out quickly. However, if you continue on through 670, that has drastically improved and KC feels like a real city driving through there now even though it's short and will be covered soon.

The city does look better from KCK, slightly. I like the way it towers on top of the hill. It still looks smaller, but not as small as from the west due to the topography and that you can also see the Crown Center buildings from Kansas. However, driving toward downtown from Kansas on 70 is funky since it almost has a rural feel to nearly all the way up to 670. I-70 through KCK just makes KC feel "country" as you enter the metro compared to 35 from JoCo, 70 from Jackson or even 29 from KCI.

I don't think KC will get any new skyscrapers in the next 20 years and that's fine. The handful of 20 something story buildings it will get in that time frame will be good. All I'm saying is that downtown KC looks terrible from many angles and awesome from others. I guess no different than any other city.
Last edited by GRID on Wed Jan 19, 2022 3:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
GRID
City Hall
City Hall
Posts: 17083
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2003 12:20 pm
Contact:

Re: KCMO looked good on TV last night

Post by GRID »

Eric has made the view of downtown from the east look about as good as you possibly can. Still looks like a "Tulsa" sized downtown", but at least this hides how low density it really is.

Image
Post Reply