In KC August 12th

[DTO]

Is there anything going on in KC on Friday August 12th? I will be down there paying off a ticket and spending the night. I kind fo want to go to the Crossroads District since I didn't get to last time. Anything else DT or around there worth visting.

[skim82]

I believe the Royals are in town that weekend....  I also believe that its revive 85' weekend or something.... all hot dogs, malts, soft drinks will be 1985 prices... so a dollar each instead of 4.50.... 

[ComandanteCero]

you can try checking www.pitch.com they have an events listing you can browse by date.  Honestly, the Crossroads aren't much to look at (in terms of street activity) any given evening other than First Friday, so i would make sure I had a bar/restaurant/something to anchor your visit there.  It's fun to drive around, and see all the different things that have popped up in this industrial/manufacturing area, but it's a bit of a bust walking wise.  (not to sound down or negative, just as a city traveller, i absolutely HATE it when certain areas/neighborhoods are marketed/publicized as exciting and fresh, you show up and it's a bust.  Now the Crossroads is definitely an arts distrcit, i mean it does have 60 some galleries and has a small yet thriving community, but that doesn't translate to as much streetlife as a place that has 60 some restaurants or bars or stores and the population to support it.  It's definitely still a developing area, disregarding the hype, and outside of First Friday it can be painfully obvious.)  Now if you came on a FF, the hype is definitely not overstated (atleast between the hours of 6 and 9 oclock).

[KCPowercat]

I don't have as negative as a view of the Xroads but CC does have a good point.  It's still an up and coming neighborhood.  Cool to check out some of the bars, condo, retail, and restaurants that are popping up but it isn't wall to wall people.  It is a hot neighborhood but that doesn't translate into people everywhere.  Maybe somebody could put together a walking/driving tour of the xroads so DTO could see the good stuff....and then come back and say how much it sucked (foreshadowing).

SheDaisy is playing free at Crown Center on Friday....I have no idea who that is though.

That is a 2nd friday so there should be something going on with the urban culture project.

Walk around and see all the construction going on just in the loop itself, I could draw up a quick walking tour....

what time would you be getting here and leaving?

[KC0KEK]

I believe the Royals are in town that weekend....  I also believe that its revive 85' weekend or something.... all hot dogs, malts, soft drinks will be 1985 prices... so a dollar each instead of 4.50....   

The 14th game has a give-away of a DVD documentary about the '85 team.

[DTO]

I'd be getting in KC Friday morning and going to the court house first. (Remember that ticket I got last year? )

We'd be leaving Saturday sometime.

I'd be happy to just walk around and get pics, but my mom is coming and she's into all that art stuff so I figured she'd like it. We probably will end up a the Plaza sometime even though I've been there a thousand times. Anything else going on in KC in general? Also don't recommend bars since my mom doesn't drink and I'm only 19.

[KansasCityCraka]

I believe the Royals are in town that weekend....  I also believe that its revive 85' weekend or something.... all hot dogs, malts, soft drinks will be 1985 prices... so a dollar each instead of 4.50....   

Also nachos and small popcorn is a dollar

[KCPowercat]

art in 2nd friday in the loop on Friday night and can hit the Nelson and Kemper in the plaza area.  What you SHOULD do is after you do the ticket thing downtown, take the MAX to the plaza and back...try it out and give us some feedback about what you think.

Of course I wouldn't park your car around the govt district...unless you want a ticket....again

Galleries in the xroads are open on Friday evenings and Saturday so could hit some of them...also there are retailers popping up around the xroads like Black Bamboo that will be open, could check out what they have to offer.



Since your moms might not be into walking around looking at buildings do a driving tour around some of the construction.

[trailerkid]

I'd recommend hitting up the River Market on Saturday morning, then take MAX to the Nelson and hang out on the lawn and go inside. Walk to the Plaza via Brush Creek and find a place to eat.

Other neat stuff to see would be 18th and Vine musuems and Arthur Bryant's, 39th Street retailers & restaurants, 43rd Street restaurants, North Kansas City's downtown is a hidden gem, Brookside has a nice commerical village, and Westport, of course, is great for watching people.

[ComandanteCero]

you can also do a very quick walking tour of the Crossroads by parking in the Freighthouse (a block south of the intersection of 20th and Baltimore), walking north along the cluster of galleries and restaurants on that block.  You can then keep walking north along Baltimore till you get to 18th street, turn left (west) and see this cluster of shops, galleries, etc.  When you get to Wyandotte turn left again (south) and walk the couple of blocks (observing random galleries and what not along the side streets).  Crossing 20th street (continuing south) you can walk along the more residential part of the freighthouse and see the converted condos there, and you'll be back in the freighthouse proper.  That's not the whole of the crossroads, but it shows some of the highlights (many of the other galleries are dispersed throughout the area so it'd be hard to walk to all of them easily).  You might want to drive over to 18th and Locust, and see the east crossroads cluster, head south on Locust from that intersection and you can see Stretch's sculpture park on the vacant lot behind Grinders. 

[DTO]

What is the MAX? My plans are changing a bit. I will definantly be there Friday still. But I might come down Thursday after work and stay the night, or I might go to KC Friday and come back to Omaha to get my license back, and then go back down on Saturday. I've only got so much time and less money than I thought I would have.

If I only have time for one thing what would you all say is the absolute 1 thing to see. (I probably won't see the Royals. I want to see the actual city parts) I will get down there with my camera and see some of this stuff where P&L and the Sprint Center will be. If I come back down Saturday I might have some friends with me (19-26 age). Bars aside since I'm the youngest what would be some places to take the ladies to? The other guy would be just as happy as I would taking pics the whole time.

[staubio]

I probably won't see the Royals. I want to see the actual city parts

Ahh, if only these weren't mutually exclusive. 

[DTO]

Any other ideas?

[DTO]

Well I'll be down there tomorrow. I probably won't be staying over night because my mom is one of those people who manages to fuck EVERYTHING up. So it will probably just be me taking pics and squeezing in one big to do.

[nota]

What was your purpose for coming to KC? I've forgotten.

[KCPowercat]

nota....first post.

Is there anything going on in KC on Friday August 12th? I will be down there paying off a ticket and spending the night. I kind fo want to go to the Crossroads District since I didn't get to last time. Anything else DT or around there worth visting.

[nota]

nota....first post.

I read that way back when. I just didn't understand it nor what his mother had to do with it.

and then there was this:

or I might go to KC Friday and come back to Omaha to get my license back

[DTO]

I'm back in Omaha. I don't have time right now to go in-depth about my trip but to whoever it was that stole an entire tank of gas from us, I hope yougot poisoned from swallowing some gas, die and leave your children parentless, and burn in hell.

[KCPowercat]

I'm back in Omaha. I don't have time right now to go in-depth about my trip but to whoever it was that stole an entire tank of gas from us, I hope yougot poisoned from swallowing some gas, die and leave your children parentless, and burn in hell.

somebody stole gas from your tank?  Wow...wonder if this is becoming a big thing now...I've never heard of it personally but it wouldn't surprise me. 

I wish somebody would do that to my car, I think the gas is going stale in it.

Can't wait for more details...like where you were when this happened and what else you saw.

[DTO]

We were at the American Inn in North KC at the 6B exit on 35 and it happened between 9 and 11. I'm guessing it was someone who lives behind that Taco Bell and stuff over there since the hotel said the police have a routine around the hotel and it was raining like hell the other day.

Anyways...

I didn't get to spend the night like I wanted because of heving to spend the money on other things, but it was a good trip still. I had my mom with me so I was just picking her brain on what she thought about KC as it compared to Omaha. Here's what we did.

- Got into KC around 1. Went to court to go give away $125.50. I left the camera in the car because I already got in trouble for being a 'terrorist' at the Omaha courthouse.
- We went to the Plaza and had lunch at the Lodge. I would have gone somewhere else but since we were more strained on time I stuck to the usual stuff.
- Went back DT to get pics. Left my mom at the Arcade near Commerce Bank and ran like hell around DT getting pictures before it started raining to hard. I also got locked in a stair well in some place near the Arcade thinking it was parking garage. Couldn't get out for 5-10 minutes before I finally busted through an unlocked door into the middle of a business meeting. Quickly explained I was from out of town. Headed down to Kemper for some pics too.
- Drove around looking at some of the hoods around DT. Went to buy a new shirt since mine was all sweaty and rained on. Tried to find the Independance mall but gave up and went to visit a friend at the hotel where we were later robbed.

Since I'm much more biased to Omaha I kept asking my mom what she thought of it and how it compared to Omaha. My mom is orignially from a small town in Nebraska, but she has lived in NYC, Chicago, Portland, and we all lived in LA for awhile, so she knows enough to make a fair comparison.

Thoughts on Downtown
Hers: She didn't especially care for it. She did like alot of the older buildings but she thought it was too dirty looking. She said for a place that big there should have been way more people out and about than what we saw. (People were still at work.) She said she prefered Omaha's. Not that anyone could be impressed, but she gasped when we went by Kemper. She said it looked like a big Aksarben. (An old Omaha arena that pretty much did look like Kemper and American Royal. It was torn down this year.)

Mine: I liked the cavernous feel of it. You don't really have that in Omaha since the streets are wider. I liked all of the projects going on. I thought Fidelity was already done? What gives? The one thing I absolutely adored and wished Omaha would mimic, is how alot of the parking I saw was underground beneath the buildings saving room for actual development.

The downsides were that even though people were still at work, it still seemed like there should have been more people down there. Alot of the stuff we tried to go in and see closed at 4-6. Some buildings you couldn't tell if they were bombed out or under renovation so it did look kind of bad. Neither of us ever felt unsafe but when you want to get the people from suburbia down there, you need to deal with that. Power and Light should help with that. I saw that area where it is going and while it will be cool, why didn't anyone try to turn around some of the older parts and buildings first? DTKC has lots of character and P&L could draw away from the true urban beauty of DTKC. Also why don't you guys light up your buildings at night?

Thoughts on the Plaza
Her: She liked how pretty and colorful it was. She liked the all of the fountains and how they weren't a bunch of shit modern art. KC beat Omaha in that according to her. The more older looking fountains added charm to the cheese the Plaza can portray.

When I asked her how it compared to the Old Market, she said there was no comparison. The Plaza to her, was what she called a small Rodeo Drive. She said it offered anything any mall would but nothing unique or truly urban like the Old Market. She also thought the traffic was bad since people just walked out in front of cars all the time and not using the crosswalk. Damn tourists. But that's not your fault.

Mine: I liked all of the residential buildings around the Plaza. I'd be cool to live there and go out and not need a car. One thing we don't have yet (it's in the works) is a movie theatre DT. I bet that draws people in before and after shows.

Like her I muched prefered the real urban feel of the Old Market to the Plaza. Nothing against it though but there's nothing like the Old Market. And there's nothing like the Plaza. (Except maybe Rodeo Drive )

Thoughts on Kemper
Hers: Ha!
Mine: Shit my self laughing
You guys: Not realy disagreeing with us.

Thoughts on Urban KC.

I've seen other parts before, but what struck me this time was driving down Main Street how well that whole area between the DT and Plaza works. It's walkable. It offers local and chain retail/eateries. The residential parts weren't bad and it seemed like it was a pretty busy spot 24/7. It reminded me of 24th St. (mainly South) in Omaha as far as the way it looked and flowed.

Thoughts on the Interstate.

Now for a place that prides itself on Power and Light, why the hell is KC so dark on the interstate? There were blips of light near signs but other than that it was like you'd never heard of electricty. I knew where I was going but my mom was pissed on how you couldn't see the signs. She said she wrecked because of that in LA. There signs were dirty and hard to read so while trying to read a sign she ran into a bunch of cars on the interstate. It also seemed like light in general was dim. When we left KC it was after 11. The clouds were low so I was looking up expecting to see the glow but it was weak to non-existant. Even after we passed KCI, looking back you'd never know there was a city with 2,000,000 people behind you. By the time we got into Iowa you could already start to see the orange bubble where Omaha was. It was like coming into Vegas compared to KC.

All in all I enjoyed as much I could in such a short time. I asked my mom what grade she would give KC overall and she gave it a C-. She said KC was fine but the stuff she didn't like about it overshadowed the stuff she did like. Hope you all can take some constructive critisism and do something with it.

I did get pics but I'll put them up later. But until the this will have to do.