KANSAS CITY

KANSAS CITY - Market size #29* - Most recent visit:  August 2017

*based on Metropolitan Statistical Area

My Summer-on-the-Prairie tour continues with Missouri's second largest metro area.  I just want to send a quick note to the previous city I judged: Dear Omaha, please, please, please read this entry carefully, then try to emulate as many of Kansas City's attributes as you can.  

Kansas City is an often overlooked jewel in the middle of the country.   While it has its problems (and some of them, such as its public schools, are significant...I will discuss them below), Kansas City is, overall, a very attractive and vibrant city/metro-area.  It is also quite an interesting place - with a unique design, and a bounty of civic-minded spaces like parks, plazas, and ---fountains!!  I have been to Kansas City twice before, but this time was different.....  This time, I came, I saw, I judged.

Appearance/Aesthetics/Overall Vibe - 
                               

Like Omaha, KC is also blessed with a distinctive natural setting, but unlike Omaha, KC uses its environs to superior effect.  The city is situated at the western edge of Missouri, at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. This location imbues KC with many a set of undulating hills that would surprise out-of-towners who might expect a more typically midwestern, pancake-flat landscape.  Some of these hills have significant inclines, especially close to the Missouri river. KC's physical setting and proximity to the state boundary have greatly affected the area's layout and growth patterns, so I feel I must digress into a brief but wonkish discussion of political geography and surveying.
  

    
This early map of the Kansas City metro shows how the Kansas-Missouri border follows the Missouri river until it meets the Kansas River.  At the confluence of the two rivers, the state border continues southward along a meridian or line of longitude.  The Blue River originally roughly comprised the city's eastern border.  This combination of natural and man made boundaries have resulted in KC's unusual contours---a wafer-thin slice of land which was forced to grow along its north-south axis.  These boundaries have also helped foster the creation of 4 distinct regions in the metro: 1. The original portion of KC, Mo. (KCMO, as the locals refer to it) and the towns to its east and south, 2.  Johnson County, Ks. - which lies south of the Kansas River, 3. KC, Kansas (KCK), and 4. the area north of the Missouri river, which has largely been annexed by Kansas City, better known to locals as the Northland.   

These regions are quite separate and distinct in the in the minds of local residents who often look upon a neighboring region as one might look upon another country.  During my first visit to the metro, I was quickly disabused of my childhood belief that KCMO and KCK are like Texarkana -  a single community city which happens to straddle a state border.  When I checked into my hotel in KCMO for the first time, I asked the concierge the best way to drive to KCK. She looked at me quizzically and said "why would you want to go there?"  "I haven't been there in I don't know how long."  Merchants and restaurants commonly locate stores in each of the 4 regions, as residents are often reticent to visit neighboring regions.  In fact these 4 regions are so different from one another that it is nearly impossible to make generalizations about the KC metro as a whole.  Therefore, many of the verdicts I will render are qualified in order to more precisely heap praise or scorn on a particular region.   KC owes its rating of 4 Gavels largely to regions 1 & 2 - KCMO and Johnson County, Kansas.  

First, let's tackle Kansas City, Mo.  One of this city's most salient features is the bounty of beautiful public spaces and civic architecture.  KCMO has more fountains than any other city in the country.  These fountains are often accompanied by well-designed and carefully manicured parks and plazas. 

Kansas City also has magnificent buildings designed for public gatherings -including its train station, opera house, sports arena, and library.  Even the city's newspaper of record - The Kansas City Star - is printed in & distributed from a soaring glass edifice.   It is evident that this city takes great (and well-deserved) pride in the abundance and magnificence of its public spaces, which can hold their own with any major city in America.....I'm talking MAJOR CITY (read: Chicago, L.A.).

Union Station

Kaufman Opera House

Sprint Center

KC Public Library

Public Library's parking garage!!!

Apart from its exemplary civic architecture, KCMO is largely, a very clean...nay...immaculate city, with a well designed (if not always well-maintained) system of roads, including many verdant, serpentine parkways which meander throughout the city. Unfortunately, many of the city's poorer neighborhoods are far less well looked after. The city's most trafficked areas (the locals call them 'entertainment districts') consist of the downtown, Crown Center/Union Station area, and Country Club Plaza.  These districts are arrayed in a very interesting fashion...on a map they look like 3 Lego pieces, each spaced roughly 15 blocks apart.  Some of the blocks in between these 3 districts can feel semi-desolate; however many of these nether-areas are dotted with smartly renovated, century-old, low-slung brick warehouses.  The city has several additional entertainment districts, including the Power & Light District  and Crossroads districts which are close to downtown. Other focal points include Westport and Waldo--both of which have a distinctly neighborhood-y feel.  A comprehensive description of these areas (along with others) can be found here.

However, the civic pride and joy of KCMO (and its most popular tourist attraction) is the  Country Club Plaza area.   The Plaza, as the locals refer to it, is Kansas City's premier shopping and dining area.  

Opened in 1922, The Plaza claims the distinction as America's first shopping center designed to receive customers traveling by car.  The Plaza's architectural design, however, is also a bit of a head-scratcher.  It was built to mirror the look and feel of 1920s Seville, Spain....but its immediate surroundings (along with the rest of KC) mirror the look and feel of a city in the heart of the American midwest.   Thus, the incongruity of the Plaza felt a bit jarring and artificial.  Instead of conjuring visions of old Sevilla, it felt more like the mock Spanish village at Six Flags over Texas. Still, I found the Plaza to be a very pleasant area in which to hang out, eat dinner, and have a coffee on the expansive porch of one of the nicest Starbucks I've ever visited.  The Plaza is also the iconic centerpiece of the city's annual holiday season celebration, when the area is festooned with lights.

Christmas time at The Plaza

Due south of the plaza lie approx 30 blocks of uninterrupted architectural bliss:  street after street of well-maintained or renovated craftsman-prairie style homes.  This area encompasses several neighborhoods such as Ward Pkwy. or Western 49-63 and features homes which vary in size and stature from cottage to mansion.

Western 49-63 Bungalow

Another Western 49-63 beauty

A typically turned-out Ward Pkwy. residence

 At this point, you might be asking yourself - What gives?  Is this place heaven?  Why didn't this place merit 5 Gavels??!!?  Has CityJudger lost his judgemental mind?

Link to areavibes KC map

Here's the rub.  Like too many American cities, Kansas City, Mo. is very segregated. The line of racial demarcation runs N-S along Troost Ave - with predominantly white neighborhoods to the west and African-American neighborhoods to the east.  This neighborhood map (right) courtesy of areavibes.com paints a stark picture of what it labels KC's most & least desirable neighborhoods (ranging from dark green to dark orange respectively).  This map reflects the impression, which I share, that Central KCMO can feel like 2 separate cities operating side-by-side.  This long history of segregation looms large in the current controversy over Google's attempt to wire the city with fiber optics.  As of this September, the overwhelming majority of neighborhoods eligible for this new service are located west of Troost, and this digital disparity has reignited long-running tensions over the city's racial divisions.  This New York Times article addresses these issues surrounding the Google Fiber rollout in detail.
  
Another negative which resulted in my denying KC the coveted 5 Gavel rating is the city's maddeningly spotty road signage.  While KC is laden with signs announcing its entertainment districts and many of its neighborhoods, the directional street signage is often abysmal.  Signs are either non-existent or befuddling. This shortcoming is complicated by the fact that seemingly every interstate and federal highway in America intersects somewhere in and around downtown Kansas City. 

The Crossroads of America --- all of them!

As one approaches downtown, one is treated to highway signage which can best be described as sink-or-swim.  There are 4 or 5 major highways to choose from...and each heads off in a different direction.....toward which city or cities?....shhhhh......it's a secret.....the sign gives away nothing!       
Here are a couple of my favorites:

 Drivers who choose Exit 12B will find a magical roadway which runs north and south simultaneously

For those traveling straight ahead:  good luck with that

To maintain my calm demeanor, I avoided the highways and, instead, chose local roads.  

Here's the deal on the areas outside of central KCMO:  Region 4 - The Northland is pleasant rolling farmland that has been largely annexed by KC over the past century.  It contains relatively few retail outlets (although the Zona Rosa entertainment district is located there), and is home to numerous bland housing developments and apartment complexes.  The Northland also contains the metro's major airport, which I will discuss later. Due to its location across the river, the Northland feels as if it's isolated from the rest of the city.  Most city residents I spoke with agreed with this assessment, adding that they travel through the Northland only to get to the airport.   

Apart from the Northland, much of the area surrounding KCMO to the south and southeast is....grim. As I drove south of KC, I viewed a land of dilapidated roads and strip malls, along with a sizable number of shed-sized homes topped with corrugated metal roofs. 

South/east KCMO is better avoided

One notable exception to this area's grimness is the charming town of Lee's Summit, which appeared to be quite and vibrant and well-groomed. 

Region 3 - Kansas City, Kansas, is not much of an improvement.   Apart from a major raceway and an entertainment zone, there is little reason to visit this struggling and aesthetically challenged city. 

Finally, Region 2 - Johnson County, Kansas is the crown jewel of KC's suburbs.  This is obvious from the moment one crosses State Line Road into Kansas and is greeted by the county's well-maintained roads, and attractive properties.  The metro's nicest suburbs are in Johnson County which claims the most desirable schools, the most extensive library system and ample shopping/eating attractions.  Johnson County includes such notable suburbs as Overland Park - a behemoth of a town, sprawling over 65 sq. miles and housing over 175,000 people.  JoCo also includes the metro's most affluent enclave - Mission Hills.  This 2 sq. mile 'city' of winding roads, stately homes and sizable, leafy yards has a population of only 3,500, but boasts a median home value topping $900,000. 

Welcome to Mission Hills

Fairly typical Mission Hills property

The total population of Johnson County has grown over 100% in the last 30 years; the main axis of growth has been along the I-35 corridor - a diagonal line whose northeast corner abuts KCMO and extends southwest to include the sizable suburbs of Lenexa and Olathe.  As the county sprawls toward the southwest, it begins to feel more like the suburbs of Houston or north Dallas - with their open, relatively treeless lots and large homes.  The towns/cities in Johnson County have several desirable features in common:  very convenient access to KC, moderate-to-careful zoning/planning schemes (including a new urbanism 'village' in Overland Park), an exemplary network of bike trails and parks, and a relatively vibrant economy---The world headquarters of Sprint is located on 200 acres in Overland Park.

Sprint HQ Campus

People -
                        
As I mentioned in my earlier judgement of Omaha, I have a major soft spot for the plain spoken, low-key friendliness of midwesterners, and these qualities were on ample display in KC.  I perceived the locals to be very welcoming but laid back, quiet, and extremely courteous (both on and off the road).  I appreciated their using 'inside voices' in restaurants, stores, and cafes.  I was delighted to see that children and teens also behaved appropriately in public places.  

Unfortunately, the pervasive segregation in KC discussed earlier extends across the state line into Johnson County as well. -- JoCo is currently 86% white, but recent census figures show some hopeful signs of diversity. 
     

Food -
     
For me, KC cuisine begins and ends with barbecue; I won't even pretend to profess that I sought out anything else during my visits.  Why bother?  One doesn't visit NYC's Chinatown in search of anything other than the obvious....so when in KC, I engaged almost exclusively in a Tour-de-'cue.  BIAS ALERT = I love bbq.   I love the smoky flavor of the meats, the tang and spice of the sauces, and the down-home flavor of the side dishes like bbq beans or cheesy corn.  KC has its own distinctive bbq sauce flavor---a hickory infused brownish-red sauce, which could make roadkill taste delectable.  

KC cuisine - complete with cheesy corn!!

My most memorable meals did not come from local legends such as Gates, Fiorella's Jack Stack (both of which were very good) or Oklahoma Joe's (disappointing), but from relatively unheralded, unassuming places such as Brobecks or R.J.'s.   I did manage to pry myself away from barbecue long enough to enjoy another local favorite -- the steakburger at Winstead's (with 24 hr. drive-thru!!)----score!!

Typical Winstead's offerings:  try not to salivate

Cost of Living - 

                                  

Like most places I have visited in the midwest, Kansas City was cheaper than average, especially when it came to food--which was downright cheap. This Sperling's Best Places page confirms my experience with Kansas City prices; this site also breaks down how KC's cost of living compares to the rest of the country.  An overview of the Kansas City metro housing market is found on this Trulia page.

 Other Quality of Life Stuff -          
                                              

A mostly sunny appraisal for this city, with some cloudy patches.  KC's traffic situation was not terrible for a city of its size, especially given the number of autos that trundle across the metro's myriad highways.  However, the main circumferential interstate as well as the southbound primary roads from downtown to south KC were often quite congested, especially during the afternoon rush.  A warning to out-of-town drivers:  Thanks to Missouri's home-rule charter, KC is blessed with dozens of microscopically small towns & villages.  Many of these micro-towns are notorious speed traps. In 2010, Missouri designated the micro-town of Randolph (population <50) as the state's first official speed trap, and levied revenue penalties against the town.  For more details, check out this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article. 

Kansas City's mass transit situation is a bit less than mediocre.  There presently is no light rail or trolley system; mass transit consists of buses, most of which run between semi-hourly and hourly during weekdays....service is much, much more limited on weekends (many routes do not run on Sundays).  A few bus lines, called Max lines, run far more frequently.  I imagine it must be rough for those without cars to get around a city which is as spread out as KC.  A bright spot appears to be on the horizon, however, as Kansas City is once again considering bringing a light rail system to downtown, and an upcoming plebiscite will decide whether streetcars will once again roll down city streets after a 55 year absence.  More info. on KC area mass transit can be found at  http://www.kcata.org

Public safety in Kansas City is a complicated subject, and is inexorably connected to the city's long-standing racial issues. Overall, KC is listed by the FBI as the nation's 9th most dangerous city.  However, the city's crime stats, along with one's sense of security vary widely depending on the neighborhood.  These significant variations partly explain the dramatically disparate reputations attached to different neighborhoods.  The public's perception of crime in various neighborhoods also reinforces the city's east-west racial divide.  This post on City-Data.com's Kansas City forum summarizes commonly held notions about the city:

"(the public safety situation)  actually depends on which neighborhood you live in. The Plaza area is quite safe, but very expensive! About anywhere south of 90th Street and north of Front Street is okay. You don't want to be anywhere near Troost, east to Cleveland. Very high crime areas.  Actually, your best bet is to live in the suburbs. It doesn't take all that long to drive into town, and most good jobs are in the 'burbs, anyhow."

During the summer of 2011, the issue of public safety grabbed headlines when hundreds of young people began descending on the Plaza at night during several successive weekends.  When the area saw an uptick in crime, the mayor decided to personally investigate the reports of unruly behavior. Shortly after he arrived at the Plaza, several people were shot a few yards from where the mayor was standing. It was widely reported that when the shots rang out, the mayor's bodyguards threw him into nearby bushes in order to protect his safety. This incident is widely credited with prompting the city council to enact a teenage curfew ordinance, which remained in effect last summer.  I was in KC when the curfew was enacted, and I recall that the public debate surrounding the ordinance was heavily tinged with arguments focusing on race.  Here is a link to KCTV's coverage of the shootings and their aftermath:  http://www.kctv5.com/story/15263833/3-teens-shot-on-the-plaza

Kansas City's coffee culture has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade. Apart from national and regional chains Starbucks and Scooters respectively, both city and suburbs alike are served by a variety of cool, local cafes with great coffee. Standouts include the Filling Station in KC and the Black Dog Coffeehouse in Lenexa.

The metro's bike-friendliness receives a split verdict --- KCMO = eh  -- a few bike trails here and there, coupled with a very limited number of bike lanes on city streets.  Johnson County = a w e s o m e !!  JoCo has one of the nation's most expansive network of suburban bike trails and shared roadways, which meander around the county, linking its parks like a concrete necklace.

The KC media market is quite robust -- the radio dial is populated with a variety of well-executed commercial formats; the non-commerical portion of the radio dial is quite robust, including the powerhouse KCUR, which broadcasts many hours of exemplary original programming each week. Kansas City is also very well-served by its newspaper of record - The Kansas City Star.  This colorful, comprehensive broadsheet is printed in a state-of-the-art facility completed in 2006. 

Kansas City Star Press Pavillion

Also, as mentioned earlier, Google is in the process of installing a broadband fiber optics network in many KCMO and KCK neighborhoods.  Apart from the civic politics associated with this undertaking (see Aesthetics, et al. above), Google Fiber will bring KC some of the fastest broadband speeds in the world.

A discussion of the metro's schools once again underscores the area's Jekyll & Hyde character discussed above.  Johnson County schools = solid reputation, although the Kansas state government is doing its level best to financially squeeze even the best public schools there.  Wyandotte County schools = a very mixed bag----consult local newspapers/web articles for more details. KCMO schools = hold your breath.......the city's school system has had an abysmal reputation for at least a generation.  It has seen 5 superintendents come and go since 2006. Last year the state again stripped KC's schools of its accreditation for failing to achieve certain state performance standards.  This means that city residents are permitted to transfer their kids into the surrounding suburban schools (in Missouri only).  The resulting shit-show is sad but fascinating, as myriad logistical, legal, and funding issues have arisen. This article in Education Week reveals the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

The city's airport situation also merits some judging. MCI, (or KCI, as the locals call it) gives the new Denver Airport a run for its money for the designation of farthest airport from its parent city - downtown KC is over 20 miles away!  When one lands in Denver, one can at least see the downtown to the west; a first time flyer into KCI wouldn't have the vaguest sense that he has landed in a major metro - the airport is sequestered out in the Northland and surrounded by miles of pastureland.  Also, KCI is a hideous paean to concrete brutalist architecture.  However, one hugely redeeming aspect of the airport's design, is its decentralized security screening arrangement. Each gate (or pair of gates) has its own security checkpoint, so wait times are stunningly short.....During my last couple of trips through KCI, I waited an average of 2 minutes to clear security!!    

Overall, Kansas City shows its neighbors <cough! --- Omaha! --- cough!> that a city in the middle of the heartland need not be bland or boring.  The city has just been discovered by the outside world----Frommer's listed Kansas City as a Top 10 global travel destination for 2012 - the only U.S. city to receive this designation. It seems the world may soon discover what I have learned: the KC metro is dynamic and diverse, with a clearly identifiable local flavor, crazy-yummy food, affordable prices, friendly people, distinctive architecture, numerous tourist attractions, and did I mention the food??  
I judge Kansas City to be......sweet (and tangy!)

OVERALL RATING:

                                             

Additional information about KC can be found on this City-Data page
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