Downtowns are back

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

Downtown Kansas City




------------------------------ 2020 ------ 2010 ------ 2000 ------ 1990 ------ Growth ------ Density

Downtown ---------------------- 9,743 ------ 5,089 ------ 3,755 ------ 3,856 ---- 91.5% ---- 35.5% --- -2.6% ------- 2.3 km² --- 4,275.1 inh./km²

Kansas City Metro Area ---- 2,136,403 -- 1,952,470 -- 1,757,083 -- 1,568,274 ----- 9.4% ---- 11.1% --- 12.0% -- 12,899 km²


Downtown Kansas City is all inside the freeway loop and the 4 census tracts match it exactly. Explosive growth and the adjacent neighbourhoods are also growing.

It's a perfect example on how even metro areas that people hardly associated with urban life, are also attracting tons of people to their downtowns.

I lived in Kansas City for a year in the 90s. I hadn't been back for 25 years until this past June. Wow, it was amazing. There is still some room for improvement but the city has taken a complete 180 from steady decline to energetic growth.

A quick drive along Brush Creek that sunny June day felt glamorous - it already had exotic cars buzzing around so if they had palm trees it would have felt like Los Angeles.