KANSAS CITY | I'm in charge now and we're stopping to see it!

[Cirrus]

Cirrus in the West Series!
See them all: Denver, Boulder, Santa Fe, Taos, Southern Colorado, Kansas City, Saint Louis.

Growing up, my family drove between Colorado & the east at least a dozen times. But my parents--classic Boomers--never cared about cities and thought they were just trafficy obstacles to avoid. As we passed through (or more likely around) Kansas City, Saint Louis, Indianapolis, and Columbus, I'd try to catch a glimpse of the skyline, wondering what they were like.

Well guess what mom & dad, I'm in charge now and we're stopping! Ha!

So here's my four hours or so in Kansas City. Of course I've seen it posted here on SSP a thousand times, and with just a short stop I'm not digging down into anything obscure. I wanted to see Union Station, the streetcar, and Country Club Plaza. My wife wanted to see the downtown library. So that's what did and what you're getting here.

As a kid this was my view of KC--passing on the highway:




No more!




Kansas City's famous for its fountains. If I had more time I'd love to do a fountain tour. Maybe someday. In the meantime, here's a nice specimen along KC's only local rail transit, the Main Street streetcar. It's generally regarded as the most successful of the Obama-era streetcars, providing good service along a solid transit corridor.




The libary is nice but weirdly its parking garage is the most famous thing about it. Very literal.




Inside:




KC Union Station is like a bizarro DC Union Station. It's basically the same size and has a broadly similar layout and style, but it's cube-like instead of arched.








KC's dials up the nostalgia though. The Harvey house stuff is kinda fun.






Main Street, with its streetcar extension under construction.










The main event of our brief stop was County Club Plaza, KC's beautifully ornate uptown district. If there's a more Europeanesque place in the Midwest, I don't know what it would be.








































Thanks for looking!

[Cirrus]

Bonus! --->

[giallo]

Great thread. Love that last photo!

Your childhood story mirrors my own. I used to stare out the window, looking for a glimpse of a skyline while we travelled.

[geomorph]

You captured several of the city's numerous fountains!

[plinko]

Kansas City is the only place I can think of that uses 'Trafficway' to define a particular type of roadway (a semi-divided highway). Does anywhere else use that term?

A city full of things you might not expect. Fountains galore and Country Club Plaza is just marvelous.

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures! I actually want to go to Kansas City some time, because it's the easiest airport to use to get to Kansas, which is the only state I have never had a beer from, and I want to finish off all 50 states by drinking a beer in that state.

What is so famous about the library parking garage?

I have heard good things about Country Club Plaza, and have seen some pictures from time to time of it, but didn't really know what it looks like. It looks great! But this apartment building is a HUGE sore thumb throughout your pictures.

Originally Posted by Cirrus

[ColDayMan]

Union Station is a gem.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

this apartment building is a HUGE sore thumb throughout your pictures.

Lol, funny you say that. I like it a lot and included in it the frames on purpose, because it tells the story that this is a real urban place with diversity and integration with the city beyond, not merely a theme park closed off from the true city.

The library parking garage is one of America's most famous examples of mimetic architecture. Love it or hate it, it's a thing. Personally I think it's cute as long as it's rare. The joke would wear thin quickly if it were more common.

[OhioGuy]

I do quite like Kansas City. And Union Station is a gem!

[downtownpdx]

Nice looking city! I stopped quickly on a road trip in 2001 but need to actually explore one day. Thanks for sharing.

[Riverranchdrone]

It is a beautiful city. Driving IH35 through there is a nightmare though.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Lol, funny you say that. I like it a lot and included in it the frames on purpose, because it tells the story that this is a real urban place with diversity and integration with the city beyond, not merely a theme park closed off from the true city.

It still sticks out to me because there are those other apartment buildings in the other pictures that fit that Mediterranean Revival architecture much better.

Originally Posted by Cirrus

The library parking garage is one of America's most famous examples of mimetic architecture. Love it or hate it, it's a thing. Personally I think it's cute as long as it's rare. The joke would wear thin quickly if it were more common.

So the garage is the one that looks like books? I thought that was the actual library.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

So the garage is the one that looks like books? I thought that was the actual library.

Correct. The garage is the books. The actual library is in a pretty but less unique neoclassical building that I'm only now realizing was originally built as a bank. Here it is on Street View.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by plinko

Kansas City is the only place I can think of that uses 'Trafficway' to define a particular type of roadway (a semi-divided highway). Does anywhere else use that term?

A city full of things you might not expect. Fountains galore and Country Club Plaza is just marvelous.

Ha, yes, I believe the term is primarily associated with Kansas City for whatever reason. I think another quirk is using the number of a highway first in conversation, example: "71 Highway."

Nice photos - for someone who travels often, I haven't been to KC since last year and am overdue for a visit for work or otherwise.

[ChrisLA]

Beautiful, I visited Kansas City a few times but never got a chance to see Union Station. I’m pretty sure my grandmother has passed through there many times on her travels to Los Angeles and Louisiana back in the day before the family moved to LA. This city has a special place, my mom grew up there. Unfortunately it took her 30 years to finally visit once again and this was because I made it happen. Hopefully I’ll get there again soon, my wife just found out about some family members that live there so who knows.

[Murphy de la Sucre]

I have obsessive-compulsive disorder.

so Kansas City being posted on SSP more often than most of the cities that's for sure, but not a thousand times. i estimate 30 times in whole history of ssp

[craigs]

You captured KC very well for such a short visit.

[Wigs]

KC is one city I wish was featured more on SSP. Looking forward to the streetcar extension opening in 2025.
Thanks for the photos