I spent most of the past week in Kansas City, MO while my daughter competed at the Tumbling and Trampoline National Championships. If you must know, she did fine. I’m most proud of how she handled herself. She was expected to do very well in one of her events, but she made some mistakes and underperformed. She didn’t let it get to her, however, and we had a great time.
This was the first time I’d set foot in Kansas City. In fact, I’ve never been in Missouri before. I had no idea how cool the architecture is. Kansas City has a number of pre-war landmarks, including Municipal Auditorium, which is simply a magnificent structure.
Other notable 1920s and 1930s buildings include the Kansas City Power and Light Building and 909 Walnut. There are also a significant number of Gilded Age projects. Kansas City is also, of course, famous for its BBQ. As a vegetarian, I’m afraid this charm was lost on me.
One thing that many of the parents in attendance remarked upon however, was the almost total absence of recycling receptacles. There were plenty of trash cans, but it was extremely hard to find somewhere to place cans or newspaper. This was true even in the hipster-wannabe districts. Yet Kansas City does have a recycling program. Odd.
I’d say that was about the only serious source of right-coast culture shock. Indeed, given the mallification of the United States, you can travel just about anywhere and never change consumption habits. As I’ve remarked before, box stores have taken the place of newspapers in creating and sustaining the American “imagined community.”
On that note, the only major disappointment was Kanas City International Airport. Post-security vending was scarce, overpriced, and terrible. Given our lengthy departure delay, this amounted to a rather annoying first-world problem.
[images from UMKC and Wikipedia. Haven’t had a chance to upload my own]
The buildings look fantastic. On the airport, I think the expensive is what happens when you slap ‘international’ onto what is largely a domestic airport (the source of scarce and terrible?).
Hope you enjoyed it Dan. It’s funny because I think KC folks are used to people from the East Coast dubbing Missouri a “fly-over” state, or claiming there isn’t anything there–they tend to get defensive over hometown pride. KC has its perks: the Plaza with its amalgamation of architecture with Mediterranean and modern influences, the Nelson-Atkins art museum, Westport, and some jazz districts dating back to the 1920s. I experienced the reverse culture shock moving to DC–in KC, you’re right, recycling isn’t prioritized, there are too many highways and one constantly feels like they’re driving, and it’s very much dominated by suburbia. The development of downtown and the power and light district is very recent, one used to enter at their own risk. In any case, I’d say it’s better than St. Louis (and yes there’s a rivalry that goes back to the Civil War), but DC was my first real home of sorts admittedly. East coaster pretty much ;-)
KC-Intl’s even worse when there’s a long line at security, since the layout
of the concourse means you can’t see around the curve to the actual checkpoint, so the wait feels interminable without a visual goal.
Agreed on KC vs. St. Louis, although I grew up in Missouri. St. Louis is dubbed the ‘gateway to the west’, but I always felt like it was the gateway to the east, b/c it’s the first town heading east where you get consistently brusk-to-rude interactions.
As a native St. Louisan I must protest! Nothing at all wrong with Kansas City, but St. Louis has many charms as well. And the city is known for its hospitality! You must have bumped into some Chicagoans or something.
Over 20 visits, but no charm found (and no Chicagoans, either, so no scapegoating). As a native Springfieldian, I assume you meant to write, ‘known for its hospitality to professional athletes, Tony Twist, and returning Vianney, Chaminade, or St. Joe’s alums’.
On the Kansas City airport:
1. The positive side of the arrangement is that you can essentially meet someone just as they get off the plane, walk twenty meters across a street and to your parked car, and if you’ve got the timing within about 40 minutes, drive off without paying anything. Impresses job candidates. Also the security lines are certainly no worse than, say, Dulles or Denver.
2. The abbreviation is “MCI”, which is “Mid-Continent International”, when it originated as a refueling stop. I’ve had check-in clerks think something must be wrong with their computer when they see that. I think they do in fact have a couple flights to Mexico and Canada.
3. If you happen to be there during a tornado alert, there are extensive underground shelters heading towards the parking garages, and visitors go to them as instructed. Locals, of course, react as they always do to tornado alert: stand outside hoping to get a video on their cell phones.