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I live close to Kansas City and I have been there hundreds of times, but I haven't been downtown in ages. I just got back from a trip to Denver and downtown was a complete madhouse with people and traffic and I was wondering to myself if downtown KC was anything like this? I suspect the area around the Sprint Center is bustling during a concert, but is downtown all hustle and bustle most of the time?
KC's downtown lags Denver's but has significantly improved over last 10 years. When there are events going on, KC's can be just as much a madhouse. But it doesn't have the daily (every night) activity that it should have unless there are several nights a row of major events, which happens more often than 5-10 years ago. To be a true 24x7 active downtown, KC will need to double the downtown population - and downtown promoters know this.
Sprint Center, Convention Center activity, Midland/Lyric/Music Hall theaters, Performing Arts Center and P&L Live District events give downtown a lively energy - First Friday's too. The residents need to fill the gap and in order to get the every night vibe with no major events, the downtown 'loop' population will need to double. Crossroads (between the Loop and Crown Center) has gone from a dilapidated light warehouse district to one of largest arts districts in country and has added a couple thousand residents, but it still needs more residents. Crown Center continues to make improvements and is great for families but they too need to significantly increase the population.
I've been to downtown Denver with and w/out major events and with no major events it's not exactly a madhouse at night but it does have more street activity than KC's when there are no events. The downtown population probably makes the difference.
Overall, the progress has been great. Denver had a good 10-15 year head start on its downtown revitalization. KC's is making pretty good progress considering the economy took a major hit a few years ago. But of course urban dwellers will always want more and won't be satisfied, which is a good thing. Bike rental stations are coming next downtown, hopefully streetcar too. The progress will likely continue. Methinks the downtown orgs need to focus on population increase as #1 priority. Then organic growth of other things should follow w/out the City having to manufacture things like P&L - although the City's part was just the underlying infrastructure, which was a wise investment in the end.
Usually not an issue. Not sure why many people in this town think downtown KC has parking issues when it actually has more free/cheap downtown parking than any US city including even smaller cities. It's unusual how much parking downtown has and even more unusual how cheap it is compared to other cities.
There are three cheap/free giant downtown garages to look for. The one next to Consentinos Market (Walnut or /Main access), the one under P&L Live (access from 13th) and the H&R Block garage is available after work hours. Those are cheap/free with a validation from any business in P&L district. They charge usually $10 for major events but if you tell them you're there to see a movie, it is cheap. Also, street parking is free after 5PM (no need to fill the meters).
When there are multiple events are going on at same time, it might be difficult. Best to park at 3rd/Grand park and ride lot in City Market (free) and take the MAX bus to downtown center ($1.50 per person).
Or if able, starting in a few weeks you could rent a bike from City Market and bike it to downtown center. But it has an upfront charge that may not be worth it unless having a pass for other reasons or wanting to explore the area more broadly on bike. http://bikesharekc.com/
xenokc gave you good awnsers, but thought I would chime in since all I do is visit downtowns across the country and am very familiar with downtown KC and worked there for 13 years.
Downtown KC compared to most cities feels like a ghost town most of the time. It's way better than it was during non-business hours, but about the same I think during 9-5 as it's always been.
There are several reasons for it I think. One is there is almost no through traffic in downtown KC and no busy surface streets. Downtown is really sort of choked off from the rest of the city by freeways, bluffs, rivers etc. So you don't get the busy high volume city streets and interaction that you typically find in large downtowns. All that traffic is on the highways or just away from downtown all together and when you visit downtown, it's only a few blocks from a freeway exit to a garage. Take Denver for example. They have many very busy urban streets like Speer and Colfax. Broadway in Downtown KC will get busy at times, but it's never gridlocked and the only reason it's busy is the traffic signals make it that way.
While downtown KC has added many venues and the entertainment district, their pull is limited and not consistent. People with nothing planned to do in Denver can and do go downtown to spend the day or afternoon or evening. In KC, people have to have a reason and those tend to be limited and isolated (saturday mornings at the river market, friday nights at P&L, a concert, a broadway play etc).
So parts of the city will thrive at times, but it is hit or miss. You can easily visit downtown KC during a weekday or even a weekend and it will feel as if there is nobody there, no traffic etc. Even today (I'm just being honest). Then go there when there is a concert on a weekend and much of downtown will be hopping. But even then it's very limited to the blocks around the P&L district because all the suburbanites will stay confined to that area and fight over one or two garages rather than park a few blocks away. They will even sit in traffic for 45 minutes at the Broadway exit because they just don't know any other way to get into or out of downtown. It's very bizarre.
Denver has many attractions downtown and near downtown that combined bring a constant flow of people from the region there and they have all of their big hotels there. So things are not as spread out like in KC with Crown Center and the Plaza.
In KC people will go to the plaza to stroll and shop in an urban environment. In Denver, they can go to the 16th Street Mall Downtown any time for street performers etc. Also Denver has lots of urban recreation and people will go downtown just to ride bikes in the platte valley or along the cherry creek trail. Pretty much nobody goes to downtown KC for recreation (except those that live there). Denver has the Mint, aquarium, capitol etc. Just lots of reasons to go there.
If you took the Plaza, UMKC and crown center and crammed them into the crossoads area, removed the freeway loop, put worlds of fun and the truman sports complex on the riverfront, added an NHL and NBA team to Sprint Center, added light rail and bus shuttles, built bike trails along the river levees and downtown streets and relocated the capitol building from jeff city, then you might start to approach the vibrancy of Denver.
So no, KC is nothing like Denver. But that's just because KC is set up different. KC offers most of the same amenities as Denver, it's just lacking critical mass and connectivity. The City is very much like its airport. It's not near as dead as it would appear on the surface.
But if you ever do hit KC when multiple events are going on like a first friday, concert at sprint, convention at bartle, festival at crown center, events at P&L District or the Midland then man does it feel good because KC feels like a real bustling city when the stars line up once in a while and there is traffic and people everywhere.
And parking? haha easiest big city in the country (by far) to park in and cheapest too. Even during multiple events you can drive right downtown to a center city garage and park, no problem. And the amount spots and times you can park for free? Pretty much unheard of in a large city or even little cities. Downtown Harrisburg, PA is a bigger PITA to park in than KC by a long shot. BTW, there is also the garage at Union Station that is NEVER full even during events at Union Station and it's on the max line. Parking at Crown Center is on MAX and it's free and is never full on weekends (just park in the underground garage east of Grand not the structure behind the mall because it does fill up and suburbanites fight over spots in it when there are 5000 spots available across the street).
So parts of the city will thrive at times, but it is hit or miss. You can easily visit downtown KC during a weekday or even a weekend and it will feel as if there is nobody there, no traffic etc. Even today (I'm just being honest). Then go there when there is a concert on a weekend and much of downtown will be hopping. But even then it's very limited to the blocks around the P&L district because all the suburbanites will stay confined to that area and fight over one or two garages rather than park a few blocks away. They will even sit in traffic for 45 minutes at the Broadway exit because they just don't know any other way to get into or out of downtown. It's very bizarre.
That sums it up. Another thing to add would be that KC isn't much of a happy hour go out after work on a weekday type of town. I could never understand why that is. Some people do, but I rarely saw a place that was crowded between 5 and 7pm. I've walked past places that were constantly empty. How they survive, I don't know.
What places are constantly empty? When did you move from KC? There's a pretty good happy hour scene in Midtown that is busy every 4-7p of the week. Bluestem, The Drop are places I tend to go often. Westport bars are typically very busy early evenings. Some places are too busy and have to find another place. The Plaza is loaded with busy happy hour places, though not my kind of places for the most part. The Plaza is still a Sex and the City wannabee girly girl chick magnet during happy hour. But I guess it's fair to say downtown not as much - The Phoenix and Flyer Saucer are busy every night. Crossroads has a few great places like Manifesto, Czar Bar, Extra Virgin, La Bodega and a few others.
You guys don't live in KC anymore so don't see the day to day activity I do working/living in downtown/midtown (and I've been to 30 largest cities many many times over). I don't think downtown is a 'ghost town' on least busy/non-event nights anymore like it was 10-20 years ago. On the lightest nights, many bars/restaurants will still be fairly busy but not street bustling activity like on event nights, granted is pretty weak in the winter. Ever been to heart of CBD in San Fran or Wallstreet in NYC? Surprisingly light after 5pm - most places closed up. Compared to Denver/Austin, well they are among largest <30 cities in US, KC is just above average. Downtown does seem to have too many bars/restaurants relative to the downtown population though, so relies on events to keep all of them hopping. Midtown tends to be more busy on a day to day (er evening to evening) basis as it has a larger population.
And that brings to another point. Most suburbanites think of Plaza and Westport as 'downtown' too.
That sums it up. Another thing to add would be that KC isn't much of a happy hour go out after work on a weekday type of town. I could never understand why that is. Some people do, but I rarely saw a place that was crowded between 5 and 7pm. I've walked past places that were constantly empty. How they survive, I don't know.
I think this depends greatly on where you are. I certainly spend happy hour time at hopping places...couldn't speak for downtown, because that's rarely where I go out. Just today, I was at McCoy's very busy patio for several hours midday, and was chatting with another patron who tends bar at the Indie On Main, downtown, attached to the Midland. She was trying to drum up business, and it sounded alright, but P&L and adjacent bars are less my speed than more neighborhoods hangouts.
In reference to the above post, I wouldn't so much say that people think Plaza and Westport are considered "downtown" as they just simply consider them viable entertainment districts in their own right (as well as Martini Corner, Waldo, a few other areas). KC just has a range of nightlife spots/happy hour locales, versus just one. This thins things out, from time to time.
You guys don't live in KC anymore so don't see the day to day activity I do working/living in downtown/midtown (and I've been to 30 largest cities many many times over). I don't think downtown is a 'ghost town' on least busy/non-event nights anymore like it was 10-20 years ago.
I never said that there were not places to go. We actually had quite a few happy hour events when I worked downtown. People would meet up at places in the P&L district, crossroads, midtown, martini corner, even downtown nkc.
I was just trying to be honest with the OP as far at the first impression of the vibrancy of the city. KC often does seem like a ghost town to people when they visit the city without doing a lot of prior research or having somebody show them around town. My point is that KC is not as dead as the streets and sidewalks would often lead one to believe. With the right tour guide, you can blow people away with what KC offers. It’s just not in a simple package like many cities such as Denver.
We visit KC all the time and when we drive through downtown in the middle of a work day, my kids and wife instantly notice how not busy it is. They know KC is about the size of Baltimore or Pittsburgh or Cincinnati or Columbus or Indianapolis, but those cities all have much busier and active feeling downtown cores, especially during the work week and work hours. I mean downtown Baltimore feels like freaking midtown Manhattan compared to downtown KC, but I think KC is still the better city of the two.
Go visit some of the threads in city vs city where I'm constantly defending KC because people think downtown KC has so little activity. KC is just set up in a way that makes it not have a busy and bustling downtown compared to many cities. It still has all the parts that make a city bustle, it's just that they are set up in a way that kind of hides that bustle or disperses it.
I live close to Kansas City and I have been there hundreds of times, but I haven't been downtown in ages. I just got back from a trip to Denver and downtown was a complete madhouse with people and traffic and I was wondering to myself if downtown KC was anything like this? I suspect the area around the Sprint Center is bustling during a concert, but is downtown all hustle and bustle most of the time?
I don't know exactly what you mean by "ages", but if you haven't been downtown since the Power and Light District, Sprint Center arena, and Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts have opened, since the the Crossroads District has really blossomed, and since downtown has been greatly cleaned up and new streetscaping has been added, I think you're in for quite a pleasant surprise. Tons of apartments, condos, and new businesses have opened from the River Market to Crown Center. The Cosentino's grocery store, movie theater, renovated Midland Theater, and several other neighborhood-y businesses, and all the restaurants, have really created a true "Main Street" downtown.
If that's the case, I would recommend having dinner on a Friday or Saturday night in the P+L District, going to a First Friday event, and also going down there on a work day around lunch time to walk around.
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