Kansas City, KS needs to be a twin city

[KC_Retiree]

Originally Posted by empires228

You’re awaiting your breath voicing this to someone who has a strong distaste for several of the states they moderate for. This has been going on for over a decade.

The statistics speak for themselves. A look at Kansas County growth since 2020 shows counties in the eastern part of the state around the KC area generally increasing in population while the rural counties lose population. Same with the Wichita area. Rural counties have had the greatest population loss, especially those along the Oklahoma border in SE Kansas. A few rural counties, however, have shown very low population growth or are breaking even. If you looked at similar county data for the entire country, one would generally seem the same pattern.

In Kansas, Sedgewick (Wichita), Johnson (KC burbs), Wyandotte (KCK) and Douglas (Lawrence) have all gained population since 2010. Topeka (Shawnee County) is the only urban center in the state where the county has lost population. As always, there is more to the story than just saying Kansas is losing population and offering a contrived story about Kansas cities that doesn't hold up to scrutiny.




https://usafacts.org/data/topics/peo.../state/kansas/

[maxwasson]

I went in and commissioned an artist (Darwin_hsu on Fiverr) and he drew me up an artist's rendition of what a new cityscape for Kansas City, Kansas could look like.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by maxwasson

I went in and commissioned an artist (Darwin_hsu on Fiverr) and he drew me up an artist's rendition of what a new cityscape for Kansas City, Kansas could look like.

I kinda hate to say this, but given KCK's history and heritage, we will be waiting a good long while for that to materialize.

Yes, it would be nice for KCK City Hall (left front in that drawing) to go from the tallest building in downtown KCK to one of the shortest. That would likely take a few decades of explosive growth in Wyandotte County, which has been growing slowly when it has grown; the same can be said to a lesser degree for Greater Kansas City as a whole (not quite as slow as the 'Dotte, but still relatively modest).

[maxwasson]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I kinda hate to say this, but given KCK's history and heritage, we will be waiting a good long while for that to materialize.

Yes, it would be nice for KCK City Hall (left front in that drawing) to go from the tallest building in downtown KCK to one of the shortest. That would likely take a few decades of explosive growth in Wyandotte County, which has been growing slowly when it has grown; the same can be said to a lesser degree for Greater Kansas City as a whole (not quite as slow as the 'Dotte, but still relatively modest).

Maybe some sort of big commercial project or investment into Wyandotte County will spark a population boom not unlike what happened to Johnson County, because there was a time when WyCo and JoCo had around the same approximate population in the mid-20th century, and then from the 1970s and onwards, Johnson County grew exponentially.

[comfortably_numb]

Originally Posted by maxwasson

Well then that's just the state of Kansas shooting themselves in the foot, if they don't want to commit to pouring resources into their own cities.

Not to mention the minimum wage in Kansas is still $7.25; you can drive over the state line and minimum wage is $12.30.

Without arguing for or against a higher minimum wage, the one thing that's certain is Kansas is not competitive with its bordering states. Nebraska's minimum wage is $12 and will increase to $15 in 2026. Colorado's minimum wage is $14.42.