DC is not like KC. Not in the least... (St. Louis: low income, new home)

[kcmo]

I Just wanted to say that I see no signs what so ever of the multi-state area being like KC and the state line.

People are always saying how other cities have state lines, it's not just KC.

While Metro DC has it's share of problems, I have come to the conclusion that the region gets along very well. Regional issues are dealt with in a productive and professional manner. Transit crosses county lines seamlessly, planners get to together and try to address regional growth and business development issues. Low income housing, transit, highway planning, traffic congestion all seem to be looked at and addressed from more of a regional standpoint. You have some counties that are better off than others, but they still cooporate and RESPECT each other. The level of resentment (if there is any at all) is a tiny fraction of the friction between KCMO/JoCo WyCo/JoCo KS/MO etc. It's just not there.

Not all metro areas that cross state lines deal with issues as intense as KC. Having the second largest county in your area act more as a fierce competitor to the largest county vs a regional partner in the way JoCo and JaCo interact is quite unique to KC.

I have said it a million times. KC's biggest issue is the state line and it has and always will keep the metro from becoming the metro it really could be.

I love the area more and more every day I live here and even though I will dearly miss KCMO, I have this feeling that KC will be about the same in 2030 as it was in 1985... Too bad because with well over 2 million residents, KC should be able to do so much more.

[RjRobb2]

That's not surprising given that the politicians out in the DC area are the best of the best. They are the pros and we have amateurs as politicians here.

I dont think the problem in KC is some imaginary line. I think it is the incompetent people that we have running the municipalities.

With that said, DC is experiencing the same problems getting a soccer stadium built as KC is. DC has introduced plans that have fallen apart and cities in Virginia and Maryland have attempted to steal them away. Most recently, Baltimore has submitted a plan trying to steal the team from DC. So, they might have better relations than us but they are not perfect out there.

[luzianne]

So you come back to this forum to try to perpetuate what you say you hate so much?

[northbound74]

I remember growing up near Memphis, which spreads into 3 states, and it was nothing like this. There were some issues, but KC is much more extreme about it. I agree that it is a state line issue, mostly. One state thinks it's in competition with the other, and the other state spends more time obsessing over St. Louis, which KC has to take a back seat to... often because of it's own lack of action in Jeff City.

[Samantha S]

FWIW, with the exception of a few but loud squeaks about the subject, I've never thought that the tensions between KS and MO were anything to write home about.

I do think they are there, but in general not to any greater degree than anywhere else and 99.99% of the time I don't even notice it. People have on occasion been rude to me in various areas of the metro, sometimes based on where I'm from, but the vast majority of people in KC-metro (and across both states) are very friendly.

I think the handful of outspoken folks on this forum (myself included) make the issue seem much bigger than it is when we start arguing over the sources of perceived animosity.

kcmo, I'm glad you are enjoying your new home. But I am among those who wish you didn't feel the need to start threads like these.

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by Samantha S

FWIW, with the exception of a few but loud squeaks about the subject, I've never thought that the tensions between KS and MO were anything to write home about.

I do think they are there, but in general not to any greater degree than anywhere else and 99.99% of the time I don't even notice it. People have on occasion been rude to me in various areas of the metro, sometimes based on where I'm from, but the vast majority of people in KC-metro (and across both states) are very friendly.

I think the handful of outspoken folks on this forum (myself included) make the issue seem much bigger than it is when we start arguing over the sources of perceived animosity.

kcmo, I'm glad you are enjoying your new home. But I am among those who wish you didn't feel the need to start threads like these.

Excellent post, Samantha! My sentiments exactly!

[kcmo]

I understand, if you don't like something or simply don't want it to be true, it's very easy to write it off as BS. But this is simply my opinion of a very obvious difference between KC and DC and really, any major bistate area. As soon as the KC area even acknowledges that this is a major problem in the area, mayby it will find ways to address the issues and try to make the best of a situation. Till then...

The first week I was here, there was a story in the post about how the "region" (a rarely used word in metro KC) it trying to get more office parks built in one are of town and denied in others to address some of the serious traffic issues created when some suburbs become too commuter oriented while others end up with too much commercial. Basically they are trying to figure out a way to get more people to live in VA and more people to work in MD. That was my first example. I thought. Wow, this would be like Jackson and Johnson getting together and actually working toward a goal of getting more office buildings built east of the triangle vs west to reduce the massive one way traffic jams through the triangle area and to balance out the overall area. Something like this would NEVER even be brought up in KC. It would be laughed at. Another thing I have noticed is that cities out here try not to compete to take a company from another area city. They will pull together and go after a company in Dallas and may the best state win though. And spending 3 months doing nothing but asking people from all over the area about araes all over the area and I have run into nobody that would put their area on some cloud about the others. They respects each other. Even very different areas such as a Raytown vs a Overland Park. It's not the same. DC is not perfect by any means, but I have lived in StLouis as well and it's the similar there. But I digress.

It is what it is. Ignore it or address it...

[RjRobb2]

I agree with Samantha. I dont think the issue is as big as people make it out to be. I actually see a little competition as a good thing.

The only thing I wish MO and KS could get together on is a mass transportation plan such as light rail. Other than that, I dont really see any issues that are a big deal.

I have said it again and I will repeat it - It is an IMAGINARY LINE. I cross it every single day when I go to work and every single day when I go home.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Samantha S

FWIW, with the exception of a few but loud squeaks about the subject, I've never thought that the tensions between KS and MO were anything to write home about.

Me, either, as a transplant within the past few years and therefore relatively unbiased observer with no history with the region; it's more just petty snottiness. Which I've also observed in a variety of urban/suburban settings, not just KCMO.

[CrownVic95]

I have said it a million times

I can believe it.

KC's biggest issue is the state line

What are you proposing? I think the state line is going to stay where it is.

KC will be about the same in 2030 as it was in 1985

Perhaps....so what? I'm sure there are lots of people who see positives in that.

To continue this drumbeat that few, if any, others care about after having moved 1100 miles away is....well....difficult to make any sense of.