Lay off of Kansas!

[itsMeFred]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

That's the one thing i never got is how there were 2 Kansas Cities

I'm not the one to ask. I've only been to KC (both on the same trip) twice. Going to World's of Fun. lol

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by mhouse2001

Kansas has a certain "middleness" to it that is kind of comforting. I'm trying to explore why the state seems to appeal to me and I've come up with that term to help identify it. Really, there's no reason for a left-leaning gay guy to tout the virtues of a decidedly red state, but I find the land calling to me. And, as I wrote earlier, there was a certain place near one of its college towns that I found the land grabbing at me. Funny, it was in the lone blue county in the whole state. It must be a past-life thing, a subject I think would scatter most Kansans from the room!

There is something to be found in Kansas' slightly-tilted landscape that tells you you're inbetween two things while simultaneously telling you that you are right where you should be. Kansas is inbetween the forests of the east and the mountains of the west. It's where the air gets bounced back and forth between the tropics and the arctic. It's a crossing point, where, if the atmospheric conditions are right, you might spot covered wagons on the horizon like a mirage out of time. Maybe it's this historical aspect that lures me there, one that hints of a country "becoming". We would not have been America if not for the expansion westward, and that growth started on the plains, a place best typified by Kansas.

It's not the best looking place around, that's for sure. It's often a tabletop who's edges must be imagined since they can't be seen. But it's got hills and valleys to break the monotony and rivers and forests to find solace in. There's nothing like the marching of cumulus clouds across a sea of grassland to make you feel alive. You can watch the waves in the grass and see the wind coming at you before you can even hear it. For those who find it boring, Kansas requires patience. It takes time for it to tell you its stories. You have to allow them to percolate up through the ground.

Or you could be in the middle of everything and close to EVERYTHING in the rural Great Lakes. As someone who doesn't enjoy plane travel much I find most of the Plains urban and rural too isolating. I would rather enjoy being out in the woods, but also close to three large metro areas within a 2.5 hour drive. I like knowing that my climate will not be extreme due to the prevalence of trees and water nearby. I like the fact that many smaller towns are established and stand-alone (not exclusively agriculturally dependent), and are not becoming ghost towns like many in the Plains. Some of the above reasons are why small towns in the Great Lakes region tend to fare quite a bit better over the long run compared to the Great Plains.

[kcmo]

Hope this helps

Kansas City. Why are there two cities with the same name?

Kansas City, MO (or KC or KCMO) and Kansas City, KS (or KCK). What’s the deal?

Well it’s really pretty simple. Kansas City, MO became a city before Kansas became a state. Kansas City, KS was established much later still. Here is the lowdown…

Just so you know, the western Kansas City (KS) is the third biggest city within the state of Kansas. It boasts more than 150,000 residents. Another city in the KC area on the Kansas side, Overland Park, is the second largest city in Kansas at 170,000 residents, but let’s stick with the KCs for now.

The city’s eastern counterpart is the biggest city in Missouri with its 480,000-plus residents.

The two Kansas Cities are “split” by a minor residential street and an imaginary state line along about half of their 10-mile border. The other part of the border is made by the Missouri River itself. The metro area is made up of dozens and dozens of other cities. Overland Park, Independence, Olathe and Lee’s Summit are some of the larger suburbs while the entire metropolitan area has about 2.1 million residents, 60% on the MO side and 40% on the KS side.

Now that you know the two cities each hold major prominence within their respective states, let’s take a brief look at their borders and histories. It’s important to remember that together they make up one of the country’s largest Metro areas and share a similar spirit, but the two Kansas Cities are also unique.

The history of the two cities dates back quite a ways in American history.

Kansas City, Missouri, was the first to take the name. It was settled in 1821 as “Westport”, but didn’t have an official name until years later. Naming the city after the Kansas Indians, the town was called the “Town of Kansas” in 1838. Then it was incorporated in 1850 when it took on the name City of Kansas. In 1889, it officially took on the moniker Kansas City. The original Westport (now part of Midtown KCMO) was annexed into the city in 1897.

Kansas did not become a state till 1861, roughly 40 years after Westport (original KCMO) was settled and over a decade after Kansas City, MO was incorporated.

The Kansas counterpart of KCMO became known as Kansas City, Kansas, in the 1880s when several small towns such as Wyandotte, Armourdale, Armstrong etc, were grouped together to become one large city. The idea, it’s said, was to basically ride on the coattails of Missouri’s now successful Kansas City.

And so the confusion began and today Kansas City, MO is still the “big city” of the two with all the big buildings, skyline, entertainment and business districts, museums, airports, pro sports, zoo etc while KCK is basically a blue collar, industrial suburb of KCMO. As a matter of fact, suburban Johnson County, KS just south of KCK is now nearly four times as populated as KCK with nearly 600,000 residents. KCK still has a great deal of heavy industry, but now also boast a nascar speedway, minor league baseball team, the MLS KC Wizards soccer team and several other regional attractions in its suburban western side.

The two Kansas Cities include 630,000 of the 2.1 million in metro KC today so both remain vital and important cities in the area, but Kansas City, MO is the orginal urban core of the region.

[pioneer88]

Well played KCMO.

[frankangel1111]

Kansas is what you make of it. People complain about living in the KC Metro and Wichita. I live in Garden City, which is the largest city in western Kansas with only 30,000 people, and I think it's actually really fun. The bordism leads to seeking for fun, which is probably the most appealing thing to me. There are things to do, you just have to look for them. I would actually love to live in KC or Wichita. Another thing I love about Kansas is the college towns (Hays, Manhattan, Lawrence, etc.). They just have this weird, "cozy" feeling to them. For the most part, I love it here. I just suggest staying out of the far northwest areas (no offense to anyone that lives there).

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by frankangel1111

Kansas is what you make of it. People complain about living in the KC Metro and Wichita. I live in Garden City, which is the largest city in western Kansas with only 30,000 people, and I think it's actually really fun. The bordism leads to seeking for fun, which is probably the most appealing thing to me. There are things to do, you just have to look for them. I would actually love to live in KC or Wichita. Another thing I love about Kansas is the college towns (Hays, Manhattan, Lawrence, etc.). They just have this weird, "cozy" feeling to them. For the most part, I love it here. I just suggest staying out of the far northwest areas (no offense to anyone that lives there).

In the rural and frontier counties of KS your last name often makes a big difference as to how you are treated. I should know as my mother's last name is immediately known to most who live in the rural county. However, these counties are extremely closed off to any outsiders as they tend to be quite insular.

[itsMeFred]

Having been the "new people" in many rural counties in Nebraska and South Dakota as well as Kansas, I disagree completely.

It just takes a while for people to warm up to outsiders. Statistically speaking, afterall, outsiders usually don't stay.