Kansas City vs. St. Louis (Better tourist destination) (Kirkwood, Clayton: transplants, live)

[northbound74]

The arch is a pretty big tourist draw. Take that out of the equation and they're about the same. Because of that, I don't know if it's worth a short trip from one to the other unless you're just curious to see what there is to see.
Cardinals games aren't any more of a "great American experience" than any other MLB game, unless you're a Cardinal fan.

[gobearsgo]

Go on the Budweiser/Busch brewery tour and beer school. That's a blast.

Budweiser Beer from Anheuser-Busch: the Great American Lager

If you're looking for a fun area to hang out, head over to the neighborhood surrounding Washington University (theaters, bars, etc)

If you like history, check out the old courthouse near the arch where Dred Scott was decided, the St. Louis cathedral in the Central West End and the little town of St. Charles for a quick side trip.

St. Louis Tourism : St. Louis Neighborhood Guide - Yahoo! Travel

If you're up for a longer side trip west and like wine, there's Hermann, which is known for vineyards. Hermann, Missouri - Visitor Information

About an hour or so west is Columbia, which is home to the University of Missouri - great town. Check out who's playing at the Blue Note. Columbia, Missouri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Mathguy]

I would like to note that I'm pleasantly surprised that the thread has noted the many fun and positive aspects of what are two really nice cities. Glad it hasn't devolved into the sad KS vs. MO bickering over two cities that are IMO closely matched and a win either way.

Hope you have a great trip.

[roman71988]

Kansas City's really nice! Ive been alot, I really liked downtown. KC's surrounding neighborhoods seemed pretty cool too. It might be worth a day trip,but nothing more. They do have really cool museums and check out gates barbecue(Its really good). It is alot smaller than st. louis,imo. St. Louis does have a lot more city stuff to offer, which you might find more fun if you want go out. Plus Forrest Park has some really neat stuff left over from the 1904 World's Fair. Im sure youll have a good time.

[VideoEngineerAJS]

As someone who has just moved here in the past year and has had family come visit a lot recently, I can tell you that as a tourist there is a TON to do in St. Louis.

We've done the tourist thing 4 times in the last 3 months and we still haven't been able to see everything. I want to visit KC also, but if you have a limited amount of time and you want to see as much as possible in St. Louis, I would save KC for the next trip.

[guitarmas5]

It's close, but Kansas City wins.


STL has the arch and a light rail system

KC has a better art and music scene

STL has the loop

KC has the Plaza

STL has better zoo

KC has better museums

These two cities are very comparable. But I have to give the edge to KC. STL is improving their urban experience, but KC is already there and has a much more exciting core.

[pdm_ad]

St. Louis and it's not even close.

STL averages 4 million more visitors per year than KC. There is a reason for that, much more to do in STL. Here are the numbers:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...s-america.html

Here is a good list of things to do in STL:

St. Louis travel guide - Wikitravel

[stlcitygirl]

Originally Posted by guitarmas5

It's close, but Kansas City wins.


STL has the arch and a light rail system

KC has a better art and music scene

STL has the loop

KC has the Plaza

STL has better zoo

KC has better museums

These two cities are very comparable. But I have to give the edge to KC. STL is improving their urban experience, but KC is already there and has a much more exciting core.

^
Are you joking? Ever heard of the Central West End, Downtown, The Loop, Soulard, Midtown, Lafayette Square, Tower Grove? KC has some good things going for it, but urban core is NOT better than STL. I can give you the art scene, but not music scene, not sure how you got that. I don't want to start the typical STL vs. KC war, but you are off.

[northbound74]

Both towns are similar, but are different enough that they might appeal to different kinds of people, especially the urban core part.

KC lacks a good urban park. It's park system isn't what it used to be, and Swope Park could be soooo much more than it is, though the zoo is vastly improved over what it was 5 years ago. A world-class aquarium would be a nice addition adjacent to the zoo.
Loose Park is super nice, and Penn Valley is cool with the Liberty Memorial/WW1 museum over looking downtown, but adding anything more to those would take away too much green space in my opinion.

KC's downtown is so close to being the complete package with very little blight. Just a little more retail, and it's a regular neighborhood again. Now if we can get Jeff City to pay a little more attention to KC and not just St. Louis, we might be able to keep more jobs from jumping the state line for free goodies in Kansas.

[brushrunner]

I have to say St.Louis was just there last week and was surprised.I use to live in Kansas City.

brushrunner