Kansas City vs Baltimore (cost, largest, difference, market)
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Fast forward to 2019. Any current thoughts? Seem like both are great cities that are investing more in downtown, yet still have big struggles with crime.
Back in 2016 when I was living in Kansas City, I got sent to Baltimore for a month for work, and stayed in the Inner Harbor.
Kansas City is definitely the cleaner of the two cities, but I really, really liked Baltimore. I thought it had some awesome neighborhoods, particularly Mt Vernon, Fells Point, Inner Harbor, and Hampden. I also really loved Maryland in general.
In Kansas City there’s generally a very bright line of demarcation between the nice and rough areas. In Baltimore the lines seemed to be a little more blurred. There were a lot of blighted areas right next to more posh areas which you don’t really see in KC.
Baltimore is denser, more vibrant, more walkable, and I thought it had a better nightlife than KC, as a gay male at least.
I would actually have no problems moving to Baltimore. I thought it was a great city, though it does have its issues.
Back in 2016 when I was living in Kansas City, I got sent to Baltimore for a month for work, and stayed in the Inner Harbor.
Kansas City is definitely the cleaner of the two cities, but I really, really liked Baltimore. I thought it had some awesome neighborhoods, particularly Mt Vernon, Fells Point, Inner Harbor, and Hampden. I also really loved Maryland in general.
In Kansas City there’s generally a very bright line of demarcation between the nice and rough areas. In Baltimore the lines seemed to be a little more blurred. There were a lot of blighted areas right next to more posh areas which you don’t really see in KC.
Baltimore is denser, more vibrant, more walkable, and I thought it had a better nightlife than KC, as a gay male at least.
I would actually have no problems moving to Baltimore. I thought it was a great city, though it does have its issues.
I love this! Coming from a similar demographic but having only been in both cities for a couple of days each city impressed me miles beyond my expectations. The skyline of KC, the fountains, BBQ, great brick architecture and the WWI museum is fantastic!
Baltimore though, what a fantastic city. The history, sublime Colonial architecture, setting in the harbor, solid friendly people - it’s the South? (I’m confused, but love that, had my first helping of fried Chicken and waffles for breakfast- it was other worldly!) the Baltimore Museum of Art is amazing! Thought the National Aquarium was for kids- it’s fantastic! Boat tours in the harbor, impressive new architectural development, all the neighborhoods surrounding possess their own identity and vibe- touring the UnderArmor campus with ridiculously hot athletes working out. Fells Point- The Pendry Hotel is an architectural specimen-Thames street Oysterhouse, just stop me! It is a city that grabbed me as a great place.
Especially today, with all the bad press about it. Hell yeah it’s got problems and issues, I don’t know the half of it with a tourist’s glow perspective but every city does, all the best ones. I know for a fact it is full of vastly more interesting, positive and creative residents than otherwise. It is a city with a great Colonial and early American history, mostly maintains a good chunk of it and yet has very modern developments portending an even better future for it if it is able to rein in and fix those entrenched issues. I’m rooting for it.
I love this! Coming from a similar demographic but having only been in both cities for a couple of days each city impressed me miles beyond my expectations. The skyline of KC, the fountains, BBQ, great brick architecture and the WWI museum is fantastic!
Baltimore though, what a fantastic city. The history, sublime Colonial architecture, setting in the harbor, solid friendly people - it’s the South? (I’m confused, but love that, had my first helping of fried Chicken and waffles for breakfast- it was other worldly!) the Baltimore Museum of Art is amazing! Thought the National Aquarium was for kids- it’s fantastic! Boat tours in the harbor, impressive new architectural development, all the neighborhoods surrounding possess their own identity and vibe- touring the UnderArmor campus with ridiculously hot athletes working out. Fells Point- The Pendry Hotel is an architectural specimen-Thames street Oysterhouse, just stop me! It is a city that grabbed me as a great place.
Especially today, with all the bad press about it. Hell yeah it’s got problems and issues, I don’t know the half of it with a tourist’s glow perspective but every city does, all the best ones. I know for a fact it is full of vastly more interesting, positive and creative residents than otherwise. It is a city with a great Colonial and early American history, mostly maintains a good chunk of it and yet has very modern developments portending an even better future for it if it is able to rein in and fix those entrenched issues. I’m rooting for it.
On your next visit to KC, T. Damon, be sure to check out both the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. They're located near each other, and they are one of those institutions that help my forever hometown punch well above its weight. (I learned on a prior visit that when it opened in 1931, the Nelson-Atkins had a larger endowment than any other art museum in the country save one: New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.)
Baltimore has many very attractive neighborhoods; it wasn't "mostly dumpy" then and it isn't now. But it does have its share of barren treeless blocks fronted by rowhouses, some abandoned, that hug the sidewalk. (There's only one city in the US where rowhouses make up a greater share of the housing stock than Baltimore: the one I live in now, Philadelphia. And it has even more of those barren treeless blocks: its tree canopy of 20 percent is the lowest of the five big Northeast cities.)
I can see where you'd find a livelier gay scene in Baltimore than in KC, Bluefox. KC's gay community centers on the Hyde Park neighborhood just northeast of Westport, the city's weekend entertainment hub, but the bars and restaurants are sort of scattered around a large area that spans Hyde Park, Roanoake-Valentine, and Westport. ISTR the scene is more compact and connected in Baltimore.
The two states that share the Greater Kansas City area are pretty conservative, but Kansas City itself isn't, though its politics are more center-left than left. Besides, Kansans fed up with former Gov. Sam Brownback's wrecking of the state economy and budget (not to mention the damage he caused to the economy of Greater Kansas City) with his misguided beggar-thy-neighbor "job creation" strategy put a Democrat in the Governor's Mansion in Topeka last fall. (The last time they did that was in 2006, when they re-elected Kathleen Sebelius to a second term.) Westboro Baptist Church notwithstanding, Kansas' conservatism has been less of the Bible Belt variety and more of the prairie-populist version.
But let me also add that I like the state of Maryland a lot. Its oceanfront is overdeveloped, but Annapolis is one of the nicest state capitals in the country, Baltimore is cool, and there are several other very nice towns and cities to visit (though there may be one less if Ellicott City keeps getting drowned). I also think that its state flag, adopted in 1905 as a symbol of reconciliation after the Civil War split it in two (as it did Missouri, by the way), is the coolest of all 50.
Both cities are underrated. But Baltimore is vastly underrated. It is a fascinating place -- in spite of the obviously deteriorating infrastructure and governance issues. Kansas City is comfortable and very pleasant. At the end of the day, Baltimore wins on urbanity, location, and culture. But KC keeps it close with the aesthetic and barbeque (and its own impressive architecture).
One thing’s for sure: BWI >>> MCI. That airport (MCI) is a disaster.
Thank God the voters in KC OKd a new single-terminal replacement last year. Construction is now underway, and I think the new airport will open next year.
back in the 90s Baltimore was so on a better path, it seemed it would break out of the rust belt funk. what happened? it still has great neighborhoods but mostly its given up. such a good location it really ought to be a thriving place
Thank God the voters in KC OKd a new single-terminal replacement last year. Construction is now underway, and I think the new airport will open next year.
That’s good to know. The whole squeezing the passengers into an 18 ft narrow strip beyond security with Barry any food or drink options was such a bad idea. I’ve been avoiding flying through MCI on SWA for exactly that reason!
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