Kansas City vs. Indianapolis vs. Columbus (cons, market, airport, restaurant)
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Where did I bash Indy? I don't care for the state all that much, big deal.
This is a comparison between three cities and I posted my opinions along with photos to show that KC is not half as dense as Indy (it's actually more dense).
I respect Indy and Columbus and as far as density, I would agree with what others have said. KC is more dense than Indy and less dense than Columbus.
My point on the density debate was not to put Indy or Columbus down, but more to come to KC’s defense.
People love to use kcmo’s density stats against it and it’s just a very misleading stat to use especially when it’s used to make another city appear more dense when that’s not the actual case. KCMO has a relatively dense urban core and the suburbs are as dense as any other suburbs in the Midwest. There are just a lot of other odd ball factors that factor into the low density stats and I think I have explained some of them. I’m not saying KC is a Chicago or even a St Louis as far as density, but it’s not an Oklahoma City either and urban KCMO has the bones of an older transit city, not a western auto oriented city.
The bottom line is this makes no sense.
If you have been to all three cities this would be obvious.
KC has some very dense residential districts. Downtown has over 20,000 residents, the Plaza is one of the largest more dense urban residential districts in the Midwest. Midtown, Northeast etc have neighborhood densities of 7-10k per square mile.
Having lived in KC for 30 years and having visited Indy and Columbus six to ten times each, I think it’s easy to say this.
As far as things to do in KC. Again, this is personal preference. I personally think MLB is the number one sport that adds to the quality of life of a metro. You are talking about 80 games. MLB has always been a large part of our spring, summer and fall entertainment. Till you live in a MLB town, I don’t think you understand how much impact they have compared to all the other leagues. It takes a large metro to support a MLB team. Second is the NFL which KC also has.
Columbus offers has NHL and MLS, which is ok, but not as good as KC. Indy has NHL and NBA again, ok, but, I would rather have MLB/NFL.
I don’t like Indiana all that well. I think Indiana is what most people imagine Kansas to be like (flat, barren, brown,etc) while Indiana makes Kansas look pretty nice. Ohio is more like Missouri. I like Indy, I just don’t like its location other than it being closer to Chicago and other metros.
I could be wrong but it also seems like KC’s culture, arts, museums, theater scene is a step up from Indy and Columbus. KC has an incredible arts scene and is building a 450 million dollar arts center that few in the world will compare to. KC has some top notch museums like the Nelson, WWI, Negro Leagues, Jazz, Arabia Steamboat etc. KC has amazing art deco structures from downtown skyscrapers to the second largest train station in the country.
KC has one large amusement park and two large water parks, a decent zoo etc.
KC is also a larger region. 2.8 million people live within one hour of downtown KC. Places like Lawrence and St Joe are not in KC’s CMSA but are less than 20 minutes from suburban KC.
So I honestly give KC the edge over the other two. Not everyone will agree with that and that’s fine. Just don’t push KC off as a low density cow town in the middle of Kansas (nobody knows or cares that it's in Missouri). Having lived in the DC area for two years now, I’m pretty defensive and tired of KC’s image. It deserves so much better.
Ok, Kansas City has an amusement park and real casinos. Beyond that, I am not convinced KCMO is much different from either city.
I have lived in an MLB city, I know what the Tigers meant to Corktown and now downtown Detroit. Indianapolis and Columbus have very nice AAA stadiums downtown. They don't draw like MLB, obviously, but they both anchor activity 72 nights a year. Indianapolis has NBA, and Columbus has NHL. This idea KCMO is somehow better because of the Royals is a weak argument.
Ok, Kansas City has an amusement park and real casinos. Beyond that, I am not convinced KCMO is much different from either city.
I have lived in an MLB city, I know what the Tigers meant to Corktown and now downtown Detroit. Indianapolis and Columbus have very nice AAA stadiums downtown. They don't draw like MLB, obviously, but they both anchor activity 72 nights a year. Indianapolis has NBA, and Columbus has NHL. This idea KCMO is somehow better because of the Royals is a weak argument.
Again, personal pref man. I PERSONALLY like MLB and would rather have a MLB team than all the other teams combined.
I live in the DC area now and go to far more O's and Nats game than all the other teams for the same reason. Don't care about minor league sports or college sports.
If you like NHL better then by all means, Columbus would be the better choice!!!
In the grand scale of things, KC, Indy and Columbus are not that different. They are very similar in size, culture etc.
But I like KC out of the three and when I'm in Indy or Columbus, I'm more interested in moving on get to Cincy, Cleveland, St Louis, Pittsburgh etc because those cities have things that interest me more.
Again, nothing personal. I like Indy and Columbus, but there are cities of similar size I like a little more. Jeez.
It wouldn't be a KC thread without kcmo spamming us with photo's of KC and telling us how KC is the seat of modern western civilization.
Actually, I tend to rip on KC quite a bit when it's compared to places like Minneapolis or Denver and the KC people jump all over me for it.
I just tell things how they are or how I see them. I find KC to have more going on (or more attractive as a city) than Indy or Columbus, but at the same time, I find Denver and Minneapolis (among many others) to have more going on than KC and more my type of cities.
If you like Indianapolis or Columbus better, that's fine. I respect that.
And I'll keep posting pics because most of the country has no freaking idea what KC is even remotely like.
Columbus offers has NHL and MLS, which is ok, but not as good as KC. Indy has NHL and NBA again, ok, but, I would rather have MLB/NFL.
I don’t like Indiana all that well. I think Indiana is what most people imagine Kansas to be like (flat, barren, brown,etc) while Indiana makes Kansas look pretty nice. Ohio is more like Missouri. I like Indy, I just don’t like its location other than it being closer to Chicago and other metros.
I don't know if you mean NFL, but Indy has NFL, not NHL, and NBA. I personally think that the NFL/NBA is a better combo than MLB/NFL, but that's all up to people's opinions. I'd also like to say that Indiana is easily a better state than Kansas. It is much more dense with a lot more small cities spread around the state. It's also in a much more convenient location to get to places like Chicago or even places on the East Coast. Honestly, what about Kansas is better than Indiana other than you can travel 100 MPH on the highways?
I don't know if you mean NFL, but Indy has NFL, not NHL, and NBA. I personally think that the NFL/NBA is a better combo than MLB/NFL, but that's all up to people's opinions. I'd also like to say that Indiana is easily a better state than Kansas. It is much more dense with a lot more small cities spread around the state. It's also in a much more convenient location to get to places like Chicago or even places on the East Coast. Honestly, what about Kansas is better than Indiana other than you can travel 100 MPH on the highways?
Yea, I meant NFL. You are right. It's a personal pref thing. I like MLB first because I enjoy going to the games, NFL second, but for us, it's just a few weekends a year and typically watched from the living room. Even though I like the NFL more, I would probably say that an NHL team would add more to our quality of life in a specific city. In other words we would go more games etc. We have adopted the Caps out here. I have no opinion on the NBA, but have never been a fan.
As far as Kansas. Trust me, I'm not fan of the state of Kansas. It has almost nothing that even remotely interest me.
I hope you know that Kansas City is primarily in Missouri. I only mentioned Kansas because I find the state's topography far more interesting than its image or stereotypes.
The state has a unique beauty to it. The eastern half of the state is rolling hills and very green with river valleys etc. The Flint Hills are kinda neat. It's that last western 1/3 and really the eastern half of Colorado that deserve the bad rap. I have driven on just about every interstate in the country and Indiana as a state ranks way down there as far as a state I enjoy driving through. Half the traffic is semi trucks and much of state is more like the western third of Kansas and it's probably flatter. It is what it is. But it's not a wide state to get across like many out west.
The best thing about Kansas, and one of the better things about KC, is that Colorado is just on the other side.
You can be in the mountains from KC in a half day of driving yet you can also be in St Louis, Chicago, Minneapolis or Dallas. KC is not that isolated and I miss being so close to Denver (my favorite city) and the Rockies. These people out east don't know what mountains are. So much to do in the CO Mountains year round.
kcmo, nice pictures of downtown KC. A lot of people talk about the density of downtown Indianapolis or lack of it. It's not due to a lack of buildings or space even. 99% of the skyscrapers (Conrad, Simon Towers and New Marriott that opened this year are the exceptions) were built when they still adhered to the strict downtown building codes as it relates to Monument circle and it either being right on the circle or line of sight to the circle. Line of sight has been pretty much ignored but the stringent height restrictions on monument circle they will never bend or break, so what you have in essence are buildings with a lot fewer stories than what is allowed in most other major US cities.
Secondly, the downtown layout is done in quadrants with 4 diagonal streets running into downtown that has always been traditionally smaller warehouse type designs, they haven't strayed from that just to keep up with the look and feel of the quadrant whether it's the wholesale district or the fine arts district. Case in point, Anthems new World Headquarters doesn't go over 3 stories with it being on the outskirts of the wholesale district but as far as downtown buildings go, it's well a compound maybe slightly smaller than Eli Lilly's downtown campus whose height is 7 floors at its highest point.
Lastly, a big chunk of downtown Indianapolis is taken up by a 27,000 student campus in which KC does not have within its downtown borders which lends itself to have more building space for office/retail/high rise housing, etc.
when I'm in Indy or Columbus, I'm more interested in moving on get to Cincy, Cleveland, St Louis, Pittsburgh etc
Backhanded compliments do not strengthen your point; they weaken it.
Do you see how it might be a bit odd if I said "I like Atlanta, and it's a fine city...but whenever I'm there, I just like to catch my flight to get to better, more important cities like New York and Washington?"
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