What's Kansas City like? (St. Louis, Richmond: amusement parks, crime rates, neighborhoods)

[HarryFromNY]

Hey guys!

I'm thinking of moving to KCMO for a new job.
What's living there like? And is it a safe place to live? I noticed Kansas City ranks pretty high on crime rates reports, but I don't always trust in the internet and the media... What's Kansas City really like? How safe do you feel in KC overall, including the "bad areas"?


I would appreciate your answers!

[shindig]

I've lived in KC off and on for the last 15 years....lived 4 years in St. Louis. It's a nice city, most of the crime is isolated to certain pockets within the urban core. KC has a metro population of around 2.1 million, so it's a good sized city, with fantastic museums, professional sports teams, great variety in restaurants, and a pretty laid back atmosphere. Downtown has been going thru a huge redevelopment with new housing, arena and entertainment district, and they are currently building a starter trolley that will connect downtown to Crown Center.

I have always felt safe in pretty much any area, but there are definitely some areas I would not want to be in late at night. A lot of the crime is black on black unfortunately and seems to be driven by gang activity.

kcmo has a sticky at the top that has a lot of pictures and things to do and check out while in KC. The metro area is split between Kansas and Missouri, but Kansas City proper is in Missouri. There is also a Kansas City, KS across the river, but it is much smaller and more blue collar. Kansas City, MO has the most attractions and large downtown.

[kcmo]

Where in NY do you live? The City?

Like shindig says, crime in KC is pretty isolated to specific areas. It's not really an issue if you are not involved in gangs, drugs etc. However KC does have more crime than it probably should for its size. It's not as safe as Boston, but not as dangerous as Baltimore. Chances are you will be living downtown, midtown, plaza etc and you will have crimes of opportunity like any urban areas and even some random muggings and homicides. But it's not really something you would need to worry about. Just be city smart and you can avoid most crime in KC.

The bad areas in KC are not that bad. Again, if you are not involved in illegal activities, you can generally avoid crime. Most of KC's bad areas are relatively safe during the day. KC does not have super intimidating areas like Baltimore or Philly does. What KC does have is a lot of blight. While its gentrifying, it's doing so pretty slowly outside of a few pockets of Downtown etc. There are vast massive neighborhoods in KCMO, KCK and some inner ring suburbs where there is wide spread blight and poverty. The amount of blight and poverty is really high in KC, which contributes to the high crime rates.

Other than that, KC is a pretty cool city. It "feels" about the same size as Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati and feels very large compared to places like Buffalo or Richmond. So it's a big urban city, which many don't expect.

At the same time, KC can also feel very empty at times. The city often lacks bustle with very little traffic anywhere (urban streets are literally empty all the time, even during business hours. There is just zero congestion anywhere unless they close off a bunch of streets or something. There are also few areas where there are a lot of people out on sidewalks etc. That doesn't mean kc is dead, it just appears that way sometimes. At least its very easy to get around. You can easily drive anywhere in urban kcmo and never have to worry about traffic or congestion. So KC does seem slow paced on the surface.

Even though the KC area is just over 2 million, it punches way above its weight when it comes to big city culture and attractions. So while KC does lack "bustle" and recreation. The city makes up for it with its museums, theater, sports, amusement parks, zoo, entertainment districts (plaza, westport, crown center, p&L district etc). I have been to every city many times and I can honestly say that very few cities under 3 or 4 million people can match KC when it comes to just having things to do in the city. There really is a lot to do in KC. If they could just catch up on urban recreation (bike trails, parks etc) and develop a dense transit corridor along the streetcar and connect the plaza to downtown, I think the city would a top city in the country to live in despite its location (no mountains, oceans, other big cities nearby etc).

Anyway. Good luck. Chances are you will like living in KC and take advantage of the good things about KC and help improve those things that need improvement.

[TabulaRasa]

Have you visited yet?

[Floorist]

Like most big cities, living in the burbs and working in the city is best. There is a lot to do in the city, but there are several areas to stay out of especially at night. There are a few places I won't even go to in the daytime and I have worked everywhere in the metro area.
If you like sports, there are several major and minor league teams. There are nice clubs, good restaurants, world class museums and good medical facilities.
I miss it, but moved back to my hometown in southern Missouri to be with my grandkids. I still manage to visit KC a few times a year.

[Tenebrae]

Troost was always the street where my mother would turn to the back seat of the car and tell us, "Lock your doors, kids!"
Is that still the case?

-T.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by kcmo

. The city often lacks bustle with very little traffic anywhere (urban streets are literally empty all the time, even during business hours. There is just zero congestion anywhere unless they close off a bunch of streets or something. There are also few areas where there are a lot of people out on sidewalks etc. That doesn't mean kc is dead, it just appears that way sometimes. At least its very easy to get around. You can easily drive anywhere in urban kcmo and never have to worry about traffic or congestion.

You should have been here yesterday...

I don't know what was going on, but there was traffic, congestion, pedestrians, and bustle from the Loop to the Plaza, and everywhere in between, all day long. Crown Center, P&L, Westport and the Plaza were jumping. You would have loved it.

It was fun to see, but is definitely not the norm.

[Floorist]

Originally Posted by Tenebrae

Troost was always the street where my mother would turn to the back seat of the car and tell us, "Lock your doors, kids!"
Is that still the case?

-T.

Not as bad as it once was. Some blocks of it I still wouldn't want to travel after dark.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Floorist

Not as bad as it once was. Some blocks of it I still wouldn't want to travel after dark.

Not AS bad, but certainly not good. KC also gentrifies at a glacial pace compared to other metro areas so the bad areas take eons to turn around in relative terms.

[shindig]

Originally Posted by s.davis

You should have been here yesterday...

I don't know what was going on, but there was traffic, congestion, pedestrians, and bustle from the Loop to the Plaza, and everywhere in between, all day long. Crown Center, P&L, Westport and the Plaza were jumping. You would have loved it.

It was fun to see, but is definitely not the norm.

Yep, I think the relatively mild weather and Xmas right around the corner had a lot of people out. The Plaza was crazy busy, even at 11 am. Also noticed just tons of people downtown, not sure if there was a concert going on or not, but there were cabs lining up all along Grand and Main Street.