Huge KCMO/KCK Blunder (Kansas City, St. Louis: closing, live in, moving to)

[rwiksell]

Note: This is not an anti-Kansas post. It's also not an anti-KCK post.

I found this book in the library today, called 50 Cities. So of course, I turned right to the Kansas City page:



Imagine my dismay when I realized that the ENTIRE spread was devoted to Kansas City, KS. The only mention of KCMO is the little tidbit that there are two of them, one in each state.

Apparently author Gabrielle Balkan wasn't paying very close attention when she researched this, and doomed illustrator Sol Linero to spend God only knows how many hours drawing pictures of things almost nobody cares about.

But rather than offend those who truly love the city of KCK or the county of Wyandotte, I'll point out that the real issue here is that the author, in profiling 50 noteworthy American cities, OBVIOUSLY intended to teach young people about the original Kansas City, of nearly half a million residents, or possibly about the entire metro of 2 million, not merely the 150,000 people who live in KCK.

Oops.

[kcmo]

Well, they did do a very comprehensive graphic about KCK, one of the better I have seen of the city. Too bad they didn't do KCMO. It would be kind of odd to see somebody do so much info and research on KCK and not quickly understand that KCMO is the actual primary city.

Interesting that is says in "Key Facts" that the city is named for Kansas City, Missouri as if it was named after a more important place (which it basically was).

[springfieldcollegealum]

Probably most of the people in the U.S. think because of the "Kansas", that Kansas City refers to Kansas City, Kansas. I know at my job, we have worked with an office in Kansas City, MO and I think only myself knows the office is in Kansas City, MO and not Kansas. They refer to the state as Kansas and don't really know/care. I'm the only person who knows or cares. Annoying. It looks like this author prints her own books so obviously she doesn't quite get it and should see the areas she writes about.....

[MarketStEl]

As I live and work among the clueless Easterners, I can attest that the confusion is widespread. I will, however, get an occasional "Kansas or Missouri?" from someone when I tell them where I'm originally from - I always omit the state name after the city, as residents of the area tend to do when referring to the city in Missouri.

When I don't, and the response indicating they think I'm a Kansan strikes me as particularly uninformed, I have an arch reply:

"If I were from Kansas City, Kansas, I would have said so."

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Well, they did do a very comprehensive graphic about KCK, one of the better I have seen of the city.

That's true. This error should be a huge bonus for KCK - I wonder if their city/county leaders or Chamber of Commerce is aware of it. They could license it for use in promoting themselves.

Although I've said that I don't expect anyone outside the area to be impressed by the offerings depicted here, to be honest, it's actually intriguing to me. I learned some things, and am more interested in KCK than I was before.

Still, that doesn't negate the fact that this was a massive research mis-step, which devalues the final product.

P.S. There are some other key oversights. If you look at the list below, of the 50 cities included, you might note the glaring omissions of Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio and Cincinnati. While some of the inclusions here are curious for a list of this nature: Birmingham, Burlington, Cheyenne, Hartford, Little Rock, Newark, Newport, Portland ME, Rapid City, Tucson, Virginia Beach. It's almost like she started off trying to profile one city in every state, but changed her mind partway through.

Anchorage • Atlanta • Austin • Baltimore • Birmingham • Boise • Boston • Burlington • Charleston • Charlotte • Cheyenne • Chicago • Cleveland • Columbus • Denver • Detroit • Hartford • Honolulu • Houston • Indianapolis • Jacksonville • Kansas City • Las Vegas • Little Rock • Los Angeles • Louisville • Memphis • Miami • Milwaukee • Minneapolis-St. Paul • Nashville • New Orleans • New York • Newark • Newport • Oklahoma City • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • Portland, ME • Portland, OR • Rapid City • Salt Lake City • San Francisco • Santa Fe • Seattle • St. Louis • Tucson • Virginia Beach • Washington, D.C.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

That's true. This error should be a huge bonus for KCK - I wonder if their city/county leaders or Chamber of Commerce is aware of it. They could license it for use in promoting themselves.

Although I've said that I don't expect anyone outside the area to be impressed by the offerings depicted here, to be honest, it's actually intriguing to me. I learned some things, and am more interested in KCK than I was before.

Still, that doesn't negate the fact that this was a massive research mis-step, which devalues the final product.

P.S. There are some other key oversights. If you look at the list below, of the 50 cities included, you might note the glaring omissions of Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio and Cincinnati. While some of the inclusions here are curious for a list of this nature: Birmingham, Burlington, Cheyenne, Hartford, Little Rock, Newark, Newport, Portland ME, Rapid City, Tucson, Virginia Beach. It's almost like she started off trying to profile one city in every state, but changed her mind partway through.

Anchorage • Atlanta • Austin • Baltimore • Birmingham • Boise • Boston • Burlington • Charleston • Charlotte • Cheyenne • Chicago • Cleveland • Columbus • Denver • Detroit • Hartford • Honolulu • Houston • Indianapolis • Jacksonville • Kansas City • Las Vegas • Little Rock • Los Angeles • Louisville • Memphis • Miami • Milwaukee • Minneapolis-St. Paul • Nashville • New Orleans • New York • Newark • Newport • Oklahoma City • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • Portland, ME • Portland, OR • Rapid City • Salt Lake City • San Francisco • Santa Fe • Seattle • St. Louis • Tucson • Virginia Beach • Washington, D.C.

That list does seem to have a split personality.

If the goal was to include the largest city in every state, then that explains Portland, Me., but then Delaware (Wilmington), Mississippi (Jackson), Montana (Butte), New Hampshire (Manchester) and North Dakota (Fargo, I believe) are not represented, New Mexico should have Albuquerque in place of Santa Fe, Rhode Island should be represented by Providence instead of Newport, and Columbia should replace Charleston in South Carolina. (I also think Sioux Falls should take Rapid City's place but am not certain.)

Charleston, Newport and Santa Fe, however, are bigger tourist draws in their respective states.

Wait: which Charleston? I'm assuming South Carolina. If so, West Virginia's also missing from this roster. If not, then South Carolina is.

[James Bond 007]

Sometimes I think KCMO should change its name just to avoid the constant confusion. Before I moved here I had no idea how many people were unaware that Kansas City (the main one) is in Missouri rather than Kansas. I thought it was common knowledge. My first inkling came when a co-worker in my last job in the Seattle area mentioned to someone that I was moving to Kansas, which I had to correct him about. Since I have moved here, I can't believe how many times I've had to tell one person or another that I live in Missouri, not Kansas. Even in this very forum I recently had to tell someone here that Kansas City is in Missouri, not Kansas.

[Floorist]

On the politics forum, someone posted that the Harley plant in Kansas was closing.

[springfieldcollegealum]

You all are much better researchers and more knowledgeable than the actual book author. Just sayin....

[James Bond 007]

Originally Posted by Floorist

On the politics forum, someone posted that the Harley plant in Kansas was closing.

Yeah, that's the same one I linked in my post above.