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hehehe....oh man, you may have just triggered the ultimate Missouri warfare. I personally think that St. Louis should be crowned king because although KC's downtown may be doing better than our's and has one building a bit taller than the ARch, St. Louis has a lot more business and commerce flowing through it than Kansas City and unlike Kansas City, which is the seat of sizable Jackson County, St. Louis is not the seat of St. Louis County, rather of St. Louis City, which compared to Jackson County is very small. KC's main activity is focused only in its downtown, and its daytime population is smaller than that of St. Louis on the weekdays...St. Louis has more sports teams than Kansas City, has a much larger metro area and has just as much going on in its suburbs in St. Louis County as it does in its downtown, Midtown, and Central west End..KC does have not anything like St. Louis' Midtown or the Central West End. On the other hand, Kansas City has great barbecue, and IMO has a much richer culture than St. Louis in some ways..its blues, jazz, etc. are impressive. Both cities are fueled by river commerce. these two Midwestern cities essentially are the same thing to Missouri like Chicago is to Illinois. I would vote St. Louis.
Never been to either one, hopefully I'll check out both some day, but for some reason I am more curious about Kansas City than St. Louis-- even considering KC as an option to look at for relocation. Maybe because KC is closer to Denver, so I've heard more about it? Also, from what I've heard about crime in St Louis, it doesn't sound very appetizing.
How does the climate, vegetation, and topography compare between the two cities?
Yes, this is one that Missourians haggle over constantly. I've lived in St Louis and spent much time in KC, so I feel qualified to give an answer. The answer ultimately all depends on what you want and what your preferences are.
First of all, just for the sake of balance to offset the above pro-St Louis post...
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KC's main activity is focused only in its downtown
Kansas City has more jobs in the city than what lies downtown. There is a large business/office complex near the airport, north of the river, which lies within the city limits of KC. And there are many places of employment in the midtown area and in the Country Club Plaza area, as well as some office complexes along I-435 in south KC.
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St. Louis has more sports teams than Kansas City
They each have 3.
St Louis has a football, baseball, and hockey team
KC has a football, baseball, and a soccer team
Depends on if you like soccer or hockey better, I guess.
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has a much larger metro area
Yes, St Louis has 2.8 million in its metro area, and KC is nearly 2 million. KC's is growing faster, however.
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...has just as much going on in its suburbs in St. Louis County
KC has little to compare to the old world charm of suburbs like Clayton, Webster Groves, and Kirkwood. Independence (around downtown) and Parkville come closest. St Louis is older, the suburbs are older, while KC is newer, the suburbs much newer.
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KC does have not anything like St. Louis' Midtown or the Central West End
KC has a mid-town of its own, with the Crown Center, Union Station, a community college and large park, and many offices and retail.
And the Westport/Country Club Plaza area of KC is certainly at least comparable to the CWE in the 'Lou. In fact, I'd argue that St Louis has nothing like the Country Club Plaza area. That area is much nicer and cleaner and well-kept up than the CWE is, and has more shopping. Westport in KC is where you go for cool shops and nightlife. And there are high-rise apartments, beautiful mansions and houses, and other examples of urban living all around those areas, just like the CWE in St Louis.
Kansas City is often called the "eastern-most Western city" and St Louis the "western-most eastern city" and I think that description is apt. St Louis is older, has more history, was once the third largest city in the country back in the late 1800's, and was once so world-reknown that they hosted the 1904Worlds Fair there. But the city peaked a long time ago and due to sprawl, crime, white flight, traffic, and bad geography the area is at best stagnant. The inner core is rotting (and that includes St Louis county) because many people keep moving out to St Charles county. As long as they stupidly keep building more highways over the Missouri River into the sprawling McMansion filled St Charles county, with all of its redundant franchise establishments and big box stores, that trend will continue. St Louis and its older suburbs has many areas of beautiful brick housing. Some are in areas that are in decline, some are not. All are worth preserving. And north St Louis, anywhere north of Delmar Blvd - roughly 35-40% of the city - is a place to avoid. Crime, slums and poverty are the rule there. And there are also areas on the south side to stay away from.
Kansas City proper is larger in size, both in area and in population. It is sprawled out over 3 counties and contains over 300 square miles. Because of this, much of KC proper is suburban in nature, and there is still a lot of open space within the city limits. St Louis is a walled-in city surrounded by suburbs, and contains roughly 65 square miles. Kansas City has its poor and crime-ridden areas too. Mainly east and southeast of downtown, along Highway 71. But much of the city (especially west of Troost Ave and north of the river) is attractive and not crime-ridden.
Kansas City has an extensive network of highways and therefore does not have the traffic problems that other large metro areas have. St Louis's traffic is much worse, compounded by the fact that they always seem to be having road construction on its main freeways. And further compounded by two large rivers running through the metro area. The traffic going into St Louis county from St Charles county in the mornings, and vice-versa in the evenings, is notorously bad. So is Highway 40 going to and from the city.
St Louis has more of a nightlife scene than KC does. Its bars stay open later, and there are more of them. Most of KCs night life is centered in the Westport/CCP area and in downtown, whereas St Louis has bars/nightlife scattered all over the city. And KC nas nothing to compare to St Louis's Soulard area, an area of preserved 19th century housing south of downtown with seemingly a bar/restaurant on every corner. It is the home of the second largest Mardi Gras celebration each year and many single professionals live in that area.
I guess in a nutshell, if you are single, then St Louis is probably a better place to live. There is a general party atmosphere and much fun can be had in the city at all hours of the night. KC seems to close down earlier and I think its a better place for families. But as far as cleanliness, aethetics, and future outlook, I'll take KC. It seems more high-tech as a city than St Louis does, while St Louis is older and grittier. I think overall that St Louis has more to do, whereas KC is more liveable. Just depends on what you want.
How does the climate, vegetation, and topography compare between the two cities?
Similar climates. KC is just a bit colder than St Louis, and maybe a bit less hot and humid in the summer, but other than that they are very similar.
St Louis is hillier and has more trees than KC does, but also has more flood plains. The Illinois side of the St Louis metro area is very flat and is largely in a flood plain at least till you get about 5 or more miles into the state.
Kansas City= a generally faster growing economy than the STL metro for the most part. They are currently revitalizing downtown with the Power and Light District. Nightlife is still concentrated in the Country Club Plaza which is better than ever, and the Westport area. In terms of Kansas City, MO the city sprawls out severely with over 350 square miles. It is just like any other sunbelt city in the fact that whenever it wants to grow it just annexes even more rural land in order to add it to the "northland" area. The KC metro went on a huge highway building spree in the 1960s and now I-435 on the southside has large amounts of construction. Another problem is that many of the neighborhoods were built prior to the beltway highway (I-435) that goes around the city. Therefore, now you see ugly sound barriers near many of the highways in some areas of the city and they are building more of them like crazy as they update the overall highway infrastructure. As you go further out away from the city in Johnson County Kansas the number of trees and overall quality of many of the homes start to go down. This is the cookie cutter land of Olathe/Gardner on the SW edge of the KC metro area. Poorly constructed homes built in corn fields with few trees appeal to many who have moved here from the central Great Plains and ultra conservative people.
The highly desirable areas of the KC metro are areas south of the Country Club Plaza, Leawood KS, Mission Hills KS, areas of Overland Park, and portions of Platte County Missouri.
Overall, the KC metro area is a fairly desirable place to live for the most part. However, it is not the best place to live for single people compared with STL.
The advantages of being in the central part of the country mean that getting to other cities takes less time for the most part. The disadvantage is that KC wants to take too much advantage of the central location by putting intermodal hubs everywhere around the outskirts of the city. Their have been rumors that the Kansas City port authority has connections with the NAFTA Superhighway and is controlled by Mexico.
The KC metro area is getting a lot more diversity over time even compared with the 1970s. In the 1970s Johnson County Kansas on the SW side of the metro area was over 97% white. Now, it is a little more diverse at about 85% white, 6% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 4% Black.
Saint Louis= I have not spent that much time in the STL metro area, but I could tell that it was much older overall than the KC metro. The suburban neighborhoods in many areas of the city also appeared much older with many large trees and neat brick homes. The population density of much of the STL metro also appears higher than most areas of the KC metro although their is still a lot of sprawl. Economically, STL has not done quite as well as KC has the past few years but many of the suburban areas on the fringe appeared to be booming. Overall, STL seemed to be a MUCH MORE eastern flavored big city compared with KC. The KC metro is just like an overgrown cow town on the Great Plains. The only diffrerence is that the KC metro tends to have greater amounts of job growth and in-migration of people from other parts of the country compared with the STL metro. The suburban counties of the STL metro are much less diverse than some of the suburban counties of the KC metro area.
Overall, I think that KC wins by a little. (My Opinion)
Disclaimer: However, I am moving to NH!
Never been to either one, hopefully I'll check out both some day, but for some reason I am more curious about Kansas City than St. Louis-- even considering KC as an option to look at for relocation. Maybe because KC is closer to Denver, so I've heard more about it? Also, from what I've heard about crime in St Louis, it doesn't sound very appetizing.
How does the climate, vegetation, and topography compare between the two cities?
Here we go again...DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU READ ABOUT CRIME. St. Louis' only crime problems are in North City, and East St. Louis, Illinois. In St. Louis County there is hardly any crime. The St. Louis suburbs are some of the safest I've ever known. Unless you are interested in living in East St. Louis or North City, where the ghettos are, and both of these are tiny specks in the metro, crime should not be used to decide which city wins. St. Louis I would imagine as a whole metro is as safe as KC.
Similar climates. KC is just a bit colder than St Louis, and maybe a bit less hot and humid in the summer, but other than that they are very similar.
St Louis is hillier and has more trees than KC does, but also has more flood plains. The Illinois side of the St Louis metro area is very flat and is largely in a flood plain at least till you get about 5 or more miles into the state.
From what I've gathered, KC is no colder than St. Louis normally...this winter I noticed St. Louis being colder than KC most of the time...both have the same temperatures normally and usually get very similar amounts of snow. Their climates are too close to say which gets colder or hotter....in my book they are identical. Comparing their climates is the same as comparing Indianapolis to Columbus...they are so similar they might as well be considered the same...I'd never use the climate to say whether KC or STL is better....too close on that one. In fact I've noticed KC is often hotter than St. Louis during the summer, and vice-versa.
Similar climates. KC is just a bit colder than St Louis, and maybe a bit less hot and humid in the summer, but other than that they are very similar.
St Louis is hillier and has more trees than KC does, but also has more flood plains. The Illinois side of the St Louis metro area is very flat and is largely in a flood plain at least till you get about 5 or more miles into the state.
The temperature observations at the KCI airport should be invalid. The reasons: the temperatures were recorded there 20-30 years ago when the area was completely rural with no industry and few people present. Now, the KCI airport area is becoming increasingly urbanized and their are coal power plants in Platte County which produce mammoth amounts of CO2 and contribute to the urban heat island effect nearby along with global effects. The Kansas City metro climate is slightly cooler than the Saint Louis metro area because the KC metro area is closer to the central Great Plains, which is prone to having severe cold air outbreaks (especially in the past).
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