Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri and Kansas rivers. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; soon afterwards, a region designated as theKansas Territory was established. Confusion between the city and the territory of Kansas ensued, so the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish the city from the territory. Sited on Missouri's western border with Kansas and withdowntown near the rivers' confluence, Kansas City, Missouri encompasses about 319.03 square miles (826.3 km2), making it the25th-largest city by total area in the United States. It is one of Jackson County's two seats along with the majorsatellite city ofIndependence; and Kansas City's other major Missouri suburbs includeBlue Springs,Lee's Summit,Raytown, andLiberty. Kansas City Missouri's major Kansas suburbs includeOverland Park,Olathe,Lenexa, andKansas City, Kansas.
The town ofKansas, Missouri, was incorporated on June 1, 1850, reincorporated and renamed City of Kansas on March 28, 1853, and renamed Kansas City in 1889. Thearea straddles the border between Missouri and Kansas at theconfluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, and was considered a good place to settle.
In past centuries, the area's tribal inhabitants include theHopewell tradition,Mississippian culture,Kansa,Osage,Otoe, andMissouri.[14] The first documented European visitor to the eventual site of Kansas City wasÉtienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, who was also the first European to explore the lower Missouri River. Criticized for his response to theNative American attack onFort Détroit, he had deserted his post as fort commander and was avoiding French authorities. Bourgmont lived with a Native American wife in a village about 90 miles (140 km) east nearBrunswick, Missouri, where he illegally tradedfurs.
To clear his name, he wroteExact Description of Louisiana, of Its Harbors, Lands and Rivers, and Names of the Indian Tribes That Occupy It, and the Commerce and Advantages to Be Derived Therefrom for the Establishment of a Colony in 1713 andThe Route to Be Taken to Ascend the Missouri River in 1714. In the documents, he describes the junction of the "Grande Riv[ière] des Cansez" and Missouri River, as the first adoption of those names. French cartographerGuillaume Delisle used the descriptions to make the area's first reasonably accurate map.
TheSpanish took over the region in theTreaty of Paris in 1763, but were not to play a major role other than taxing and licensing Missouri River ship traffic. The French continued theirfur trade under Spanish license. TheChouteau family operated under Spanish license atSt. Louis, in the lowerMissouri Valley as early as 1765 and in 1821 the Chouteaus reached Kansas City, whereFrançois Chouteau established Chouteau's Landing.
In 1843, Kansas City was depicted in a history ofOregon.
After the 1803Louisiana Purchase,Lewis and Clark visited the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, noting it was a good place to build a fort. In 1831, a group ofMormons fromNew York state led byJoseph Smith settled in the area. They built the first school within what became Kansas City, but were forced out bymob violence in 1833.[15]
In 1831, Gabriel Prudhomme Sr., a Canadian trapper and partner ofFrançois Chouteau, purchased 257 acres (104 ha) fronting the Missouri River. He established a home for his wife, Josephine, and six children. He operated a ferry on the river.[citation needed]
In 1833,John McCoy, son ofBaptistmissionaryIsaac McCoy and brother-in-law ofJohnston Lykins, establishedWest Port along theSanta Fe Trail, 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the river. In 1834, McCoy established Westport Landing on a bend in the Missouri to serve as a landing point for West Port, with Lykins as the first postmaster. He found it more convenient to have his goods offloaded at the Prudhomme landing next to Chouteau's landing than in Independence. Several years after Gabriel Prudhomme's death, a group of fourteen investors purchased his land at auction on November 14, 1838. By 1839, the investors divided the property and the first lots were sold in 1846 after legal complications were settled. The remaining lots were sold by February 1850.[citation needed]
On February 22, 1853, Kansas was reincorporated and renamed the City of Kansas with its first elected mayor,William Samuel Gregory. Due to a legal discovery of living outside city boundaries, he was soon succeeded by Johnston Lykins as the second (but first legally elected) mayor.[17][18] The city had an area of 0.70 square miles (1.8 km2) and a population of 2,500. The boundary lines extended from the middle of the Missouri River south to what is now Ninth Street, and from Bluff Street on the west to a point between Holmes Road and Charlotte Street on the east.[19]
During theCivil War, the city and its immediate surroundings were the focus of intense military activity. Although theFirst Battle of Independence in August 1862 resulted in aConfederate States Army victory, the Confederates were unable to leverage their win in any significant fashion, as Kansas City was occupied by Union troops and proved too heavily fortified to assault. TheSecond Battle of Independence, which occurred on October 21–22, 1864, as part ofSterling Price'sMissouri expedition of 1864, also resulted in a Confederate triumph. Once again their victory proved hollow, as Price was decisively defeated in the pivotalBattle of Westport the next day, effectively ending Confederate efforts to regain Missouri.
GeneralThomas Ewing, in response to a successful raid on nearbyLawrence, Kansas, led byWilliam Quantrill, issuedGeneral Order No. 11, forcing the eviction of residents in four western Missouri counties – including Jackson – except those living in the city and nearby communities and those whose allegiance to the Union was certified by Ewing.
After the Civil War, Kansas City grew rapidly. The selection of the city overLeavenworth, Kansas, for theHannibal and St. Joseph Railroad bridge over theMissouri River brought significant growth. The population exploding after 1869, when Hannibal Bridge, designed byOctave Chanute, opened. The boom prompted a name change to Kansas City in 1889, and the city limits to be extended south and east. Westport became part of Kansas City on December 2, 1897. In 1900, Kansas City was the 22nd largest city in the country, with a population of 163,752 residents.[20]
The Kansas City streetcar system once had hundreds of miles of streetcars running through the city and was one of the largest systems in the country.[22] In 1903 the 8th Street Tunnel was built as an underground streetcar system through the city. The last run of the streetcar was on June 23, 1957, but the tunnel still exists.[23]
At the start of the 20th century,political machines gained clout in the city, with the one led byTom Pendergast dominating the city by 1925. Several important buildings and structures were built during this time, including theKansas City City Hall and the Jackson County Courthouse. During this time, he aided one of his nephew's friends,Harry S. Truman, in a political career. Truman eventually became a senator, then vice president, thenpresident.[24] The machine fell in 1939 when Pendergast, riddled with health problems, pleaded guilty to tax evasion after long federal investigations. His biographers have summed up his uniqueness:
Pendergast may bear comparison to various big-city bosses, but his open alliance with hardened criminals, his cynical subversion of the democratic process, his monarchistic style of living, his increasingly insatiable gambling habit, his grasping for a business empire, and his promotion of Kansas City as a wide-open town with every kind of vice imaginable, combined with his professed compassion for the poor and very real role as city builder, made him bigger than life, difficult to characterize.[25]
Troost Avenue was once the eastern edge of Kansas City, Missouri and a residential corridor nicknamed Millionaire Row. It is now widely seen as one of the city's most prominent racial and economic dividing lines due to urban decay, which was caused bywhite flight.[26][27] During the civil rights era the city blocked people of color from moving to homes west of Troost Avenue, causing the areas east of Troost to have one of the worst murder rates in the country. This led to the dominating economic success of neighboringJohnson County.[28]
In 1950, African Americans represented 12.2% of Kansas City's population.[20] The city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites,[29] declined from 89.5% in 1930 to 54.9% in 2010.[20]
In 1940, the city had about 400,000 residents; by 2000, it had about 440,000. From 1940 to 1960, the city more than doubled its physical size, while increasing its population by only about 75,000. By 1970, the city covered approximately 316 square miles (820 km2), more than five times its size in 1940.[citation needed] Aggressively annexing the surrounding suburbs and undeveloped land spared Kansas City from the severe population loss suffered by cities like St. Louis and Detroit, similar cities which both lost over 50% of their population in the postwar era. In the most neglected neighborhoods, however, the same pattern of abandonment occurred and left behind massive numbers of vacant lots and abandoned homes, especially in the areas east of Troost.
TheHyatt Regency walkway collapse was a major disaster that occurred on July 17, 1981, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200 others during atea dance in the 45-storyHyatt Regency hotel inCrown Center. It is the deadliest structural collapse in US history other than theSeptember 11 attacks.[30] In 2015 a memorial called the Skywalk Memorial Plaza was built for the families of the victims of the disaster, across the street from the hotel which is now a Sheraton.[31]
In the 21st century, the Kansas City area has undergone extensive redevelopment, with more than $6 billion in improvements to the downtown area on the Missouri side. One of the main goals is to attract convention and tourist dollars, office workers, and residents to downtown KCMO. Among the projects include the redevelopment of thePower & Light District into a retail and entertainment district; and the Sprint Center, an 18,500-seat arena that opened in 2007, funded by a 2004 ballot initiative involving a tax on car rentals and hotels, designed to meet the stadium specifications for a possible future NBA or NHL franchise,[32] and was renamedT-Mobile Center in 2020; Kemper Arena, which was functionally superseded by Sprint Center, fell into disrepair and was sold to private developers. By 2018, the arena was being converted to a sports complex under the nameHy-Vee Arena.[33] The Kauffman Performing Arts Center opened in 2011 providing a new, modern home to the KC Orchestra and Ballet. In 2015, an 800-room Hyatt Convention Center Hotel was announced for a site next to the Performance Arts Center & Bartle Hall. Construction was scheduled to start in early 2018 with Loews as the operator.[34]
From 2007 to 2017, downtown residential population in Kansas City quadrupled and continues to grow. The area has grown from almost 4,000 residents in the early 2000s to nearly 30,000 as of 2017[update]. Kansas City's downtown ranks as the sixth-fastest-growing downtown in America with the population expected to grow by more than 40% by 2022. Conversions of office buildings such as the Power & Light Building and the Commerce Bank Tower into residential and hotel space has helped to fulfill the demand. New apartment complexes like One, Two, and Three Lights, River Market West, and 503 Main have begun to reshape Kansas City's skyline. Strong demand has led to occupancy rates in the upper 90%.[35]
The residential population of downtown has boomed, and the office population has dropped significantly from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s. Top employers like AMC moved their operations to modern office buildings in the suburbs. High office vacancy plagued downtown, leading to the neglect of many office buildings. By the mid-2010s, many office buildings were converted to residential uses and the Class A vacancy rate plunged to 12% in 2017. Swiss Re, Virgin Mobile, AutoAlert, and others have begun to move operations to downtown Kansas City from the suburbs and expensive coastal cities.[36][37]
The area has seen additional development through various transportation projects, including improvements to theGrandview Triangle, which intersects Interstates 435 and 470, andU.S. Route 71.
In July 2005, theKansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) launched Kansas City's firstbus rapid transit line, theMetro Area Express (MAX), which links the River Market, downtown, Union Station, Crown Center and the Country Club Plaza. The KCATA continues to expand MAX with additional routes on Prospect Avenue, Troost Avenue, and Independence Avenue.[38]
In 2013, construction began on a two-milestreetcar line in downtown Kansas City (funded by a $102 million ballot initiative that was passed in 2012) that runs between the River Market and Union Station, it began operation in May 2016. In 2017, voters approved the formation of a TDD to expand the streetcar line south 3.5 miles from Union Station to UMKC's Volker Campus. Additionally in 2017, the KC Port Authority began engineering studies for a Port Authority funded streetcar expansion north to Berkley Riverfront Park. Citywide, voter support for rail projects continues to grow with numerous light rail projects in the works.[39][40]
In 2016, Jackson County, Missouri, acquired unused rail lines as part of a long-term commuter rail plan. For the time being, the line is being converted to a trail while county officials negotiate with railroads for access to tracks in downtown Kansas City.
On November 7, 2017, Kansas City voters overwhelmingly approved a new single terminal atKansas City International Airport by a 75% to 25% margin. The new single terminal replaced the three existing "Clover Leafs" at KCI Airport on February 28, 2023.
The Kansas City metropolitan area was photographed by theSentinel-2 satellite in July 2022.
The city has an area of 319.03 square miles (826.28 km2), of which, 314.95 square miles (815.72 km2) is land and 4.08 square miles (10.57 km2) is water.[41] Bluffs overlook the rivers and river bottom areas. Kansas City proper is bowl-shaped and is surrounded to the north and south byglacier-carvedlimestone andbedrock cliffs. Kansas City is at the confluence between the Dakota and Minnesota ice lobes during the maximum late Independence glaciation of thePleistoceneepoch. The Kansas and Missouri rivers cut wide valleys into the terrain when the glaciers melted and drained. A partially filled spillway valley crosses the central city. This valley is an eastward continuation of the Turkey Creek Valley. It is the closest major city to the geographic center of the contiguous United States, or "Lower 48".
Kansas City hosts more than 200 working fountains, especially on the Country Club Plaza. Designs range from French-inspired traditional to modern. Highlights include the Black Marble H&R Block fountain in front of Union Station, which features synchronized water jets; the Nichols Bronze Horses at the corner of Main and J.C. Nichols Parkway at the entrance to the Plaza Shopping District; and the fountain atHallmark Cards World Headquarters inCrown Center.
TheTown of Kansas Bridge connects pedestrian traffic from the Riverfront Heritage Trail (starting at Berkley Riverfront Park) to River Market.
Since its inception in 1857,City Market has been one of the largest and most enduring public farmers' markets in the American Midwest, linking growers and small businesses to the community. More than 30 full-time merchants operate year-round and offer specialty foods, fresh meats and seafood, restaurants and cafes, floral, and home accessories.[43] The City Market has theArabia Steamboat Museum, which houses artifacts from a steamboat that sank near Kansas City in 1856.[43]
Downtown Kansas City is 2.9 square miles (7.5 km2) bounded by the Missouri River to the north, 31st Street to the south,Troost Avenue to the east, and State Line Road to the west. Areas near Downtown Kansas City include the39th Street District, which is known as Restaurant Row,[44] and features one of Kansas City's largest selections of independently owned restaurants and boutique shops. It is a center of literary and visual arts, andbohemian culture.Crown Center is the headquarters ofHallmark Cards and a major downtown shopping and entertainment complex. It is connected to Union Station by a series of covered walkways. TheCountry Club Plaza, or "the Plaza", is an upscale, outdoor shopping, and entertainment district. It is the first suburban shopping district in the United States,[45] designed to accommodate shoppers arriving by automobile,[46] and is surrounded by apartments and condominiums, including several high rise buildings. The associatedCountry Club District to the south includes the Sunset Hill andBrookside neighborhoods, and is traversed byWard Parkway, a landscaped boulevard known for its statuary, fountains, and large, historic homes.Union Station is home toScience City, restaurants, shopping, theaters, and the city'sAmtrak facility.
The city's tallest buildings and characteristic skyline are roughly contained inside thedowntown freeway loop, shaded in red. Downtown Kansas City itself is established by cityordinance to stretch from the Missouri River south to 31st Street (beyond the bottom of this map), and from State Line Rd. to Troost Ave.
After years of neglect and seas of parking lots, Downtown Kansas City is undergoing a period of change with over $6 billion in development since 2000. Many residential properties recently have been or are under redevelopment in three surrounding warehouse loft districts and the Central Business District. ThePower & Light District, a new, nine-block entertainment district comprising numerous restaurants, bars, and retail shops, was developed by theCordish Company ofBaltimore, Maryland. Its first tenant opened on November 9, 2007. It is anchored by theT-Mobile Center, a 19,000-seat sports and entertainment complex.[47]
Kansas City is in theMidwestern United States, near the geographic center of the country, at the confluence of theMissouri andKansas rivers. The city lies in either thehumid continental zone when using the 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm, or in thehumid subtropical zone when using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm.[48] The city experiences roughly 104 air frosts on average per annum.[49][unreliable source?] The city is part of USDA planthardiness zones 5b and 6a.[50] In the center of North America, far removed from a significant body of water, there is significant potential for extreme hot and cold swings throughout the year. The warmest month is July, with a 24-hour average temperature of 81.0 °F (27.2 °C). The summer months are hot and humid, with moist air riding up from theGulf of Mexico, and high temperatures surpass 100 °F (38 °C) on 5.6 days of the year, and 90 °F (32 °C) on 47 days.[51][52] The coldest month of the year is January, with an average temperature of 31.0 °F (−0.6 °C). Winters are cold, with 22 days where the high temperature is at or below 32 °F (0 °C) and 2.5 nights with a low at or below 0 °F (−18 °C).[51] The official record highest temperature is 113 °F (45 °C), set on August 14, 1936, at Downtown Airport, while the official record lowest is −23 °F (−31 °C), set on December 22 and 23, 1989.[51] Normal seasonal snowfall is 13.4 inches (34 cm) at Downtown Airport and 18.8 in (48 cm) at Kansas City International Airport. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 31 to April 4, while for measurable (0.1 in or 0.25 cm) snowfall, it is November 27 to March 16 as measured at Kansas City International Airport.[51] Precipitation, both in frequency and total accumulation, shows a marked uptick in late spring and summer.
Kansas City is located inTornado Alley, a broad region where cold air from Canada collides with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms, especially during the spring. The Kansas City metropolitan area has experienced several significant outbreaks oftornadoes in the past, including theRuskin Heights tornado in 1957[53] and theMay 2003 tornado outbreak sequence. The region can also experienceice storms during the winter, such as the2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands of residents lost power for days or weeks.[54] Kansas City and its outlying areas are also subject to flooding, including the Great Floods of1844,1951, and1993.
Climate data for Kansas City, Missouri (Downtown Airport), 1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1934–present)
Map of racial distribution in Kansas City, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people:⬤ White⬤ Black⬤ Asian⬤ Hispanic⬤ Other
The Latino/Hispanic population of Kansas City, which is heavily Mexican andCentral American, is spread throughout the metropolitan area, with some concentration in the northeast part of the city and southwest of downtown. The Asian population, mostly Southeast Asian, is partly concentrated within the northeast side to the Columbus Park neighborhood in the Greater Downtown area, a historicallyItalian American neighborhood, the UMKC area and in River Market, in northern Kansas City.[61][62][63]
The Historic Kansas City boundary is roughly 58 square miles (150 km2) and has a population density of about 5,000 inhabitants per square mile (1,900/km2). It runs from the Missouri River to the north, 79th Street to the south, the Blue River to the east, and State Line Road to the west. During the 1960s and 1970s, Kansas City annexed large amounts of land, which are largely undeveloped.
Between the 2000 and 2010 census counts, the urban core of Kansas City continued to drop significantly in population. The areas of Greater Downtown in the center city, and sections near I-435 and I-470 in the south, and Highway 152 in the north are the only areas of Kansas City, Missouri, to have an increase in population, with the Northland population growing the most.[64] Even so, the population of Kansas City as a whole from 2000 to 2010 increased by 4.1%.
In February 2022, the city had an estimated 3,000homeless people.[66][67]
Kansas City, Missouri – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
The racial makeup (including Hispanics in the racial counts) was 55.30% (280,985) White alone, 26.10% (132,617) Black alone, 0.63% (3,221) Native American alone, 3.14% (15,966) Asian alone, 0.30% (1,501) Pacific Islander alone, 5.52% (28,063) other race alone, and 9.00% (45,737)Multiracial or Mixed Race.[71]
The racial and ethnic makeup (where Hispanics are excluded from the racial counts and placed in their own category) was 52.80% (268,273)White alone (non-Hispanic), 25.78% (130,983) Black alone (non-Hispanic), 0.36% (1,854)Native Americans alone (non-Hispanic), 3.11% (15,793) Asian alone (non-Hispanic), 0.29% (1,456) Pacific Islander alone (non-Hispanic), 0.47% (2,366) other race alone (non-Hispanic), 5.20% (26,396)Multiracial or Mixed Race (non-Hispanic), and 12.00% (60,969)Hispanic or Latino.[70]
The federal government is the largest employer in the Kansas City metro area, with more than 146 agencies. Kansas City is one of ten regional office cities for the US government.[72] TheInternal Revenue Service maintains a large service center in Kansas City that occupies nearly 1.4 million square feet (130,000 m2).[73] It is one of only two sites to process paper returns.[74] The IRS has approximately 2,700 full-time employees in Kansas City, growing to 4,000 duringtax season. TheGeneral Services Administration has more than 800 employees. Most are at theBannister Federal Complex in South Kansas City. The Bannister Complex housed theKansas City Plant, which is aNational Nuclear Security Administration facility operated byHoneywell. The Kansas City Plant has since been moved to a new location on Botts Road.Honeywell employs nearly 2,700 at the Kansas City Plant, which produces and assembles 85% of the non-nuclear components of the United Statesnuclear bomb arsenal.[75] TheSocial Security Administration has more than 1,700 employees in the metro, with more than 1,200 at its downtown Mid-America Program Service Center (MAMPSC).[76]
H&R Block's oblong headquarters is in downtown Kansas City.
The Kansas CityFederal Reserve Bank opened a new building in 2008 near Union Station. Missouri is the only state to have two of the 12Federal Reserve Bank headquarters, with the second in St. Louis. Kansas City's effort to get the bank was helped by former mayorJames A. Reed, who as senator, broke a tie to pass theFederal Reserve Act.[79]
With aGross Metropolitan Product of $41.68 billion in 2004, Kansas City's (Missouri side only) economy makes up 20.5% of Missouri'sgross state product.[80] In 2014, Kansas City was ranked #6 for real estate investment.[81]
Three international law firms, Lathrop & Gage, Stinson Leonard Street, andShook, Hardy & Bacon are based in the city.
In 2022, the city had an estimated 3,000homeless people,[66] addressed by the Zero KC initiative.[67]
According to the city's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2024,[83] the top ten principal employers are as follows:
Kansas City, Missouri is abbreviated as KCMO and themetropolitan area as KC. Residents are Kansas Citians. It is officially nicknamed theCity of Fountains.[84] The fountains atKauffman Stadium, commissioned by originalKansas City Royals owner Ewing Kauffman, are the largest privately funded fountains in the world.[85] In 2018,UNESCO designated Kansas City its first and onlyCity of Music in the US, in "recognition of [Kansas City's] investment and commitment to music, arts, and creativity as a driver of urban economic development".[86] The city has moreboulevards than any other city exceptParis and has been calledParis of thePlains. Soccer's popularity, andChildren's Mercy Park's popularity as a home stadium for theU.S. Men's National Team, led to the appellation Soccer Capital of America. The city is called the Heart of America, in proximity to thepopulation center of the United States and thegeographic center of the 48 contiguous states.
Theater troupes in the 1870s toured the state, performing in cities or small towns forming along the railroad lines. Rail transport had enhanced the theater troupe tour market, by allowing full costumes, props, and sets. As theater grew in popularity after the mid-1880s, that number increased and by 1912, ten new theaters had been built in Kansas City. By the 1920s, Kansas City was the center of thevaudevillianOrpheum circuit.[87]
TheKansas City Repertory Theatre is the metro's top professional theatre company.[88] TheStarlight Theatre is an 8,105-seat outdoor theatre designed byEdward Delk.[89] TheKansas City Symphony was founded byR. Crosby Kemper Jr. in 1982 to replace the defunct Kansas City Philharmonic, which was founded in 1933.[90] The symphony performs at theKauffman Center for the Performing Arts.Matthias Pintscher is the symphony's music director and lead conductor. Lyric Opera of Kansas City, founded in 1958, performs at the Kauffman Center, offers one American contemporary opera production during its season, consisting of either four or five productions. The Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City performs at the downtownFolly Theater and at the UMKC Performing Arts Center. Every summer from mid-June to early July, The Heart of America Shakespeare Festival performs at Southmoreland Park near theNelson-Atkins Museum; the festival was founded by Marilyn Strauss in 1993.
TheKansas City Ballet, founded in 1957 by Tatiana Dokoudovska, is a ballet troupe comprising 25 professional dancers and apprentices. Between 1986 and 2000, it combined with Dance St. Louis to form the State Ballet of Missouri, although it remained in Kansas City. From 1980 to 1995, the Ballet was run by dancer and choreographerTodd Bolender. The Ballet offers an annual repertory split into three seasons, performing classical to contemporary ballets.[91] The Ballet also performs at the Kauffman Center. TheKansas City Chorale is a professional 24-voice chorus with an annual concert series and a concert inPhoenix each year with sister choir the Phoenix Chorale. The Chorale has made several recordings, including with the Phoenix Chorale.
Kansas City jazz in the 1930s marked the transition from big bands to the bebop influence of the 1940s. The 1979 documentaryThe Last of the Blue Devils portrays this era in interviews and performances by local jazz notables. In the 1970s, Kansas City attempted to resurrect the glory of the jazz era in a family-friendly atmosphere. In the 1970s, an effort to open jazz clubs in the River Quay area of City Market along the Missouri ended in agang war. Three of the new clubs were blown up in what ultimately ended Kansas City mob influence inLas Vegas casinos. The annual Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival attracts top jazz stars and large tourist audiences. In 2007 it was rated Kansas City's "best festival" byThe Pitch.[92]
In 2018,UNESCO named Kansas City a City of Music, as the only one in the United States. The designation is based on the city's rich musical heritage, and its$7 million budget for improving the18th and Vine Jazz District in 2016.[86]
In 2021, the US Census Bureau estimated 253,040 people of Irish descent in the metro, with 123,934 in Jackson, Clay, and Platte Counties.[93] The Irish were the first large immigrant group to settle in Kansas City following the lead ofFr. Bernard Donnelly (c. 1800–1880) and founded its first newspaper.[94] The Irish community includes bands, dancers, Irish stores, newspapers, and theKansas City Irish Center at Drexel Hall in Midtown. The first book detailing Irish history in Kansas City isMissouri Irish: Irish Settlers on the American Frontier, published in 1984. The Kansas City Irish Fest is held over Labor Day weekend in Crown Center and Washington Park.[95][96]
The Kansas City Strip cut of steak is similar to the New York Strip cut, and is sometimes referred to just as astrip steak. Along withTexas,Memphis,North Carolina, andSouth Carolina, Kansas City is lauded as a "world capital of barbecue". More than 90 barbecue restaurants[100] operate in the metropolitan area.[101][102] TheAmerican Royal each fall hosts what it claims is the world's biggest barbecue contest.
Classic Kansas City-style barbecue was an inner-city phenomenon that evolved from the pit ofHenry Perry, a migrant fromMemphis who is generally credited with opening the city's first barbecue stand in 1921, and blossomed in the18th and Vine neighborhood.Arthur Bryant's took over the Perry restaurant and addedsugar to his sauce to sweeten the recipe a bit. In 1946 one of Perry's cooks, George W. Gates, opened Gates Bar-B-Q, laterGates and Sons Bar-B-Q when his son Ollie joined the family business. Bryant's and Gates are the two definitive Kansas City barbecue restaurants; native Kansas Citian and essayist Calvin Trillin famously called Bryant's "the single best restaurant in the world" in an essay he wrote forPlayboy magazine in the 1960s.Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue is also well regarded. In 1977,Rich Davis, a psychiatrist, test-marketed his own concoction called K.C. Soul Style Barbecue Sauce. He renamed itKC Masterpiece, and in 1986, he sold the recipe to theKingsford division ofClorox. Davis retained rights to operate restaurants using the name and sauce, whose recipe popularized the use of molasses as a sweetener in Kansas City-style barbecue sauces.[citation needed]
Kansas City has severalJames Beard Award-winning/nominated chefs and restaurants. Winning chefs include Michael Smith,Celina Tio, Colby Garrelts, Debbie Gold, Jonathan Justus and Martin Heuser. A majority of the Beard Award-winning restaurants are in the Crossroads district, downtown and in Westport.
Home to several restaurants, art galleries, and hotels. First Friday is a monthly event with pop-up galleries, food trucks, venue deals, and music events.Union Station and theKauffman Center are here. Union Station has varying exhibits, including atScience City.
Originally a separate town until annexed by Kansas City, it contains several restaurants, shops, and nightlife options. Along with the Power and Light District, it is one of the city's main entertainment areas. TheUniversity of Kansas Hospital is close to the district, just across State Line Road.
A new shopping and entertainment district within the Central Business District, it was developed by the Cordish Companies. TheT-Mobile Center is a major anchor and theMidland Theatre is a concert venue.
Kansas City's original neighborhood on the Missouri River contains one of the country's largest and longest lasting public farmers' markets in the nation, and theSteamboat Arabia Museum. The new streetcar line's northernmost loop through the River Market with three stops around City Market. Pedestrians can take theTown of Kansas Bridge connection to the Riverfront Heritage Trail toBerkley Riverfront Park, which is operated byPort KC.
The West Bottoms originated primarily as stockyards and for industrial uses, but is slowly being revitalized with apartments and shops. It hasKemper Arena.
Kansas City, North
Several attractions are north of the Missouri River. Zona Rosa is a mixed-used development with shopping, dining, and events. TheCharles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport features the Aviation History Museum.Worlds of Fun andOceans of Fun are major amusement parks of the midwest.
TheAthletics baseball franchise played in the city from 1955, after moving fromPhiladelphia, to 1967, when the team relocated toOakland, California. The city's current Major League Baseball franchise, theRoyals, started play in 1969, and are the only major league sports franchise in Kansas City that has not relocated or changed its name. The Royals were the firstAmerican League expansion team to reach the playoffs (in1976) to reach the World Series (in 1980) and to win the World Series (in 1985).[112] The Royals returned to the World Series in 2014 and won in 2015.[113][114]
FC Kansas City played from 2013 to 2017 in theNational Women's Soccer League; the team's home games were held atSwope Soccer Village. They won the NWSL in 2014 and 2015. The team folded after the 2017 season and its assets were transferred toUtah Royals FC. After the 2020 season, the Utah Royals folded and its assets were transferred to a new Kansas City team, now known as theKansas City Current. The Current moved to Children's Mercy Park after spending their first season atLegends Field, where they were known as KC NWSL.[116] On October 6, 2022, the team's ownership broke ground on an 11,500-seat soccer-specific stadium calledCPKC Stadium on the Berkley Riverfront Park,[117][118] which opened by March 2024.[119]
Kansas City was selected on June 16, 2022, as one of the eleven US host cities for the2026 FIFA World Cup.[120]
In addition to serving as the home stadium of the Chiefs,Arrowhead Stadium serves as the venue for various intercollegiate football games. It has hosted the Big 12 Championship Game five times. On the last weekend in October, theMIAA Fall Classic rivalry game betweenNorthwest Missouri State University andPittsburg State University took place at the stadium.
Kansas City is represented on therugby pitch by theKansas City Blues RFC, a former member of theRugby Super League and a Division 1 club. The team works closely with Sporting Kansas City and splits home-games between Sporting's training pitch andRockhurst University's stadium.
View of downtown fromPenn Valley ParkThe rose garden inLoose Park is Kansas City's third-largest public park.J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain, byHenri-Léon Gréber, is in Mill Creek Park, adjacent to Country Club Plaza.
Kansas City has 132 miles (212 km) of boulevards and parkways, 214 urban parks, 49 ornamental fountains, 152 baseball diamonds, 10 community centers, 105 tennis courts, 5 golf courses, 5 museums and attractions, 30 pools, and 47 park shelters.[122][123] These amenities are found across the city. Much of the system, designed byGeorge E. Kessler, was constructed from 1893 to 1915.
Cliff Drive, in Kessler Park on the North Bluffs, is a designated State Scenic Byway. It extends 4.27 miles (6.87 km) from The Paseo and Independence Avenue through Indian Mound on Gladstone Boulevard at Belmont Boulevard, with many historical points and architectural landmarks.
The Paseo is a major north–south parkway that runs 19 miles (31 km) through the center of the city beginning at Cliff Drive. It was modeled on thePaseo de la Reforma, a fashionableMexico City boulevard. It has been recently renamedMartin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and now the city has voted to change it back to the Paseo.[126]
Swope Park is one of the nation's largest city parks, comprising 1,805 acres (3 sq mi), more than twice the size of New York City'sCentral Park.[127] It features azoo, a woodland nature and wildlife rescue center, 2 golf courses, 2 lakes, anamphitheatre, a day-camp, and numerous picnic grounds. Hodge Park, in the Northland, covers 1,029 acres (416 ha) (1.61 sq. mi). This park includes the 80-acre (320,000 m2) Shoal Creek Living History Museum, a village of more than 20 historical buildings dating from 1807 to 1885.Berkley Riverfront Park, 955 acres (3.86 km2) on the banks of theMissouri River on the north edge of downtown, holds annualIndependence Day celebrations and other festivals.
A program went underway to replace many of the fast-growingsweetgum trees withhardwood varieties.[128]
In 1974, the Kansas City Park and Boulevard System was recognized by theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as aNational Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.[129] The nomination noted that this park system was among "...the first to integrate the aesthetics of landscape architecture with the practicality of city planning, stimulating other metropolitan areas to undertake similar projects."[130] The park's plan developed by landscape architectGeorge Kessler included some of the "...first specifications for pavements, gutters, curbs, and walks. Other engineering advances included retaining walls, earth dams, subsurface drains, and an impoundment lake – all part of Kansas City's legacy that has influenced urban planning in cities throughout North America."[130]
Kansas City is home to the largestmunicipal government in the state of Missouri. The city has a council/manager form of government. The role ofcity manager has diminished over the years. The non-elective office of city manager was created following excesses during the Pendergast days.
The mayor is the head of theKansas City City Council, which has 12 members elected from six districts (one member elected by voters in the district and one at-large member elected by voters citywide). The mayor is the presiding member. By charter, Kansas City has a "weak-mayor" system, in which most of the power is formally vested in the city council. However, in practice, the mayor is very influential in drafting and guiding public policy.
Kansas City holds city elections in every fourth odd-numbered year. The last citywide election was held in April 2023. The officials took office in August 2023 and will hold the position until 2027.
Police respond to a shooting in theCrossroads area during early New Year's Day 2016.
Some of the earliest organized violence in Kansas City was during theAmerican Civil War. Shortly after the city's incorporation in 1850, so-calledBleeding Kansas erupted, affectingborder ruffians andJayhawkers. During the war, Union troopsburned all occupied dwellings in Jackson County south of Brush Creek and east of Blue Creek to Independence in an attempt to halt raids into Kansas. After the war, theKansas City Times turned outlawJesse James into a folk hero via its coverage. James was born in the Kansas City metro area atKearney, Missouri, and notoriously robbed the Kansas City Fairgrounds at 12th Street and Campbell Avenue.
In the early 20th century under Pendergast, Kansas City became the country's "most wide open town". Though this gave rise toKansas City jazz and to theKansas City mob (initially underJohnny Lazia), and the arrival oforganized crime. In the 1970s, the Kansas City mob was involved in a gang war over control of theRiver Quay entertainment district, in which three buildings were bombed and several gangsters were killed. Police investigations gained after bossNick Civella was recorded discussing gambling bets onSuper Bowl IV (where the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings). The war and investigation led to the end of mob control of theStardust Casino, which was the basis for the 1995 filmCasino, though the production minimizes the Kansas City connections.
As of November 2012[update], Kansas Cityranked 18th on theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s annual survey of crime rates for cities with populations over 100,000.[136] Much of the city's violent crime occurs on the city's lower income East Side. Revitalizing the downtown and midtown areas has been fairly successful and now these areas have below average violent crime compared to other major downtowns.[137][irrelevant citation] According to a 2007 analysis byThe Kansas City Star and theUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City, downtown experienced the largest drop in crime of any neighborhood in the city during the 2000s.[138]
The city is not served by one unified school district, but 15 separate districts due to the historical unwillingness of suburban voters to merge their existing school districts with the Kansas City district as the city expanded its limits in the 1950s and 1960s.[140] Prior to 1957, areas annexed by the City of Kansas City were obligated to join the KCMO school district. Briana O'Higgins ofKCUR wrote that prior toBrown v. Board of Education community members of smaller school districts "were happy to join KCMSD", which at the time was racially segregated.[141] After laws changed in 1957, expansion occurred in areas not in the KCMO school district, and the KCMO school district faced a decline in academics and facility quality.[141]
School outcomes vary between and even within districts, with a some high schools being nationally ranked,[142] and others having some of the lowest graduation rates.[143] There are also numerous private schools; Catholic schools are governed by theDiocese of Kansas City.
The following public school districts serve Kansas City:[144]
University of Missouri-Kansas City Libraries − four collections: Leon E. Bloch Law Library and Miller Nichols Library, both on Volker Campus; and Health Sciences Library and Dental Library, both on Hospital Hill in Kansas City
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Central Plains Region − one of 18 national records facilities, holding millions of archival records and microfilms for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska in a new facility adjacent to Union Station, which was opened to the general public in 2008
The Kansas City Star is the area's primary newspaper.William Rockhill Nelson and his partner,Samuel Morss, first published the evening paper on September 18, 1880. TheStar competed with the morningKansas City Times before acquiring that publication in 1901. TheTimes name was discontinued in March 1990, when the morning paper was renamed theStar.[150]
Weekly newspapers includeThe Call (which is focused toward Kansas City's African-American community), theKansas City Business Journal,The Pitch,Ink, and the bilingual publicationsDos Mundos andKC Hispanic News.
Publications includeIngram's Magazine and a localsociety journal, theIndependent.
The city is served by two major faith-oriented newspapers: TheKansas City Metro Voice, serving the Christian community, and theKansas City Jewish Chronicle, serving the Jewish community. It is the headquarters of theNational Catholic Reporter, an independent Catholic newspaper.
The Kansas City media market (ranked 32nd by Arbitron[151] and 31st by Nielsen[152]) includes 10 television stations, 30 FM and 21 AM radio stations. Kansas City broadcasting jobs have been a stepping stone for national television and radio personalities, notablyWalter Cronkite andMancow Muller.
WDAF radio (now at106.5 FM; original 610 AM frequency now occupied byKFNZ) signed on in 1927 as an affiliate of theNBC Red Network, under the ownership ofThe Star. In 1949, theStar signed onWDAF-TV as an affiliate of theNBC television network. TheStar sold off the WDAF stations in 1957, following anantitrust investigation by the United States government (reportedly launched at Truman's behest, following a long-standing feud with theStar) over the newspaper's ownership of television and radio stations.KCMO radio (originally at 810 AM, now at 710 AM) signed on KCMO-TV (nowKCTV) in 1953. The respective owners ofWHB (then at 710 AM, now at 810 AM) and KMBC radio (980 AM, nowKMBZ), Cook Paint and Varnish Company and the Midland Broadcasting Company, signed onWHB-TV/KMBC-TV as a time-share arrangement on VHF channel 9 in 1953; KMBC-TV took over channel 9 full-time in June 1954, after Cook Paint and Varnish purchased Midland Broadcasting's stations.
The major broadcast television networks have affiliates in the Kansas City market (covering 32 counties in northwestern Missouri, with the exception of counties in the far northwestern part of the state that are within the adjacentSaint Joseph market, and northeastern Kansas); includingWDAF-TV 4 (Fox),KCTV 5 (CBS),KMBC-TV 9 (ABC),KCPT 19 (PBS),KCWE 29 (The CW),KSHB-TV 41 (NBC) andKSMO-TV 62 (MyNetworkTV). Other television stations in the market include Saint Joseph-basedKTAJ-TV 16 (TBN), Kansas City, Kansas-based TV25.tv (consisting of three locally owned stations throughout northeast Kansas, led by KCKS-LD 25, affiliated with severaldigital multicast networks), Lawrence, Kansas-basedKMCI-TV 38 (independent), Spanish-language stationKUKC-LD 20 (Univision), Spanish-language stationKGKC-LD 39 (Telemundo), andKPXE-TV 50 (Ion Television). The Kansas City television stations also serve as alternates for the nearby Saint Joseph television market.
Kansas City has been a locale for film and television productions. Between 1931 and 1982 Kansas City was home to theCalvin Company, a large film production company that specialized in promotional shorts for corporations and in educational films for schools and the government. Calvin was an important venue for Kansas City arts, training local filmmakers who went on toHollywood careers and also employing local actors, most of whom earned their main income in fields such as radio and television announcing. Kansas City nativeRobert Altman directed movies at the Calvin Company, which led him to shoot his first feature film,The Delinquents, in Kansas City using many local players.
Today, Kansas City is home to an active independent film community. TheIndependent Filmmaker's Coalition is an organization dedicated to expanding and improving independent filmmaking in Kansas City. The city launched the KC Film Office in October 2014 with the goal of better marketing the city for prospective television shows and movies to be filmed there. The City Council passed several film tax incentives in February 2016 to take effect in May 2016; the KC Film Office is coordinating its efforts with the State of Missouri to reinstate film incentives on a statewide level.[153] Kansas City was named as a top city to live and work in as a movie maker in 2020.[154]
Originally, Kansas City was the launching point for travelers on theSanta Fe,Oregon, andCalifornia trails. Later, with the construction of theHannibal Bridge across theMissouri River, it became the junction of 11 trunk railroads. More rail tonnage passes through the city than through any other U.S. city.Trans World Airlines (TWA) located its headquarters in the city, and had ambitious plans to turn the city into an air hub.
Kansas City is a major meeting place for several of the nation's busiest highways.
Missouri and Kansas were the first states to start building interstates withInterstate 70.Interstate 435, which encircles the entire city, is the second longest beltway in theInterstate Highway System. (Interstate 275 aroundCincinnati, Ohio is the longest.) The Kansas City metro area has more limited-access highway lane-miles per capita than any other large US metro area, over 27% more than the second-placeDallas–Fort Worth metroplex, over 50% more than the average American metropolitan area. From 2013 to 2017 the average commuting time was 21.8 minutes.[155] TheSierra Club blames the extensive freeway network for excessivesprawl and the decline of central Kansas City.[156] However, the relatively uncongested road network contributes significantly to Kansas City's position as one of America's largestlogistics hubs.[157]
Kansas City International Airport (airport code MCI) was built to TWA's specifications to make a world hub.[159] Its original passenger-friendly design placed each of its gates 100 feet (30 m) from the street. Following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, it required a costly overhaul to conform to tighter security protocols from theTransportation Security Administration. In March 2023, a new $1.5 billion terminal opened on the site of the old Terminal A.[160] Designed bySkidmore, Owings and Merrill, it is a single, advanced technology terminal with 39 gates, eventually planned to entirely replace remaining Terminals B and C.
Like most American cities, Kansas City's mass transit system was originally rail-based. From 1870 to 1957, Kansas City's streetcar system was among the top in the country, with over 300 miles (480 km) of track at its peak. The rapid sprawl in the following years led this private system to be shut down.
On December 28, 1965, theKansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA) was formed via a bi-state compact created by the Missouri and Kansas legislatures. The compact gave the KCATA responsibility for planning, construction, owning, and operating passenger transportation systems and facilities within the seven-county area.
In July 2005, the KCATA launched Kansas City's firstbus rapid transit line, theMetro Area Express (MAX). MAX links River Market, Downtown,Union Station, Crown Center, and Country Club Plaza.[161] MAX operates and is marketed more like a rail system than a local bus line. A unique identity was created for MAX, including 13 modern diesel buses and easily identifiable "stations". MAX features (real-timeGPS tracking of buses, available at every station), and stoplights automatically change in their favor if buses are behind schedule. In 2010, a second MAX line was added on Troost Avenue.[162] The city is planning another MAX line down Prospect Avenue.[163]
The Prospect MAX line launched in 2019 and MayorQuinton Lucas announced the service would be fare-free indefinitely.[164]
KC Streetcar departs the Library stop, heading north to the River Market.
On December 12, 2012, a ballot initiative to construct a$102 million, 2-mile (3.2 km), modernKC Streetcar line in downtown Kansas City was approved by local voters.[165] The streetcar route runs along Main Street fromRiver Market toUnion Station; it debuted on May 6, 2016.[166] A new non-profit corporation made up of private sector stakeholders and city appointees – theKansas City Streetcar Authority – operates and maintains the system. Unlike many similar systems around the U.S., no fare is to be charged initially.[167] Residents within the proposed Transportation Development District are determining the fate of the KC Streetcar's southern extension through Midtown and the Plaza toUMKC. The Port Authority of Kansas City is also studying running an extension toBerkley Riverfront Park.
In 2015, the KCATA, Unified Government Transit, Johnson County Transit, and IndeBus began merging from individual metro services into one coordinated transit service for the metropolitan area, called RideKC. The buses and other transit options are branded as RideKC Bus, RideKC MAX, RideKC Streetcar, and RideKC Bridj. RideKC Bridj is a micro transit service partnership between Ford Bridj and KCATA that began on March 7, 2016, much like ataxicab service and with amobile app. The merger and full coordination is expected to be complete by 2019.[168]
A 2015 study byWalk Score ranked Kansas City as the 42nd most walkable out of the 50 largest U.S. cities.[169] As a whole, the city has a score of 34 out of 100. However, several of the more densely populated neighborhoods have much higher scores: Westport has a score of 91, the Downtown Loop has a score of 85, the Crossroads scored 85, and the Plaza scored 83.[170] Those ratings range from "A Walker's Paradise" to "Very Walkable". In April 2017, voters approved an $800 million general obligation bond, part of which is designated for sidewalk repairs and creating complete-streets.
According to the American Community Survey, 81.6 percent of working Kansas City residents commuted to work by driving alone, 7.9 percent carpooled, 2.7 percent used public transportation, and 1.7 percent walked to work. About 1.5 percent commuted by other means, including taxi, bicycle, or motorcycle. About 4.6 percent of working Kansas City residents worked at home.[171]
In 2015, 11.4 percent of Kansas City households were without a car, which was virtually unchanged in 2016 (11.3 percent). The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Kansas City averaged 1.58 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.[172]
^abMean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^Official records for Kansas City kept at downtown/Weather Bureau Office from July 1888 to December 1933; Downtown Airport from January 1934 to September 1972; and Kansas City Int'l since October 1972. For more information seeThreadEx.
^Green, George Fuller (1968).A Condensed History of the Kansas City Area: Its Mayors and Some V.I.P.s.Kansas City, Missouri: The Lowell Press.OCLC1144606867.
^abLondré, Felicia Hardison (2007).The enchanted years of the stage : Kansas City at the crossroads of American theater, 1870–1930. University of Missouri Press.ISBN9780826265852.OCLC290503575.
^"Nomination of Park and Boulevard System, Kansas City, Missouri for Designation as National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark." American Society of Civil Engineers. Kansas City Section. 1974.
^Haskell, Harry (2007).Boss-busters & sin hounds : Kansas City and its Star. Columbia: University of Missouri Press.ISBN978-0-8262-6612-5.OCLC614533916.
^"Kansas City Sister Cities".kcsistercities.org. Sister City Association of Kansas City, MO. 2014. Archived fromthe original on October 9, 2014. RetrievedNovember 17, 2014.
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