HOLY ^@#$, Kansas City ranked in something good
Posted By KJ ~ 16th February 2008
Kansas City is, according to some website , one of the top 10 underrated cities. Just below Houston. So Houston gets ranked because I don’t live there anymore and Kansas City, obviously, because I do live there. Right.
On one hand, I think that it’s great that Kansas City gets recoginzed for being something other than the place where all those sappy birthday cards you get for your mom are made. However, I guess that I would have to question a few things about this wee mention. (yes it’s true that my questions are already longer than the article and I haven’t even asked anything yet….)
1. Every story written about Kansas City mentions the great jazz heritage. That’s true and we can’t deny our heritage, but… and like Rosie, that’s a big but. Most of the good old school jazz and blues clubs have closed. The Grand Emporium, for instance, is now an urban dance music club. 18th and Vine is really the Baseball Museum and not much more. Sadly. There are still spots to hear some nice jazz and blues, but hardly what the city was known for.
2. Barbecue. Okay we get it. Kansas City has some good barbecue. Great, but can’t we move on to something else. Please?
3. The Arabia Steamboat Museum?! Please.
What the article doesn’t mention are the seriously cool things going on in Kansas City. The Crossroads, for instance. Kansas City has a cool part of town, unlike say Westport, that isn’t all about college kids getting drunk and passing out in the street or picking up hot chicks and dudes and dancing to the latest top 40 disco hits. The Crossroads is great art, music and people. It’s getting bigger and more popular, so some of the smaller places are probably going to be run out and that’s unfortunate, but progress, like ants after a melted chocolate bar, marches on. Only without the bugs. The art museums, but the Nelson and the Modern Art Museum. The article didn’t mention the Plaza and maybe with reason but it’s still nice to walk around window shop and have a drink. Yeah, there’s also nascar and what seems to be 987 Outdoor World huge megamarts, but I’m sure that there’s only 384.
Kansas City is largely suburban, but with the revitalization of downtown and the aforementioned Crossroads, things are getting marginally more urban. Not exactly urbane, but urban nonetheless.
Just don’t send your kids to school in Kansas City.
