Filling in the Pieces
As will be obvious in the pages that follow, Kansas City faces a challenge unique among American cities. While most struggle to find viable space in their expensive, tightly spun cores, Kansas City strives to fill the gaps in what may be the nation's least densely packed contiguous urban core. Several historic factors have converged to make this happen. One was the terrible Missouri River flood of 1903, which convinced city leaders to move its center of commerce, as well as its major train station, up off the river bottoms and on to the bluffs above. Another critical factor was the decision by J.C. Nichols to create an auto-friendly urban center four miles south of downtown, the renowned Country Club Plaza. In the late 1960's Joyce Hall and young Don Hall undid the city's bi-polarity by creating a center, Crown Center, in between the two. A few years later developer Marion Trozzolo further complicated the picture with his loving renovation of what is today known as the River Market area, now fully protected from the Missouri River. And when Kemper Arena opened a few years later in the West Bottoms area, the outlines of the jigsaw puzzle were complete. For the last thirty years, Kansas City has been filling in the pieces. The pace has picked up in the last few years with the impressive restoration of Union Station and Liberty Memorial, the development of the aptly named Crossroads District, and most spectacularly, the creation of a new Performing Arts Center designed precisely to fill in the gaps. For all the accidental quality of the composition, Kansas City's urban core is emerging as an exemplary portrait of progress and perhaps the most accessible and affordable core in an auto-centered nation.
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The River Market
The Downtown Loop
Crossroad District
KC’s Eastside / West Bottoms
Crown Center / Union Station
Midtown / Westport
Country Club Plaza
Brush Creek Corridor