Kansas City #4 - The Plaza

James Bond Agent 007 · #1 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:06 AM**

Another in my continuing series.

First I'll show the photos I took when I first visited here last year, in May. It was cloudy when I was there.

Random street - with a Starbucks!

One of the main drags.

This is Spencer! He said it was OK to put his pic on the internet.

More random scenes ...

Nearby apartments

Fancy townhomes across the creek

Fancy hotels and condos across the creek

And more fancy apartments and condos across the creek

Fancy fountain

Another view of one of the main drags ...

... a block away facing the same direction

Orange!

Murphy de la Sucre · #2 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:26 AM**

Tornado season in there right? Always cloudy and grey and feels like doomsday's coming.

James Bond Agent 007 · #3 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:27 AM**

Then, a year later ... taken a couple weekends ago. This time there was more sun. Some of these pics might be repeats of the ones above, but oh well.

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Outside Kaldi's Coffee

Inside Kaldi's Coffee

View looking out of Kaldi's Coffee

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This was outside the Tesla store. People were checking out the new Model 3 (or whatever it's called)

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The little batch of trees on the left side of the street in the distance is the site of a proposed new office

James Bond Agent 007 · #4 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murphy de la Sucre

Tornado season in there right? Always cloudy and grey and feels like doomsday's coming.

Yeah, May is the peak of tornado season around here, but at least this year it was pretty quiet around here.

When I arrived here last May to visit there were a few small tornadoes in the news the day before I arrived. Glad I missed them!

Ant131531 · #5 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:35 AM**

Wow, looks nice. I love the fountain. The neighborhood is great...just wish the streets were smaller in width to give it a more charming feeling.

Great photos though. Admittedly, I don't really know much about Kansas City(never really had much interest in the city to be honest), but your photos definitely give me a better sense of what it's like. Thanks.

James Bond Agent 007 · #6 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:38 AM**

You're welcome!

As with my other KC threads, I'll update this on an ad-hoc basis.

Xing · #7 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 12:41 AM**

I just had a layover in KC. First , I had no idea they had security every 5 gates. There was a line in the bathroom, so I left the gates , and had to waste 20 minutes of my life going through it again. Ugh, anyway... I had no time to explore the city, but can I assume this is close to being the next best thing?

Great photos Bond... James Bond!

James Bond Agent 007 · #8 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 1:05 AM**

Yeah, it's definitely one of the most bizarre airports I've seen. They've started planning to replace the thing. But it'll probably be a while before anything happens.

James Bond Agent 007 · #9 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 1:12 AM**

If anyone wants to see some video I made of The Plaza, here's a link to The Plaza section of my "Christmas Time in Kansas City" video I made over the Holdays:

https://youtu.be/sGbb7lbstcE?t=7m40s

hammersklavier · #10 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 2:13 AM**

The story I've heard, is that Country Club Plaza was one of the country's first planned shopping centers. Kansas City grew rapidly in the early 20th century; land south of the Brush Creek was still undeveloped into the 1920s.

The Plaza proper was designed after Toledo and features a variety of Spanish Revival interpretations. It quickly proved popular and has, over time, become KC's de facto commercial center.

For me, one of KC's biggest disappointments was how dead downtown is, compared to how hopping Westport, the Crossroads, and the Plaza are. (Well, Westport has more of a Fishtown vibe now that the really raucous crowd's migrated to P&L.) It isn't downtown itself, but the areas around downtown, where KC shines.

James Bond Agent 007 · #11 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 2:31 AM**

With the Power and Light District, downtown is starting to pick up. I've got some more pics (and a video) that will help show that. Will get it all up by the end of the week in my downtown thread.

That said, yes, with the Plaza relatively close to downtown (and even some upscale shopping in Crown Center), that pretty much is going to kill any chance of downtown having any major retail. Downtown's doing a good job lately of attracting residential, but any retail it gets is just going to be a few specialty things and restaurants.

Centropolis · #12 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 11:37 AM**

nice shots. last time i was there was this time of the year and it was actually pretty tornado-y...had to run through straight-line winds and sideways rain to my restaurant reservation on the creek. i think i ended up ringing my shirt out in a bathroom stall.

Nightsky · #13 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 3:09 PM**

The "random street" looks like Mexico! Nice architecture...wouldn't expect that in a Northern city like Kansas City.

Centropolis · #14 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 5:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightsky

The "random street" looks like Mexico! Nice architecture...wouldn't expect that in a Northern city like Kansas City.

a lot of central/south us plains cities flirted with that stuff. dallas has a little district like that, like a mini version of this one.

Phil McAvity · #15 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 6:42 PM**

I just reconnected with an old buddy of mine last night on facebook who lives in KC and he loves it. We worked together for years here in Victoria and I was surprised at how highly he spoke of the city but he's a big sports fan so that helps. These pics only show the tiny, Beverly Hills-like neighborhood but they do make it look nice.

xzmattzx · #16 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 7:09 PM**

Nice pictures!

James Bond Agent 007 · #17 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 7:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

I just reconnected with an old buddy of mine last night on facebook who lives in KC and he loves it. We worked together for years here in Victoria and I was surprised at how highly he spoke of the city but he's a big sports fan so that helps. These pics only show the tiny, Beverly Hills-like neighborhood but they do make it look nice.

Couldn't agree more. Have no idea why this isn't a more popular city.

Hope you checked out my River Market thread. Urban heaven.

Centropolis · #18 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 10:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Couldn't agree more. Have no idea why this isn't a more popular city.

Hope you checked out my River Market thread. Urban heaven.

because it's (unfairly) at the end of the line, so to speak, east of the west, and west of the east. it doesn't get all of the crossroads traffic/travelers like say nashville or indianapolis and everyone thinks it's all just flat and wizard of oz.

OhioGuy · #19 Posted **Jun 7, 2016, 11:03 PM**

Looks good!

BigKidD · #20 Posted **Jun 8, 2016, 1:15 AM**

The one and only Plaza. Great photos!

Quote:

because it's (unfairly) at the end of the line, so to speak, east of the west, and west of the east. it doesn't get all of the crossroads traffic/travelers like say nashville or indianapolis and everyone thinks it's all just flat and wizard of oz.

Don't remind me of some Giants fans thinking the Royals were from Kansas...too many wizard of oz jokes for a team that plays in Missouri.

I'm sure KC will start receiving some hype a la Portland, OR received from East Coast publications. Now and then the New York Times and Wall Street Journal have positive articles about KCMO.