Kansas City

Kansas City, Missouri 

The most populous and largest city in Missouri is Kansas City, sometimes known as KC or KCMO. The city had 508,090 residents as of the 2020 census, making it the 36th most populous city in the country. It is the hub of the 2,392,035-person Kansas City metropolitan region, which is located on the border of Missouri and Kansas. With some areas extending into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties, Jackson County makes up the majority of the city. In the 1830s, Kansas City was established as a port on the Missouri River at the point where it meets the westbound Kansas River. The town of Kansas was formed on June 1st, 1850, and the Kansas Territory was created shortly after. When the two became confused, the moniker Kansas City was quickly used to set them apart. 

The city has a total area of around 319.03 square miles (826.3 km2), ranking it as the 23rd largest city in the US. It is located on Missouri's western border with Kansas, with Downtown being close to the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. Along with the significant Satellite city of Independence, it serves as one of Jackson County's two county seats. The cities of Blue Springs and Lee's Summit in Missouri, as well as Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, and Kansas City, Kansas, are among the other prominent suburbs. 

The city is divided into a number of districts, such as the Country Club Plaza in the south, the 18th and Vine District in the east, and the River Market District in the north. Jazz, theater, the Chiefs and Royals sports teams, as well as famed food centered on Kansas City-style barbecue, Kansas City strip steak, and craft brewers are just a few of the city's celebrated cultural traditions. 

The Contemporary City 

Even though Kansas City's once-significant livestock handling and meatpacking operations have been discontinued, the city continues to serve as the marketing and shipping hub for a vast agricultural region that produces a variety of agricultural products, including soybeans, corn (maize), dairy products, wheat, and other grains, in addition to having a large grain storage and food processing infrastructure. In addition to being a significant trucking hub and big distribution hub, the city is one of the nation's largest rail hubs. The Missouri River serves as its port, which includes international airport facilities.  

The majority of the city's economy is composed of services, which include the public sector, healthcare, telecommunications, and finance. Research and development of agricultural products, tourism, and manufacturing—including the production of goods like greeting cards, pharmaceuticals, and weaponry and component parts—are all significant industries. SubTropolis, a sizable underground industrial park built in the space left behind as the region was mined for its limestone reserves, is one of the city's distinctive features. Storage, office space, and warehousing are all provided by the complex's streets and buildings. Additional economic resources include the nearby Fort Leavenworth and Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (Independence, Missouri and Independence, Missouri, respectively). 

In addition to Rockhurst University (1910), Avila University (1916), several campuses of Metropolitan Community College, William Jewell College (1849; in Liberty), Park University (1875; in Parkville), the University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (1916), and the Kansas City Art Institute, other institutions of higher learning in the area include the University of Missouri at Kansas City, which was founded in 1933. (1885). People to People International, the Unity School of Christianity, and the Church of the Nazarene all have their global headquarters in Kansas City. 

A rodeo, livestock exhibitions, and horse shows are all featured during the American Royal, which takes place in the city every fall. The Liberty Memorial, a World War I memorial, with a 217-foot (66-metre) tower and a museum. The tower was consecrated in 1926 and underwent a three-year repair that was finished in 2002. The Lone Jack Civil War Battlefield and Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and Missouri Town 1855, a preservation of early structures around Lake Jacomo, are some further museums. State historic sites have been established to preserve the artist Thomas Hart Benton's house and studio. The American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum are located in the 18th and Vine Historic Jazz District, and Kansas City's jazz history is also honored through yearly music events. Its distinctive fiery style of barbecue retains the city's long-standing association with the meat business. 

With at least as many fountains as any other city outside of Rome, Kansas City is well renowned for having hundreds of them. There is a zoo and outdoor theater in Swope Park. Numerous theatrical companies, a ballet company, an opera company, and a symphony orchestra are located in the city. Sports competitions, conventions, and concerts are held at Kemper Arena (1975). The professional football teams of Kansas City, the Chiefs and the Royals, as well as a professional soccer (football) team, are all housed at the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex (Wizards). Crown Center, a cultural and commercial complex spanning 85 acres (34 hectares), debuted in 1973; Science City, an adjacent education and entertainment complex housed in the renovated Union Station, opened in the same year (1914). Outdoor recreation is available in the Smithville Lake (north), Watkins Mill (northeast), Weston Bend (northwest), and James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Areas (southwest, north, and northeast, respectively). Northeast of the city, at Liberty and Kearney, are memorial sites for infamous outlaw Jesse James. 

Geography 

A total of 319.03 square miles (826.28 km2), or 314.95 square miles (815.72 km2) of land, and 4.08 square miles (10.57 km2) of water make up the area of the city. Rivers and their surrounding surroundings are visible from bluffs. The actual city of Kansas City is bowl-shaped, and cliffs carved out of bedrock and limestone border it on the north and south. At the time of the maximum late Independence glacial of the Pleistocene period, Kansas City is situated at the meeting point of the Dakota and Minnesota ice lobes. When the glaciers melted and emptied, the rivers of Kansas and Missouri carved out broad valleys in the landscape. The core city is divided by a spillway valley that is partially filled. The Turkey Creek Valley continues into this valley to the east. The "Lower 48," or geographic center of the contiguous United States, is the closest large city to it. 

Climate 

The junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers is where Kansas City is located in the Midwest, close to the country's geographic center. Due to an average of 104 air frosts per year, the city, which is located in the northernmost part of the humid subtropical zone, might be interchanged with the humid continental climate. Plant Hardiness Zones 5b and 6a of the USDA include the city. It is possible for strong heat and cold swings to occur year-round in the middle of North America, which is far from a big body of water. Averaging 81.0 °F (27.2 °C) throughout the course of a 24-hour period, July is the warmest month. On 5.6 days every year, high temperatures exceed 100 °F (38 °C), and on 47 days, they exceed 90 °F (32 °C). The summer months are hot and muggy due to damp air rising from the Gulf of Mexico.  

An average temperature of 31.0 °F (0.6 °C) is recorded in January, the coldest month of the year. The winters are chilly, with 2.5 nights with a low of 0 °F (18 °C) or lower and 22 days with a high temperature of at least 32 °F (0 °C). At Downtown Airport on August 14, 1936, the temperature reached a record-high of 113 °F (45 °C), while the official record low was recorded on December 22 and 23, 1989, at 23 °F (31 °C). At the Downtown Airport and Kansas City International Airport, the average seasonal snowfall is 13.4 inches (34 cm) and 18.8 inches (48 cm), respectively. As observed at Kansas City International Airport, the average window for freezing temperatures is from October 31 to April 4, and for measurable (0.1 in or 0.25 cm) snowfall, it is from November 27 to March 16. In late spring and summer, precipitation increases significantly in terms of frequency and total accumulation. 

Kansas City is situated in "Tornado Alley," a large area where warm air from the Gulf of Mexico and cold air from Canada combine to generate strong storms, especially in the spring. The Ruskin Heights tornado in 1957 and the tornado outbreak sequence in May 2003 are just two notable tornado outbreaks that have occurred in the Kansas City metropolitan region in the past. Winter storms in the area can also bring ice storms, like the one in 2002 that caused the loss of power to hundreds of thousands of people for days and, in some cases, weeks. The Great Floods of 1951 and 1993, as well as other floods, have affected Kansas City and the surrounding areas. 

Economy 

According to the BEA, the Kansas half of the region's GDP increased by over twice as much from 2010 to 2018 as the Missouri side, at 23.8% vs. 9.1%, even if the Missouri side continues to lead in terms of total non-farm employment. In the Kansas City metropolitan region, the federal government employs the most people. There is a presence there from more than 146 federal entities. One of the 10 regional office locations for the US government is Kansas City. In Kansas City, the Internal Revenue Service operates a sizable service facility that is about 1.4 million square feet in size (130,000 m2).  

There are just two locations that process paper returns. In Kansas City, the IRS employs around 2,700 people full-time, and that number rises to 4,000 during tax season. The number of employees at the General Services Administration exceeds 800. The majority are in South Kansas City at the Bannister Federal Complex. The Kansas City Plant, a Honeywell-run National Nuclear Security Administration facility, was also housed in the Bannister Complex.  

Since then, the Kansas City Plant has relocated to a new site on Botts Road. Nearly 2,700 people work for Honeywell at the Kansas City Plant, which creates and puts together 85% of the non-nuclear parts of the American nuclear arsenal. In the Kansas City area, the Social Security Administration employs more than 1,700 people, more than 1,200 of whom work at its Mid-America Program Service Center in the city's center (MAMPSC). Post offices are run by the United States Postal Service in Kansas City. The 300 West Pershing Road location of the Kansas City Main Post Office. 

The US Department of Agriculture moved the ERS and NIFA government research facilities to the metro region in 2019. At the time of its announcement, this decision was viewed as contentious, and some personnel left the agency as a result. These organizations will relocate to the city's center. 

The Ford Kansas City Assembly Plant, a sizable manufacturing complex run by Ford Motor Company, is located in Claycomo and produces the Ford F-150. The nearby Kansas City, Kansas, is home to the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant. Up until 2017, the now-defunct Smith Electric Vehicles produced electric vehicles at the Kansas City International Airport's former TWA/American Airlines maintenance plant. 

The Sanofi-Aventis facility in south Kansas City, built on a property created by Ewing Kauffman's Marion Laboratories, is one of the biggest US drug production facilities. The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, which studies animal diseases, will be located in Manhattan, Kansas, at one end of the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor. This decision has lately helped the development of academic and commercial institutions dedicated to animal health sciences. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research also does basic scientific research in medicine. They collaborate with Open University and University of Kansas Medical Center on a collaborative Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Science, providing educational opportunities for both predoctoral and postdoctoral candidates (IGPBS). 

From the city, many agriculture businesses operate. The biggest dairy cooperative in the country, Dairy Farmers of America, is situated in northern Kansas City. Both the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics have their headquarters in Kansas City. 

Two prominent business journals, the Kansas City Business Journal (published weekly) and Ingram's Magazine (issued monthly), as well as other media, such as a regional society journal, the Independent, provide coverage for the business community (published weekly). 

In 2008, the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank unveiled a brand-new structure close to Union Station. Only Missouri has two of the twelve Federal Reserve Bank headquarters (the second is in St. Louis). Former mayor James A. Reed assisted Kansas City in obtaining the bank by breaking a tie to adopt the Federal Reserve Act while serving as a senator. 

Just south of Downtown is where the Veterans of Foreign Wars national headquarters is located. 

The economy of Kansas City (on the Missouri side solely) contributed 20.5% of Missouri's gross state product in 2004 with a GMP of $41.68 billion. Kansas City came in at number six for real estate investment in 2014. 

Lathrop & Gage, Stinson Leonard Street, and Shook, Hardy & Bacon are three prominent worldwide law firms with offices in the area. 

Population 

Missouri's Clay County, Jackson County, and Platte County are home to the city of Kansas City. It is the largest city in Missouri and the 36th largest city in the US with a projected population of 522,580 in 2023. Kansas City's population has grown by 2.85% since the most recent census, which showed a population of 508,090 in 2020, and is now rising at a pace of 0.93% annually. Kansas City, which spans more than 319 miles, has 1,660 inhabitants per square mile. 

Kansas City has a poverty rate of 18.59% and a $75,137 average household income. The median monthly cost of rent in recent years has been, and the median value of a home is. In Kansas City, the median age is 35.4 years, 34.4 years for men and 36.2 years for women. 

Missouri's Kansas City serves as the focal point of the 15-county Kansas City metropolitan area. However, the metro region also contains Kansas City, Kansas, which is significantly smaller in size, adding to the confusion. This page will discuss Kansas City, Missouri, as well as the surrounding metropolitan area. The city is the second largest metro region in the state after Greater St. Louis and is situated on the border between Kansas and Missouri. 

Within the boundaries of Historic Kansas City, an area of about 58 square miles, has the highest population density, with 5,000 people per square mile. Only a few regions, most notably the Greater Downtown neighborhood in the city center, have seen population growth during the previous 13 years, while the urban heart of the city has experienced consistent population decline. The Northland region has had the most notable expansion. 

Top 2 News Websites 

KMBC 

Follow the breaking news and weather in Kansas City on Channel 9. Get the most recent weather, sports, and news from KMBC in Kansas City. You can remain informed with the top Missouri news headlines and the greatest local coverage. 

FOX4 News 

Keep up with FOX4 News in Kansas City's news, weather, and intriguing stories. The Kansas City metropolitan region is served by WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4, a FOX-affiliated television station with a license from Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. 

Current City Mayor 

The 55th and youngest mayor of Kansas City in more than a generation, Quinton Lucas, was sworn in on August 1, 2019. Residents of Kansas City refer to him lovingly as "Mayor Q," and he places a high priority on enhancing the accessibility and affordability of housing and public transportation, as well as the safety and efficiency of the city's neighborhoods. 

Mayor Q was born and raised in Kansas City and has spent the majority of his life there. His family traveled a lot when he was a kid, and they even went through homelessness. Quinton maintained his academic focus in the face of these obstacles, obtaining academic scholarships for high school, college, and eventually Cornell Law School before leaving for his hometown of Kansas City. In an economically and racially divided city, Mayor Q concentrated on bridging the gap between the east and west after winning a position on the City Council in 2015 for Kansas City's Third District at-Large. 

In order to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and to address the city's long-standing epidemic of violent crime, Mayor Lucas remained committed to making Kansas City a safer place. Mayor Q continues to try to decriminalize poverty, including making sure that unpaid parking citations no longer result in incarceration, and to improve police-community trust through accountability measures, realizing that the city requires long-term, sustainable solutions to combat violent crime. In his roles as co-chair of Everytown for Gun Safety's Mayors Against Illegal Guns and chairman of the United States Conference of Mayors Criminal and Social Justice Committee, Mayor Q promotes local, state, and federal policy change to create safer neighborhoods. 

In addition, Mayor Q is a proponent of public transportation both locally and nationally. When Mayor Q was elected, Kansas City undertook a ground-breaking Zero Fair Transit plan, making it the first sizable American city to abolish all fare-based public transit. Mayor Q currently serves as co-chair of Accelerator for America, a "do tank" that links local governments with federal infrastructure resources to spur transformative change in communities across our nation. Previously, Mayor Q held the position of vice chair for transit on the transportation committee of the United States Conference of Mayors. 

Mayor Q led the City Council in the removal of marijuana possession as a violation from the City Code of Ordinances and the establishment of a Municipal Marijuana Pardon Program because he is still committed to decriminalizing poverty and offering second chances. Additionally, Mayor Q oversaw the City Council's adoption of the first-ever Tenants' Bill of Rights by collaborating with grassroots organizations. 

Since 2012, Mayor Q has been an instructor at the University of Kansas Law School, where he specializes in teaching municipal and state government law. In Kansas City, Mayor Q is involved as a volunteer in several organizations and schools, including mentoring inmates in nearby prisons.