The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a metropolitan area situated at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers (Kaw Point) and straddling the state border between Missouri and Kansas. The 15-county Kansas City Metropolitan Statistical Area, anchored by Kansas City, Missouri, is the 27th largest in the United States with an estimated population of 1,967,405 in the year 2006. The Combined Statistical Area also includes the Micropolitan Statistical Areas of Atchison, Kansas, and Warrensburg, Missouri, with estimated populations of 16,745 and 50,646, respectively.
The Combined Statistical Area of Kansas City had a population of 2,034,796 in the year 2006.
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The northeast quadrant is locally referred to as "north of the river" (Missouri River) or "the Northland". (Often confused with Northtown, a nickname for North Kansas City) Contained wholly within Missouri, it encompasses portions of Clay County including the northern half of Kansas City, Missouri, the historic northeast neighborhood, and the cities of Liberty, and North Kansas City. The sharpest part of the river bend forms a peninsula containing the Kansas City Downtown Airport.
The southeast quadrant is the core of the metro area and includes the southern half of Kansas City, Missouri (sometimes referred to as Southtown), and the Jackson County, Missouri, suburbs of Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, and Blue Springs. It is sometimes called "the southland". It includes the majority of the metro area's businesses, visitor attractions, cultural institutions, and urban neighborhoods.
The southwest quadrant includes all of Johnson County, Kansas, which includes the towns in the area known as Shawnee Mission. Interstate 35 runs diagonally through Johnson County from the southwest to downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
The northwest quadrant contains Wyandotte County, Kansas, and parts of Platte County, Missouri. Wyandotte County, sometimes referred to as just 'Wyandotte' or 'The Dotte', which contains Kansas City, Kansas, Bonner Springs and Edwardsville, is governed by a single unified government similar to a consolidated city-county. Often the Wyandotte government is referred to simply as 'The Unified Government'. Another bend in the Missouri River forms the county line between Wyandotte and Platte counties to the north and northeast.
In all, nearly 2 million people live in the metropolitan area. It is difficult to state exactly the size of the population because there are no natural boundaries and suburban expansion (or sprawl) is ongoing.
The metropolitan area is experiencing continued growth. Between 2003 and 2005, about 32,148 housing permits were issued in the metropolitan area.[citation needed]
Counties
The Kansas City metropolitan area includes all or part of the following counties:
K-5 - A minor freeway bypassing the north of Kansas City, Kansas, connecting the GM Fairfax plant with I-635. K-5 continues as Leavenworth Road west to I-435 then on to Leavenworth, Kansas.
MO-152 - A freeway contained entirely in Kansas City's Northland, stretching from Liberty in Clay County west to its intersection with I-435 south of KCI in Platte County.
MO-210 - A minor freeway east of North Kansas City that, as a two-lane road, stretches to Richmond, Missouri.
MO-291 - Formerly an eastern bypass route of U.S. 71, the minor freeway connects Harrisonville and Lee's Summit to Independence, Sugar Creek, Liberty and Kansas City North. It is signed along with I-470 north of Lee's Summit.
Ward Parkway - A scenic parkway in Kansas City, Missouri near the Kansas-Missouri state line where many large historic mansions and fountains are located.
The Missouri side of the Metropolitan Area shares a grid system with Johnson County on the Kansas Side with most east-west streets numbered and north-south streets named. Addresses on east-west streets are numbered from Main Street in Kansas City, Missouri, and on north-south streets from St. John Avenue (or the Missouri River, in the River Market area). The direction 'South' in street and address numbers is generally implied if 'N' is not specified, except for numbered 'avenues' in North Kansas City. In most of Wyandotte County, Kansas the north-south streets are numbered and the address numbers are measured from Riverview Avenue. Some suburbs use completely independent numbering schemes.
Highways
Kansas Citians tend to express US and Missouri highway designations with the number before the word "highway". This colloquialism tends not to apply to interstates or Kansas route numbers ("I-70", "K-10").
69 Highway "The Overland Parkway": Southbound on I-35 from Kansas City, Missouri towards Johnson County there are two exits marked South 69. The first or northern one (Metcalf Ave/I-635) is a left lane exit and leads to Metcalf, an at-grade trafficway, before turning west along Shawnee Mission Parkway, to rejoin I-35. The southern US-69 exit is a two lane right lane exit between the 75th and 87th street exits and begins a four lane highway known as the Overland Parkway.
When traveling north on I-35 from Johnson County the first signs that say I-70 west actually guide the driver through the southern portion of the I-670 loop which goes underneath the Bartle Hall Convention Center and some downtown overpasses. This is sometimes referred to as "going under downtown".
Navigation landmarks
The KCTV pyramid shaped television and radio tower can be seen from many parts of the city and is well lit at night. It is next to the KCPT studios at the corner of 31st and Main.
Kansas City Community Christian Church at 4601 Main has a group of lights that shoot a beam straight up at night. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1950s, it is slightly south of and across the street from the American Century Investment Towers. The Nelson Atkins is to the east and the Kemper Museum is to the north and slightly east.
Bartle Hall has a section that looks somewhat like a north-south suspension bridge crossing over I-670 at the southwest corner of the downtown loop. It has four towers with metal sculptures on top of each tower.
The Veterans Affairs Medical Center has a large "VA" emblem. It is near the intersection of I-70, Linwood and Van Brunt.
The center of Kansas City is roughly contained inside the downtown loop (shaded in red).
"The Northland" refers to the area of the metro area that is north of the Missouri River, comprising Clay and Platte counties in Missouri. This area includes the northern half of Kansas City, Missouri, which is referred to as "Kansas City, North" to distinguish it from the rest of the Northland and North Kansas City.
"North Kansas City" is a separate city that is completely surrounded by Kansas City, Missouri (abbreviated NKC). It is also called Northtown.
Waldo refers to the Waldo Residential District in Kansas City, Missouri, near 75th Street and Wornall Road.
The Country Club Plaza (called "the Plaza" by locals) is an upscale shopping district built by the J.C. Nichols Co. in the 1920s. It is claimed to be the first suburban shopping district in the United States. [1]
39th Street usually refers to the small section of West 39th Street between State Line Road and Southwest Trafficway in Kansas City, Missouri. It has many restaurants, bars and shops, and is just across the state line from the University of Kansas Medical Center. The area is also referred to as the Volker neighborhood.
Benton Curve, a curve located where Interstate 70 crosses Benton Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, is a site of many accidents.
Pendleton Heights is a historic neighborhood in the Northeast, home to the city's largest concentration of Victorian homes. It is bordered to the north by Cliff Drive, the east by Chestnut Trafficway, the south by Independence Avenue and to the west by the Paseo Trafficway. It is Kansas City's oldest surviving neighborhood.
Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, named for former mayor and current Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, comprises recently renamed portions of 47th Street and Brush Creek Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Library District is a recently defined district around the new Central Library[2] at 14 West 10th Street in Kansas City, Missouri.
Strawberry Hill is a historical area in Kansas City, Kansas that was home to many eastern European immigrants. Later, the neighborhood became home to many Latino/Chicano families. However, with recent immigration from Eastern Europe, Strawberry Hill is currently seeing immigration once again from Eastern Europe.
Hospital Hill is the area near 23rd and Holmes in Kansas City, Missouri, and consists of two major hospitals (Truman Medical Center, The Children's Mercy Hospital) and the University of Missouri, Kansas City's School of Medicine.
Argentine is a part of Kansas City, Kansas, near 30th and Argentine. It is one of the oldest Mexican/Chicano neighborhoods in Kansas City with Mexican immigration to that area dating to the 1800s.
The Crossroads Arts District is a Downtown neighborhood between the Central Business District and Union Station, centered around the intersection of 19th Street and Baltimore in Kansas City, Missouri. It contains dozens of art galleries and is considered by many to be the center of the arts culture in the metropolitan area. Local artists sponsor exhibits there on the first Friday of each month.
Northeast, refers to the Historic Old Northeast District, a working-class immigrant collection of neighorhoods. It is between downtown Kansas City and the smaller city of Independence. It was originally one of the more fashionable areas in the city, and the oldest residential neighborhoods. It is also home to peoples from dozens of nations, representing cultures from Africa, Central and South America, Europe and Asia. Though a vital part of the KCMA and very unique, it is often overlooked by non-Kansas Citians for political and economic reasons.
The primary newspaper of the metropolitan area is The Kansas City Star.The McClatchy Company, the owner of The Star, also owns the suburban weeklies Lee's Summit Journal and Olathe Journal.
The five-day daily "Kansas City Kansan" serves Wyandotte County. Additional weekly papers in the metropolitan include the Liberty Tribune, Sun Newspapers of Johnson County and the Northland, The Examiner in Independence and Eastern Jackson County, and The Pitch. Two newspapers serve the area's faith communities: "The Metro Voice Christian Newspaper" and the "Jewish Chronicle". "Dos Mundos" is the area's primary newspaper that serves the Spanish speaking community with articles printed in Spanish and English.
According to Arbitron, about 1.5 million people over the age of 12 are part of the Kansas City DMA, making it the 30th largest market for radio and 31st for television Nielsen ratings.
Television
Kansas City metro television stations, with all major network affiliates represented, include:
Over 30 FM and 20 AM stations broadcast in the Kansas City area, with stations from Topeka, St. Joseph, and Carrollton also reaching into the metropolitan. The highest rated radio stations according to Arbitron:
Hispanics account for five percent of the market and are served by three AM radio stations (KCZZ, KDTD, and KKHK) and a Univision affiliate, KUKC-LP.
Business interests
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area's largest private employer is Sprint Nextel Corporation. The international telecommunications company maintains its global operational headquarters at its 200-acre campus facility in south Overland Park. During 2003, the company employed nearly 18,500 people in the five-county metropolitan area, with wages of more than $1.16 billion generating $58 million in local and state income taxes. Sprint spent more than $21 million on property taxes and $1.74 billion for goods and services from area businesses. Since the merger, Sprint Nextel's corporate headquarters moved to Reston, Virginia, and the company spun off its local telephone service into a new company called Embarq, also based in Overland Park.
Premium Standard Farms, provider of pork products, producing pork products for the retail, wholesale, foodservice, further processor and export markets
