KANSAS CITY: Exploring The Fascinating West Bottoms
video description
Date: 2024-01-28
Related videos
Comments and reviews: 34
GirlyCPenguins
This was crazy to me as a KC transplant. I’m not a huge fan of it here (mainly the weather) but I feel like it is so much better than what you showed. You didn’t drive residential areas like you did with other videos. You didn’t even drive through the west bottoms just the outskirts there’s some interesting places down there for sure. And avoiding touristy areas sure but to stop so close to the power and light district not even drive through the library district or mention river market which you drove past is crazy! You could’ve showed the divide there’s a lot of blocks that are big beautiful house one block and the next one over is rundown. I came to this video from the Cheyenne video and you did the touristy things there ie. the capitol building the train station Stanford’s especially is touristy, so I don’t understand why KC didn’t get the same justice. Also the drive from Des Moines to downtown you drove past St Joseph which is rich in history and I was surprised you didn’t make a quick mention of it.
reply
This was crazy to me as a KC transplant. I’m not a huge fan of it here (mainly the weather) but I feel like it is so much better than what you showed. You didn’t drive residential areas like you did with other videos. You didn’t even drive through the west bottoms just the outskirts there’s some interesting places down there for sure. And avoiding touristy areas sure but to stop so close to the power and light district not even drive through the library district or mention river market which you drove past is crazy! You could’ve showed the divide there’s a lot of blocks that are big beautiful house one block and the next one over is rundown. I came to this video from the Cheyenne video and you did the touristy things there ie. the capitol building the train station Stanford’s especially is touristy, so I don’t understand why KC didn’t get the same justice. Also the drive from Des Moines to downtown you drove past St Joseph which is rich in history and I was surprised you didn’t make a quick mention of it.
reply
usa-by-car
You were never on any major streets or areas, but was basically on all side streets and allies and loft areas. Not sure why you were even where you were when you started the video except for shock value, which is what this entire video appeared to be for.
You missed: Jazz Museum, Country Club Plaza, the beautiful mansions south of there, Westport, Nelson Atkins Museum, Crown Center, Hallmark Cards HQ, Midtown, WW1 War Museum and an entire park around it. Union Station, Convention Center, The Performing Arts Center, KCPL Light District central. The sports complex. The list goes on and on
So many of these places are blatantly visible which makes it obscenely obvious that you intentionally avoided those places.
That type of editing of a city that I’m familiar with makes me question the validity and honesty of all of the other videos of yours that I’ve watched. Sad and embarrassing video.
reply
You were never on any major streets or areas, but was basically on all side streets and allies and loft areas. Not sure why you were even where you were when you started the video except for shock value, which is what this entire video appeared to be for.
You missed: Jazz Museum, Country Club Plaza, the beautiful mansions south of there, Westport, Nelson Atkins Museum, Crown Center, Hallmark Cards HQ, Midtown, WW1 War Museum and an entire park around it. Union Station, Convention Center, The Performing Arts Center, KCPL Light District central. The sports complex. The list goes on and on
So many of these places are blatantly visible which makes it obscenely obvious that you intentionally avoided those places.
That type of editing of a city that I’m familiar with makes me question the validity and honesty of all of the other videos of yours that I’ve watched. Sad and embarrassing video.
reply
jorshaw86
Ignore the smucks in the comments I've lived in KC on and off for 30 years. You're absolutely correct the downtown is not planned correctly, it's basically a giant parking lot. The urban centers are located outside of the downtown area like the plaza, brookside, crossroads, river market. Crossroads and river market are just south and north of downtown respectively but lack proper residential buildings so not accessible to most people. Also there is currently exactly 1 light rail line that is really not all that useful. They are expanding it down to the plaza area so it would connect plaza and river market which would be nice. However it's too hot or too cold to 8 months out of the year so doing stuff outside is miserable.
TLDR; KC is is a shithole, lacks urban planning and has terrible weather.
reply
Ignore the smucks in the comments I've lived in KC on and off for 30 years. You're absolutely correct the downtown is not planned correctly, it's basically a giant parking lot. The urban centers are located outside of the downtown area like the plaza, brookside, crossroads, river market. Crossroads and river market are just south and north of downtown respectively but lack proper residential buildings so not accessible to most people. Also there is currently exactly 1 light rail line that is really not all that useful. They are expanding it down to the plaza area so it would connect plaza and river market which would be nice. However it's too hot or too cold to 8 months out of the year so doing stuff outside is miserable.
TLDR; KC is is a shithole, lacks urban planning and has terrible weather.
reply
coreywilson6693
I was born just on the other side of I-70 less than a mile from downtown 40 years ago, still live here today and virtually the entire time in between too. I'm downtown regularly these days, and it definitely lacks the hustle and bustle one would expect, occasionally giving it a slightly deserted feeling. I also had many fascinating and memorable encounters with the blighted, much more derelict mid-80's-early-2000's era version of itself. Side-by-side, today's downtown is a colorful, friendly and welcoming oasis compared to the deserted, grimy and much more off-putting version of my youth.
reply
I was born just on the other side of I-70 less than a mile from downtown 40 years ago, still live here today and virtually the entire time in between too. I'm downtown regularly these days, and it definitely lacks the hustle and bustle one would expect, occasionally giving it a slightly deserted feeling. I also had many fascinating and memorable encounters with the blighted, much more derelict mid-80's-early-2000's era version of itself. Side-by-side, today's downtown is a colorful, friendly and welcoming oasis compared to the deserted, grimy and much more off-putting version of my youth.
reply
madamnchannel
I totally get the whole grimey vibes thing. But when you go to a place like downtown and question it being a top 10 because it’s dead isn’t doing it justice. I get it was dead when you went, but why even mention it being all those things and expecting to see that at 10: 30 in the morning. Just don’t even bother hyping if up if you’re not going to experience it in its prime. Just say hey, this is Kansas City downtown has a nice architecture and then move on to the bottoms for your grimey. I don’t give a rats ass regardless just trying to help you make better videos.
reply
I totally get the whole grimey vibes thing. But when you go to a place like downtown and question it being a top 10 because it’s dead isn’t doing it justice. I get it was dead when you went, but why even mention it being all those things and expecting to see that at 10: 30 in the morning. Just don’t even bother hyping if up if you’re not going to experience it in its prime. Just say hey, this is Kansas City downtown has a nice architecture and then move on to the bottoms for your grimey. I don’t give a rats ass regardless just trying to help you make better videos.
reply
usa-by-car
KC is a north to south city. Unfortunately you went east to west, highlighting some of the most unflattering parts. Some things you missed that would’ve been awesome - union station is the 2nd largest operating train station in the country, behind grand central. Across the street is the only WWI memorial in the country. 18th and vine, the jazz district that was barely mentioned. Also the country club plaza, a bit farther south, was the first open air mall in the country and is the shopping district of kc - not downtown. And that’s off the top of my head.
reply
KC is a north to south city. Unfortunately you went east to west, highlighting some of the most unflattering parts. Some things you missed that would’ve been awesome - union station is the 2nd largest operating train station in the country, behind grand central. Across the street is the only WWI memorial in the country. 18th and vine, the jazz district that was barely mentioned. Also the country club plaza, a bit farther south, was the first open air mall in the country and is the shopping district of kc - not downtown. And that’s off the top of my head.
reply
renee8096
The main part of downtown it showed was the financial district where everyone's busy at desks- although it's usually not that quiet. Like others have mentioned- Union Station/Crown Center area would have been perhaps more ideal. Not to mention it's the locations for both the KC Massacre, and the Hyatt Walkway collapse (both tragedies sparked nationwide attention. But West bottoms is really fun on first Fridays of each month. They open those vast old buildings that are now commonly antique shops for the public. Hope you enjoyed your visit.
reply
The main part of downtown it showed was the financial district where everyone's busy at desks- although it's usually not that quiet. Like others have mentioned- Union Station/Crown Center area would have been perhaps more ideal. Not to mention it's the locations for both the KC Massacre, and the Hyatt Walkway collapse (both tragedies sparked nationwide attention. But West bottoms is really fun on first Fridays of each month. They open those vast old buildings that are now commonly antique shops for the public. Hope you enjoyed your visit.
reply
ZombieSushiOG
Maybe you should do your research of the cities your visiting so you can get an accurate representation of the community and what they have to offer. To me it just looks like your purposely trying to make certain cities look bad. Yeh KC isn't the best place in America, but the simple fact that you visited the places no one goes to KC for just shows how much you really don't care and are just trying to get views by making locals mad
reply
Maybe you should do your research of the cities your visiting so you can get an accurate representation of the community and what they have to offer. To me it just looks like your purposely trying to make certain cities look bad. Yeh KC isn't the best place in America, but the simple fact that you visited the places no one goes to KC for just shows how much you really don't care and are just trying to get views by making locals mad
reply
kellysartthrob
I've been watching your road trip and gotta say, you missed a lot of interesting grunge in KC bottoms. You missed The Roasterie and a ton of indie owned restaurants, shops, abandoned buildings on and right off Southwest Blvd. Maybe it was just an off day. It happens, but it's a little bit of a bummer bc there's some cool stuff I think you'd have liked to have seen. Maybe another time.
reply
I've been watching your road trip and gotta say, you missed a lot of interesting grunge in KC bottoms. You missed The Roasterie and a ton of indie owned restaurants, shops, abandoned buildings on and right off Southwest Blvd. Maybe it was just an off day. It happens, but it's a little bit of a bummer bc there's some cool stuff I think you'd have liked to have seen. Maybe another time.
reply
sw5713
Love the videos. To be fair, at 10 am everyone is inside those tall buildings working lol. And west bottoms is where the first buildings were built to start kc along the convergence of the rivers. So over time, the kc downtown used to be there, which is why all those old building are being restored. Once downtown moved to current, the old downtown went into decay for decades.
reply
Love the videos. To be fair, at 10 am everyone is inside those tall buildings working lol. And west bottoms is where the first buildings were built to start kc along the convergence of the rivers. So over time, the kc downtown used to be there, which is why all those old building are being restored. Once downtown moved to current, the old downtown went into decay for decades.
reply
karleebathke6081
You keep saying that you are in the heart of downtown, but you aren’t. Go south and go on an evening or weekend. KC doesn’t have a lot of downtown residential and what they do have is high end real estate. Folks that hang out down there aren’t going to be walking around. Doesn’t mean that it’s a bad downtown. Go south to Westport or midtown.
reply
You keep saying that you are in the heart of downtown, but you aren’t. Go south and go on an evening or weekend. KC doesn’t have a lot of downtown residential and what they do have is high end real estate. Folks that hang out down there aren’t going to be walking around. Doesn’t mean that it’s a bad downtown. Go south to Westport or midtown.
reply
Numbers1877
Well so far half way there in your in a business district, visit power and light district and the plaza and Westport, Union station and the River quay district, people are not downtown and the people who live downtown work and then come out at night. Funny didn't see any homeless. So many places you didn't know to turn, needed somebody from KC to show you
reply
Well so far half way there in your in a business district, visit power and light district and the plaza and Westport, Union station and the River quay district, people are not downtown and the people who live downtown work and then come out at night. Funny didn't see any homeless. So many places you didn't know to turn, needed somebody from KC to show you
reply
Anthony-kp7sf
not sure if its still in top 10 downtowns in the country there's no foot traffic
THATS THE POINT. its spread out. you want a million people on top of you all day
KC is easily the cleanest downtown city ive ever been to, even if the crime rate is absurd. you also pretty much walked through the most boring parts of the city, some how.
reply
not sure if its still in top 10 downtowns in the country there's no foot traffic
THATS THE POINT. its spread out. you want a million people on top of you all day
KC is easily the cleanest downtown city ive ever been to, even if the crime rate is absurd. you also pretty much walked through the most boring parts of the city, some how.
reply
memecats5698
So you never hit the plaza, Union Station and any of the barbecue places. One of our barbecue places has been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network twice and it is close to Troost but farther down than you were called B. B. 's Lawnside BBQ. Also miss the Kansas City, MO library that looks like a row of books.
reply
So you never hit the plaza, Union Station and any of the barbecue places. One of our barbecue places has been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on Food Network twice and it is close to Troost but farther down than you were called B. B. 's Lawnside BBQ. Also miss the Kansas City, MO library that looks like a row of books.
reply
foxygemini01
You missed so much. You didn’t showcase KC properly at all. Maybe when you come to Kansas you can try again, besides you not gonna get a good video with KCK, but you could get a dope video of KCMO if you actually go to places ppl actually frequent. Come on a First Friday or something.
reply
You missed so much. You didn’t showcase KC properly at all. Maybe when you come to Kansas you can try again, besides you not gonna get a good video with KCK, but you could get a dope video of KCMO if you actually go to places ppl actually frequent. Come on a First Friday or something.
reply
robertclark2240
The part where you are is busier on the we/eat. ekends. Residents move on Main Street via free train North to City Market or South to the Midtown area around the train station and Hallmark City. It's a good and safe place to live, work and just park and walk or eat.
reply
The part where you are is busier on the we/eat. ekends. Residents move on Main Street via free train North to City Market or South to the Midtown area around the train station and Hallmark City. It's a good and safe place to live, work and just park and walk or eat.
reply
ledzep3692
I'm glad you went down Troost. I had to talk my daughter out of going to UMKC Law School because of the crime in that area. They offered her a full scholarship. She ended up going to Wash U. But she got burnt out on jail visits, so now she's a teacher in Colorado.
reply
I'm glad you went down Troost. I had to talk my daughter out of going to UMKC Law School because of the crime in that area. They offered her a full scholarship. She ended up going to Wash U. But she got burnt out on jail visits, so now she's a teacher in Colorado.
reply
jhnycat9
Wow, really made KC look ghetto. Hope you got around to seeing the good side.
Like Union Station, WWI museum, the plaza, ward parkway, Swope park, the crossroads, city market. Enjoy your videos, but you really blew this one.
(Probably can tell I live here.
reply
Wow, really made KC look ghetto. Hope you got around to seeing the good side.
Like Union Station, WWI museum, the plaza, ward parkway, Swope park, the crossroads, city market. Enjoy your videos, but you really blew this one.
(Probably can tell I live here.
reply
tamithomas8519
Go Chiefs! Hopefully you are not missing the real beauty of these big cities by only going to the places you show us. If I didn't once live in KC, I would have been left with a gloomy picture of the city, which couldn't be further from the truth.
reply
Go Chiefs! Hopefully you are not missing the real beauty of these big cities by only going to the places you show us. If I didn't once live in KC, I would have been left with a gloomy picture of the city, which couldn't be further from the truth.
reply
kennethsmith9330
When I tell people how to differentiate which is Kansas City, Kansas and which is Kansas City, Missouri I tell them If you're watching Football or Baseball on TV, that's Kansas City, Missouri, if you're watching Cops. that's Kansas City, Kansas
reply
When I tell people how to differentiate which is Kansas City, Kansas and which is Kansas City, Missouri I tell them If you're watching Football or Baseball on TV, that's Kansas City, Missouri, if you're watching Cops. that's Kansas City, Kansas
reply
catb505
My grandfather and great grandfather operated a very successful farm implement business in the West Bottoms from the early 1920’s until the 1950’s. The area was safe at that time from what I hear, but it was common to flood out from heavy rain.
reply
My grandfather and great grandfather operated a very successful farm implement business in the West Bottoms from the early 1920’s until the 1950’s. The area was safe at that time from what I hear, but it was common to flood out from heavy rain.
reply
johndix177
Well as many other people have already said here, so sorry you completely missed Union Station, the Crossroads district, Liberty Memorial, the Plaza and Brookside areas! Tbh you should revisit the city and actually see all the above!
reply
Well as many other people have already said here, so sorry you completely missed Union Station, the Crossroads district, Liberty Memorial, the Plaza and Brookside areas! Tbh you should revisit the city and actually see all the above!
reply
usa-by-car
Johnson county Kansas has the highest GDP in the area, not Missouri, there’s a bunch of office parks and buildings there, the power and light district actually loses money every year and doesn’t pay for itself.
reply
Johnson county Kansas has the highest GDP in the area, not Missouri, there’s a bunch of office parks and buildings there, the power and light district actually loses money every year and doesn’t pay for itself.
reply
usa-by-car
On thr weekend of the First Friday of every month, all the antique stores, flea markets, and craft stores are open in the old buildings. Many people come shopping there. It's one of my favorite places to go.
reply
On thr weekend of the First Friday of every month, all the antique stores, flea markets, and craft stores are open in the old buildings. Many people come shopping there. It's one of my favorite places to go.
reply
paulmardle8901
sitting with mouth open thinking what a dump, is there no where in the states that is not deralict or run dowhn with high crime rates, no american dream here for me, you can keep it, will never go there
reply
sitting with mouth open thinking what a dump, is there no where in the states that is not deralict or run dowhn with high crime rates, no american dream here for me, you can keep it, will never go there
reply
RobertTheCreator
I absolutely love The West Bottoms. What’s happening there is something special. Downtown is very fun at night when there are events. Tbh I enjoy the calm & quiet whenever things are slow.
reply
I absolutely love The West Bottoms. What’s happening there is something special. Downtown is very fun at night when there are events. Tbh I enjoy the calm & quiet whenever things are slow.
reply
ashleyjones8021
You're there on the middle of the week. People are at work. Come on a Saturday evening and it will be full. Also power and light, the Plaza, and Westport is where the action is.
reply
You're there on the middle of the week. People are at work. Come on a Saturday evening and it will be full. Also power and light, the Plaza, and Westport is where the action is.
reply
usa-by-car
Terrible review. also, you really need to fact check yourself, you made many errors and mistakes. But, to be expected from an outsider that doesn't know nothing about nothing.
reply
Terrible review. also, you really need to fact check yourself, you made many errors and mistakes. But, to be expected from an outsider that doesn't know nothing about nothing.
reply
DaVid-yp3js
Lots of haters posting here, a lot of history he has shown. My guess is the folks posting here has never even been where he is showing. Only repeating what has said.
reply
Lots of haters posting here, a lot of history he has shown. My guess is the folks posting here has never even been where he is showing. Only repeating what has said.
reply
peterw. kocsis2520
Pretty unimpressed with KC. The downtown has next to nothing to offer, and the warehouse districts are come see, come saw. Good video and coverage as always!
reply
Pretty unimpressed with KC. The downtown has next to nothing to offer, and the warehouse districts are come see, come saw. Good video and coverage as always!
reply
usa-by-car
This was a really poor one. You missed the hottest section of downtown, Crown Center and Liberty Hill, Westport, Country Club Plaza, Brookside. Really odd route
reply
This was a really poor one. You missed the hottest section of downtown, Crown Center and Liberty Hill, Westport, Country Club Plaza, Brookside. Really odd route
reply
hankschrader7050
If you did your research on the city before visiting then you would have went North to South (city center. Instead you went to the hoods and black areas.
reply
If you did your research on the city before visiting then you would have went North to South (city center. Instead you went to the hoods and black areas.
reply
randy7928
You were probably wise not to hang a left at 39th st. They wouldn't take kindly to you pointing a camera around at everyone like you're driving through a zoo.
reply
You were probably wise not to hang a left at 39th st. They wouldn't take kindly to you pointing a camera around at everyone like you're driving through a zoo.
reply
Giles29
When I lived in Kansas City, the West Bottoms was one of my favorite areas. Maybe because it was so empty, but had amazing history at the same time
reply
When I lived in Kansas City, the West Bottoms was one of my favorite areas. Maybe because it was so empty, but had amazing history at the same time
reply
Add a review, comment
Other channel videos
2:19:11