Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas, the county seat of Wyandotte County, and the third-largest city of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Kansas City, Kansas is abbreviated as "KCK" to differentiate it from Kansas City, Missouri. It is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified Government". Wyandotte County also includes the independent cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 145,786 residents. It is situated at Kaw Point, which is the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.
History
In October 1872, "old" Kansas City, Kansas, was incorporated. The first city election was held on October 22 of that year, by order of Judge Hiram Stevens of the Tenth Judicial District, and resulted in the election of Mayor James Boyle. The mayors of the city after its organization were James Boyle, C. A. Eidemiller, A. S. Orbison, Eli Teed and Samuel McConnell. In June 1880, the Governor of Kansas proclaimed the city of Kansas City a city of the second class with Mayor McConnell present.
In March 1886, "new" Kansas City, Kansas, was formed through the consolidation of five municipalities: "old" Kansas City, Armstrong, Armourdale, Riverview, Wyandotte. The oldest city of the group was Wyandotte, which was formed in 1857 by Wyandot Native Americans and Methodist missionaries.
In the 1890s, the city saw an explosive growth in population as a streetcar suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. This growth continued until the 1930s. It was one of the nation's 100 largest cities for many U.S. Census counts, from 1890 to 1960, including 1920, when it had a population of over 100,000 residents for the first time.
As with adjacent Kansas City, Missouri, the percentage of the city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites, has declined from 76.3% in 1970 to 40.2% in 2010. In 1997, voters approved a proposition to unify the city and county governments creating the Unified Government of Wyandotte County.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 128.38 square miles (332.50Â km2), of which, 124.81 square miles (323.26Â km2) is land and 3.57 square miles (9.25Â km2) is water.
Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods of Kansas City, Kansas, include the following:
- Downtown
- Argentine âˆ' former home to the silver smelter for which it was named; it was consolidated with Kansas City in 1910.
- Armourdale âˆ' formerly a city, it was consolidated with the city of Kansas City in 1886.
- Armstrong âˆ' a town absorbed by Wyandotte.
- Bethel âˆ' a neighborhood located generally along Leavenworth Rd., between 72nd and 77th Streets. It was never incorporated as a municipality.
- Fairfax District âˆ' an industrial area along the Missouri River.
- Muncie
- Maywood âˆ' until the late 1990s, Maywood was a quiet, isolated residential area; it is now part of the "Village West" project that includes the Legends shopping and entertainment district, the Children's Mercy Park soccer stadium, T-Bones' Community America baseball park, the Schlitterbahn amusement water park, the Kansas Speedway racetrack and Hollywood Casino.
- Nearman
- Piper
- Pomeroy âˆ' a late-19thâ€"early-20th-century Train Depot, Trading Post, Saw Mill, and river landing for barges to load and unload.
- Riverview
- Rosedale âˆ' merged with Kansas City in 1922.
- Stony Point
- Strawberry Hill
- Turner âˆ' community around the Wyandotte-Johnson County border to the Kansas River north-south, and from I-635 to I-435 east-west.
- Vinewood
- Wolcott
- Welborn
Parks and parkways
- City Park
- Wyandotte County Lake Park
Climate
Kansas City lies in the Midwestern United States, as well as near the geographic center of the country, at the confluence of the longest river in the country, the Missouri River, and the Kansas River (also known as the Kaw River). The city lies in the Humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) zone, with four distinct seasons, and moderate precipitation, and is part of USDA plant hardiness zones 5b and 6a Being located in the center of North America, far removed from a significant body of water, there is significant potential for extremes of hot and cold swings in temperature throughout the year. Unless otherwise stated, normal figures below are based on data from 1981 to 2010 at Downtown Airport. The warmest month of the year is July, with a 24-hour average temperature of 81.0 °F (27.2 °C). The summer months are hot, but can get very hot and moderately humid, with moist air riding up from the Gulf of Mexico. High temperatures surpass 100 °F (38 °C) on 5.6 days of the year, and 90 °F (32 °C) on 47 days. The coldest month of the year is January, with an average temperature of 31.0 °F (âˆ'0.6 °C). Winters are cold, with 22 days where the high is at or below the freezing mark and 2.5 nights with a low at or below 0 °F (âˆ'18 °C). The official record maximum temperature is 113 °F (45 °C), set on August 14, 1936, at Downtown Airport, while the official record minimum temperature is âˆ'23 °F (âˆ'31 °C), set on December 22 and 23, 1989. Normal seasonal snowfall is 13.4 inches (34 cm) at Downtown Airport and 18.8 in (48 cm) at Kansas City International Airport. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 31 to April 4, while for measurable (0.1 in or 0.25 cm) snowfall, it is November 27 to March 16 as measured at Kansas City International Airport. Precipitation, both in frequency and total accumulation, shows a marked uptick in late spring and summer.
Kansas City is situated on the edge of the "Tornado Alley", a broad region where cold air from the Rocky Mountains in Canada collides with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms especially during the spring. A few areas of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area have had some severe outbreaks of tornadoes at different points in the past, including the Ruskin Heights tornado in 1957, and the May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence. The region can also fall victim to the sporadic ice storm during the winter months, such as the 2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands lost power for days and (in some cases) weeks. Kansas City and its outlying areas are also subject to flooding, including the Great Flood of 1993 and the Great Flood of 1951.
Demographics
According to the 2010 census, there were 145,786 people, 53,925 households, and 35,112 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,168.1 inhabitants per square mile (451.0/km2). There were 61,969 housing units at an average density of 496.5 per square mile (191.7/km2). The median age in the city was 32.5 years. 28.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.7% were from 25 to 44; 23.7% were from 45 to 64; and 10.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.
There were 53,925 households of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.1% were married couples living together, 18.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.9% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.32.
The racial composition of Kansas City, Kansas, as of 2010, was as follows:
- White: 52.2%
- Black or African American: 26.8%
- Native American: 0.8%
- Asian: 2.7%
- Pacific Islander: 0.1%
- Other races: 13.6%
- Two or more races: 3.8%
- Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 27.8%
- Non-Hispanic Whites: 40.2%
As of the 2000 census, the median household income in the city was $33,011, and the median income for a family was $39,491. Males had a median income of $30,992 versus $24,543 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,737. About 13.0% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.8% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that employment in Wyandotte County, Kansas increased 4% from March 2011 to March 2012. The sharp rise in the number of workers resulted in Wyandotte County ranking 19th in the nation and 1st in the Kansas City metropolitan area for job growth as of September 28, 2012.
Kansas City, Kansas, is the home to the General Motors Fairfax Assembly Plant, which manufactures the Chevrolet Malibu and the Buick LaCrosse. The Federal Bureau of Prisons maintains its North Central Region Office in the city. In addition, Associated Wholesale Grocers and Kansas City Steak Company are based within the city. The largest employer is the University of Kansas Hospital. The adjoining University of Kansas Medical Center, including the schools of medicine, nursing, and allied health, is also among the city's largest employers (with a student population of about 3,000).
Village West is a business and entertainment district located at the intersection of Interstates 70 and 435. Anchored by the Kansas Speedway, tenants include Hollywood Casino, The Legends At Village West, Cabela's, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Great Wolf Lodge, CommunityAmerica Ballpark, the home stadium of the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association, and Children's Mercy Park, the home stadium of the Sporting Kansas City Major League Soccer franchise. Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, a 370-acre (1.5Â km2) resort and waterpark, opened across I-435 from Village West in June 2009.
Kansas City was ranked in 2010 as the #7 best city in the U.S. to start over after foreclosure. Average rent in Kansas City is only $788, which is low in relation to the national average of $1,087 spent on rent.
On March 30, 2011, Google announced that Kansas City had been selected as the site of an experimental fiber-optic network that it would build at no cost to the city. Kansas City was chosen from a field of 1,100 U.S. communities that had applied for the network. The network became operational in 2012. Piper, Kansas, became the first full community in the nation (based on actual residential votes and pre-registration counts) to have residential broadband internet network infrastructures using fiber-optic communication of 1Gbit/sec download and upload speeds provided by Google Fiber.
Largest employers
According to the City's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:
Public libraries
Kansas City, Kansas, is also home to a library system, with five branch libraries spread throughout Wyandotte County; these include the Main Library, South Branch Library, Turner Community Library, West Wyandotte Library, and the Mr. & Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Environmental Library in Wyandotte County Lake Park. The Kansas City, Kansas Public Library was formed in 1895. In 1899, it came under the authority of the Kansas City, Kansas Public School District Board of Education.
Law and government
City government
Kansas City, Kansas, has a consolidated city-county government in which the city and county have been merged into one jurisdiction. As such, it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation; and a county, which is an administrative division of a state. The Kansas Legislature passed enabling legislation in 1997 and voters approved the consolidation proposal the same year.
The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department was founded in 1898. By 1918, the department had begun taking photographs and fingerprints of all the felons its officers had arrested.
The Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department was founded on December 25, 1883. The fire department is part of the Firefighter's Relief Association and the International Association of Fire Fighters. IAFF Local 64 is a charter member and was organized on February 28, 1918. The department has 18 fire stations in the city, and covers an area of approximately 127 square miles. The department also has specialty teams including heavy rescue, hazardous materials, foam team, water rescue, tactical medic, trench rescue, high angle/rope rescue, and technical urban search and rescue. The fire department has four public service programs: a citizens assist program, fire prevention, safe place, and a smoke detector program.
- Mayor/CEO
- Mark Holland
- Board of Commissioners
- At-Large District 1: Melissa Bynum
- At-Large District 2: Hal T. Walker
- District 1: Gayle Townsend
- District 2: Brian McKiernan
- District 3: Ann Brandau-Murguia
- District 4: Harold L. Johnson Jr.
- District 5: Mike Kane
- District 6: Angela Markley
- District 7: Jim F. Walters
- District 8: Jane Winkler Philbrook
Crime
Of the statistics available in 2000 based on data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as part of its Uniform Crime Reporting Program, which represent from arrests made by State and local law enforcement agencies as reported to the FBI, there were a total of 696 incidents.
Transportation
River transportation was important to early Kansas City, Kansas, as its location at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers afforded easy access to trade. A portion of I-70 was the first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 (though not the first constructed or to begin construction).
Major highways
- Interstate 35 â€" To Des Moines, Iowa, to the north and Wichita, Kansas, to the south.
- Interstate 70 â€" To St. Louis, Missouri, to the east and Topeka, Kansas/Denver, Colorado, to the west.
Spur routes and notable roads
- Interstate 435 â€" A bi-state loop through the Missouri and Kansas suburbs.
- Interstate 635 â€" Connects the Kansas suburbs with Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City International Airport.
- Interstate 670 â€" A southern bypass of I-70 and Southern portion of the downtown loop. Signed as East I-70 when exiting from I-35 while traveling north.
- US-24-40 â€" Combination of the US-24 and US-40 highways that pass through Kansas City.
- K-5 â€" 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.
- K-7 â€" A freeway linking Leavenworth County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, Kansas and Johnson County, Kansas.
- K-32 â€" A highway that links Leavenworth County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, and Douglas County, Kansas.
Roads
- US-169, 7th Street Trafficway
- South 18th Street Expressway
- State Avenue and Parallel Parkway
- Kansas Avenue and the Turner Diagonal
Culture
Kansas City, Kansas, has a number of buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which covers 12,500 square miles (32,000Â km2) in eastern Kansas.
Memorial Hall is a 3,500-seat indoor arena/auditorium located in the city's downtown. The venue, which has a permanent stage, is used for public assemblies, concerts and sporting events. In 1887, John G. Braecklein constructed a Victorian home for John and Margaret Scroggs in the area of Strawberry Hill. It is a fine example of the Queen Anne Style architecture erected in Kansas City, Kansas.
The Rosedale Arch, dedicated to the men of Kansas City, Kansas, who served in World War I, is a small-scale replica of France's famous Arc de Triomphe. It is located on Mount Marty in Rosedale, overlooking the intersection of Rainbow and Southwest boulevards.
Wyandotte High School is a notable public school building located at 2501 Minnesota Avenue. Built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project, the school was later designated as a Historical Landmark by the city in 1985 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. In 1889, the Wyandotte County Museum and Historical Society was established as a permanent repository of the county's history. The Argentine Carnegie Library, the only Carnegie library that exists in the metropolitan area, was built in 1917.The library has moved the collections and staff from Argentine to the new South Branch, at 3104 Strong Ave., a few blocks to the west and north, which opened Sep 26, 2012. The library has turned over the building to the Kansas City, Kansas USD 500.
Other notable points of interest in the Kansas City, Kansas, area include Fire Station No. 9, Granada Theater, Hanover Heights Neighborhood Historic District, Huron Cemetery, Judge Louis Gates House, Kansas City, Kansas Hall, Kansas City, Kansas Fire Headquarters, Great Wolf Lodge, Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, Quindaro Townsite, Sauer Castle, Scottish Rite Temple, Shawnee Street Overpass, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, St. Augustine Hall, Theodore Shafer House, Trowbridge Archeological Site, Westheight Manor and Westheight Manor District, White Church Christian Church, Wyandotte County Courthouse and the Muncie area.
Media
Kansas City, Kansas, is part of a bi-state media market that comprises 32 counties in northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri. The Kansas City media market (ranked 32nd by Arbitron and 31st by Nielsen) includes 10 television stations, and 30 FM and 21 AM radio stations. Due to its close proximity to the Topeka media market, most of the television and radio stations from that city are receivable over-the-air in portions of the Kansas City, Kansas, area.
Newspapers
Kansas City, Kansas is served by the Kansan, a daily newspaper which ceased its print publication and became an online-only paper in 2009. Newspapers serving the city's suburbs include The Record (serving Turner, Argentine and Rosedale), Piper Press (serving Piper) and The Wyandotte West (weekly publication for western Wyandotte County).
Weekly newspapers include alternative publication The Pitch, faith-oriented newspaper The Kansas City Metro Voice, The Wyandotte Echo (which focuses on legal news), The Call (which is focused on the African-American community), business newspaper Kansas City Business Journal and the bilingual publication Dos Mundos.
Broadcast media
The major U.S. broadcast television networks have affiliates in the Kansas City market; including WDAF-TV 4 (Fox), KCTV 5 (CBS), KMBC-TV 9 (ABC), KCPT 19 (PBS), KCWE 29 (The CW), KSHB-TV 41 (NBC) and KSMO-TV 62 (MyNetworkTV). Other television stations in the market include Saint Joseph, Missouri-based KTAJ-TV 16 (TBN), KCKS-LD 25, Lawrence, Kansas-based KMCI-TV 38 (independent), Spanish-language station KUKC-LP 48 (Univision), and KPXE-TV 50 (Ion Television).
Sports
Sporting Kansas City
The Major League Soccer franchise Sporting Kansas City (which was originally known as the Kansas City Wiz for its inaugural year in 1996 and the Kansas City Wizards from 1997 to 2010) currently plays its home games at Children's Mercy Park in the Village West district. The team originally planned to move to Trails Stadium, a planned stadium facility in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2011, but the project was scuttled in 2009. The developer of the planned venue moved the project to the Village West area, near CommunityAmerica Ballpark, and received the needed approvals in January 2010.
FC Kansas City
FC Kansas City is a professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Kansas. Established in 2012, the team began play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2013 and won the championship in 2014 after defeating Seattle Reign FC on August 31. The team played their first season in nearby Overland Park.
Kansas City T-Bones
The Kansas City T-Bones are an independent baseball team in the American Association, which moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 2003 and play their home games at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, located adjacent to the Village West development in western Wyandotte County. The T-Bones were previously members of the Northern League (which was not affiliated with Major League Baseball), until it dissolved following the 2010 season. While the remaining Northern League teams became members of the North American League as part of the Northern League's merger with the Golden Baseball League and United Baseball League, the T-Bones joined many other former Northern League teams in the relatively new American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. The T-Bones won the Northern League Championship in 2008.
Auto racing
The Kansas Speedway is an auto racetrack adjacent to the Village West area in western Wyandotte County. The speedway, which is used for races that are part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and other racing series, is a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) tri-oval with turns which bank at a 15° angle. The track held its first race on June 2, 2001, when the Winston West series contested the Kansas 100. The top-level NASCAR Sprint Cup series holds the annual Hollywood Casino 400 at the track. The IZOD IndyCar Series previously had run the RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 from 2001 to 2010; with IndyCar driver Scott Dixon setting the overall lap record for all series.
Educational institutions
Colleges and universities
Private
- Donnelly College
- Kansas Christian College
Public
- Kansas City Kansas Community College
- University of Kansas Medical Center (home of KU's Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health)
Public and private school districts
- Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, USD 500
- Piper, Unified School District 203
- Turner, Unified School District 202
- Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas Catholic Schools
Secondary schools
- Bishop Ward High School
- Fairfax Learning Center
- J. C. Harmon High School
- Kansas City Kansas Community College: Technical Education Center
- Piper High School, Kansas City (Piper, Kansas)
- F.L. Schlagle High School
- Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB)
- Sumner Academy of Arts & Science
- Turner High School
- Washington High School
- Wyandotte High School, Kansas City
Notable people
Notable individuals who were born in and/or have lived in Kansas City, Kansas include actor Ed Asner, jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker, and Olympic track and field athlete Maurice Greene.
Further reading
- ""Images of Kansas City, Kansas", Joe H. Vaughan, Author. ISBNÂ 978-0-7385-9399-9. Arcadia Publishing Co., Inc., 2012
- Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas - Historical and Biographical; Goodspeed Publishing Co; 932 pages; 1890.
Notes
References
External links
- Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas
- Kansas City, KS/Wyandotte County Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Kansas City, Kansas Public Libraries
- Kansas City Map, KDOT
- Texts on Wikisource:
- "Kansas City, a city and county-seat of Wyandotte co., Kan.". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.Â
- "Kansas City, a city and the county-seat of Wyandotte county, Kansas, U.S.A.". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.Â
- "Kansas City. The largest and most important city of Kansas". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.Â