Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is commonly referred to as "KCK" to differentiate it from Kansas City, MO (which is often referred to as "KCMO"). It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, a region of over two million people. The city is part of the "Unified Government" which also includes the cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 145,786. The city is situated at Kaw Point, which is the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.

History
Kansas City, Kansas formed in 1868 and incorporated in October 1872. The Kansas-Missouri border area became the first battlefield in the conflict over slavery and southern secession that led to the American Civil War. The first city election was held October 22, 1872, 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 have been James Boyle, C. A. Eidemiller, A. S. Orbison, Eli Teed and Samuel McConnell. John Sheehan was appointed Marshal in 1875, by Mayor Eli Teed. He was also Chief of Police, having a force of five men. In June 1880, the Governor of Kansas proclaimed the city of Kansas City a city of the second class with the Mayor Samuel McConnell present. James E. Porter was Mayor in 1910.

It was one of the nation's 100 largest cities for many US Census counts, from 1890 to 1960, including 1920, when it had over 100,000 residents for the first time. In 1997, voters approved a proposition to unify the city and county governments.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 127.8 square miles ( 331.0 km²). 124.3 square miles (321.8 km²) of it is land and 3.5 square miles (9.2 km²) of it is water.

Cityscape
Kansas City, Kansas, is organized into a system of neighborhoods, some with histories as independent cities or the sites of major events.

Neighborhoods of Kansas City, Kansas
 * Downtown Kansas City, Kansas
 * Argentine, former home to the silver smeltery for which it was named.
 * Armourdale, formerly a city, consolidated with the city of Kansas City in 1886.
 * Armstrong, a town absorbed by Wyandotte.
 * Bethel
 * Fairfax District, an industrial area along the Missouri River.
 * Muncie
 * Maywood
 * Nearman
 * Piper
 * Pomeroy, late 19th century-early 20th century Train Depot, Trading Post, Saw Mill, and river landing for barges to load-unload.
 * Rosedale
 * Stony Point
 * Strawberry Hill
 * Turner, 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 Park
 * Wyandotte County Lake Park

Climate
Kansas City is situated in "Tornado Alley", a broad region where cold air from the Rocky Mountains and Canada collides with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms. The most recent tornado to strike Kansas City itself was in May 2003. The region is also prone to ice storms, such as the 2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands lost power for days and (in some cases) weeks. The MoKan area was subject to flooding, including the Great Flood of 1993 and the Great Flood of 1951.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 146,866 people, 55,500 households, and 36,241 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,181.9 people per square mile (456.3/km²). There were 61,446 housing units at an average density of 494.5 per square mile (190.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 55.7% White, 30.12% African American, 0.75% Native American, 1.72% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 8.61% from other races, and 2.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.78% of the population.

There were 55,500 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 18.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.25.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.6% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median income for a household 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
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 North Central Region Office is in Kansas City, Kansas. In addition Associated Wholesale Grocers and Kansas City Steak Company are based within the city.

Village West, located at the intersection of Interstates 70 and 435 (11 miles from Downtown KCK), is a development that has significantly fueled growth in KCK and Wyandotte County. Anchored by the Kansas Speedway, tenants include The Legends At Village West, Cabela's, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Great Wolf Lodge, CommunityAmerica Ballpark, home to the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association, and Livestrong Sporting Park, home of Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, a 370 acre resort and waterpark, opened across I-435 from Village West in June 2009.

Kansas City was ranked 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 $1087 spent on rent.

There are now two proposals being looked at by the Kansas Lottery Commission. Penn Hollywood "Hollywood Casino" and Kansas Entertainment "Hard Rock Hotel and Casino" have both received an extension from the Kansas Lottery Commission. This extension gives them until August 28, 2009 to finalize their changes in their proposals.

On March 30, 2011, Google announced that Kansas City had been selected as the site of an experimental fiber-optic network that Google will build at no cost to the city. Kansas City was chosen from a field of 1,100 US communities that had applied for the network. Google plans to have the network in operation by 2012.

Public libraries
Kansas City, Kansas is also home to a large library system, with 5 branch libraries spread throughout Wyandotte County. These include the Main Library, Argentine Library, Turner Community Library, West Wyandotte Library and in Wyandotte County Lake Park, the Mr. & Mrs. F.L. Schlagle Library.

Law and 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 City, Kansas Police Department was founded in 1898. In 1914, it had one of the first motorcycle units in the nation. By 1918, it was taking photographs and fingerprints of all the felons it arrested.

Mayor/CEO

– Joe Reardon

Board of Commissioners

– At-Large District 1, Mayor Pro Tem, Rev Mark Holland

– At-Large District 2, John J. Mendez

– District 1, Nathaniel Barnes

– District 2, William J (Bill) Miller

– District 3, Ann Brandau-Murguia

– District 4, Mark Mitchell

– District 5, Mike Kane

– District 6, Particia Huggins Pettey

– District 7, Thomas R. Cooley

– District 8, Benoyd M. Ellison

Crime
Of the statistics available in 2000 based on data collected by the 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
Kansas City owes its existence to its location as a crossroads. It was at the confluence of the Missouri River and Kansas River and the area was a launching pointing for travelers on the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails. Missouri and Kansas were the first states to start building interstates with Interstate 70. An ever increasing number of interstate loops has encouraged suburban sprawl.



Major highways

 * Interstate 35: To Des Moines, Iowa, to the North and Wichita, Kansas, to the South.
 * Interstate 70: To St. Louis, Missouri, to the East and Topeka, Kansas/Denver, Colorado, to the West.
 * Interstate 435: A Bi-State Loop through the Missouri and Kansas suburbs.
 * Interstate 635: Connects the Kansas suburbs with Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City International Airport.
 * Interstate 670: 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: Combination of the US-24 and US-40 highways that pass through Kansas City.
 * 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.
 * K-7: A freeway linking Leavenworth County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, Kansas, Johnson County, Kansas, and Douglas County, Kansas.
 * K-32 A highway that links Leavenworth County, Kansas, Wyandotte County, and Douglas County, Kansas.

Notable roads

 * US-169, 7th Street Trafficway
 * South 18th Street Expressway
 * State Avenue and Parallel Parkway
 * Kansas Avenue and the Turner Diagonal

Culture
Kansas City has a variety of architecture points of interest, various historically notable landscapes and many famous and interesting buildings. Kansas City, Kansas is home to the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which covers 12500 sqmi of the Roman Catholic community in eastern Kansas.

Media
Kansas City, Kansas is a portion of the Kansas City, Missouri media market.

Broadcast media
The Kansas City, Missouri metro area's media market includes ten television channels along with 30 FM and 21 AM radio stations. KCK residents receive broadcasts from the following stations:
 * WDAF-TV 4 – Fox affiliate.
 * KCTV 5 – CBS affiliate.
 * KMBC-TV 9 – ABC affiliate.
 * KCPT 19 – PBS Member Station
 * KCWE 29 – The CW affiliate.
 * KMCI 38 (independent)
 * KSHB-TV 41 – NBC affiliate.
 * KPXE 50 – Ion Television affiliate.
 * KSMO-TV 62 – My Network TV affiliate.
 * KUKC-LP 48 – Univision affiliate.

Newspapers

 * The Kansan (Daily KCK newspaper (online only))
 * The Wyandotte Echo (Weekly legal newspaper)
 * The Pitch (Alternative weekly newspaper)
 * The Record (serving Turner, Argentine and Rosedale)
 * Piper Press (serving Piper)
 * The Kansas City Call (Weekly African-American newspaper)
 * Dos Mundos (Bilingual newspaper)
 * The Kansas City Metro Voice
 * Kansas City Business Journal
 * The Kansas City Star (based in Kansas City, Missouri, it's the primary daily newspaper for the Kansas City metropolitan area)
 * The Wyandotte West (weekly publication for western Wyandotte Co.)

Sites of interest
Memorial Hall (Kansas City, Kansas) is a 3,500-seat indoor arena/auditorium located in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. The venue, which has a permanent stage, is used for public assemblies, concerts and sporting events.

Kansas Speedway is an auto racetrack in western Kansas City, Kansas. A 1½ mile tri-oval, the speedway has 15-degree banking in its turns. The speedway held its first race on June 2, 2001 with the Winston West series' Kansas 100.

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 Kansas City, Kansas Historic Landmark in 1985 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986.

Other sites of interest include:
 * The 1917 Argentine Carnegie Library (the only Carnegie library existing in the metropolitan area),
 * 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
 * The Muncie area.

The Grinter Place is near the Delaware Crossing (or "Military Crossing"; sometimes "the Secondine") which allowed passage from the old Indian trail when that trail met the waters of the Kaw River. In 1826, Tenskwatawa established a village in Turner and later moved to Whitefeather Spring in Argentine.

Sports
While most professional sports teams in the Kansas City region play in Missouri, two professional sports teams play in Kansas City, Kansas. The city is home to one major professional sports team, Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City (known as the Wizards from 1996–2010). Additionally Kansas City is home a minor league baseball club, the Kansas City T-Bones who play in the American Association. The Kansas Speedway is also located in the city.

Kansas Speedway
Kansas Speedway is an auto racetrack adjacent to the Village West area in western Wyandotte County, Kansas. The speedway, which is used by the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and the Indy Racing League, is a 1.5 mi tri-oval with 15-degree banking in the turns. 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.

Kansas City T-Bones
The Kansas City T-Bones are a professional baseball team that moved to Kansas City, Kansas in 2003. The T-Bones were members of the Northern League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, until the dissolution of the Northern League following the 2010 season. While the remaining Northern League teams entered 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 former Northern League teams in the relatively new American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. From the 2003 season to the present, the T-Bones have played their home games at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, located adjacent to the Village West development in western Wyandotte County, Kansas. The T-Bones were the 2008 Northern League Champions.

Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City is a Major League Soccer team that currently plays at Livestrong Sporting Park. The team originally planned to move to a new stadium in Kansas City, Missouri in 2011, but the project fell through 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.

Private

 * Donnelly 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, Kansas City
 * 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 City
 * Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB), Kansas City
 * Sumner Academy of Arts & Science, Kansas City
 * Turner High School, Kansas City (Turner, Kansas)
 * Washington High School, Kansas City
 * Wyandotte High School, Kansas City

Sister cities

 * 🇦🇹 Linz, Austria
 * 🇭🇷 Karlovac, Croatia
 * 🇮🇪 Limerick, Ireland
 * 🇲🇽 Uruapan, Michoacan, Mexico
 * 🇳🇬 Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Notable people

 * List of people from Kansas City