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I still think KC is a much bigger destination than Indy. More to do. People from Omaha and Des Moines go to KC for vacation. People drive through Indy to get to Chicago or St Louis for vacation . KC is more of a regional city so it has more regional type attractions. Why go to Indy when you have Chicago, Cincy, St Louis etc?
It's also a very self sustaining city. From casinos to sports. Not a lot of reasons to leave. Might drive down to St Louis just for a change of scenery once in a while, but StL has about the same stuff.
When it comes to what's nearby. I would much rather be 8 hours from both Chicago and the Rocky Mountains than just be close to Chicago. We used to go to Chicago every couple of years while in KC. That's enough. There is so much to see in this country and I always wanted to see it all. That's why KC fit us so well. We traveled the entire country on a regular basis. The DC area has been great for the east coast, but the west coast, colorado, utah etc is almost out of reach. Portland? Seattle? Vancouver? San Diego? And actually places like Miami, Atlanta etc are not that much further of a drive from KC as they are from the DC area.
While in KC we would drive to places like Vancouver, San Diego, Atlanta, Toronto, Houston etc and flying from KC was even more convenient. Not a huge airport but short non stop flights to just about everywhere. Now it's a PITA to go any place west of St Louis. But we still do, we are just forced to fly which is expensive and you miss everything in between.
There isn't really more to do in KC, first of all. Indy's downtown is better, but KC has better urban neighborhoods. I mean honestly, Indy as a metro area even has better shopping than metro KC, which is bad for KC because it should get more people there just for shopping since its the only big city in the region. Indy has to compete with Cincy and Chicago for high-end retail.
Indy gets most of its' visitors from different parts of Indiana for getaways, but other than that, just sports and conventions. I don't doubt that KC has more of a regional pull, but Indy is in a much more attractive region, which means a lot. People can easily travel between Chicago, Cincy, Dayton, Columbus, and Louisville from Indy.
By the way, it's not that there is much of a reason to leave Indy, it's just that we easily can. We can easily travel from the hilly terrain of Southern Indiana for camping to the beaches up in Northwest Indiana and Chicago. We can go to one of the premier shopping destinations in the country (Michigan Ave.) and get home in the same day. If you live in KC, you can't.
I am from Omaha, born and raised in Omaha but I will have to say St. Louis takes this. Just from the times I've visited each of the cities mentioned I feel it has the most unique character and diverse environment than the rest. The rest tend to be meh in my opinion (no offense to anyone, like I said I myself am from Omaha)
Anyway. Can somebody tell me if Indy has any more major construction projects in the works? I mean major, not five story condo buildings. I'm plan to get out there in the next month or two and completely rebuild my Indy photos (I have been waiting for the convention hotel to be complete and the area around it look nice and mature).
All across downtown, Indy is seeing mid-rise infill development with retail space involved in most projects. Virginia Ave (all the way down to Fountain Square), Indiana Ave, and of course Mass Ave, are seeing much of this development. Along with downtown Indianapolis, Carmel is becoming surprisingly more urban on Main Street in the Arts & Design District (Carmel Arts and Design District : Carmel, Indiana) with plans to extend the urban area down to its' City Center project (Carmel City Center | Official Site of Downtown Carmel).
All across downtown, Indy is seeing mid-rise infill development with retail space involved in most projects. Virginia Ave (all the way down to Fountain Square), Indiana Ave, and of course Mass Ave, are seeing much of this development. Along with downtown Indianapolis, Carmel is becoming surprisingly more urban on Main Street in the Arts & Design District (Carmel Arts and Design District : Carmel, Indiana) with plans to extend the urban area down to its' City Center project (Carmel City Center | Official Site of Downtown Carmel).
Thanks for the info. Looks like nothing skyline changing any time soon, so that's good. It's nice to see the midrise infill though. While Downtown KC has seen some new construction (mostly in the river market), downtown KC is nearly all conversion projects (warehouse and office buildings converted to residential). Nearly all of the new construction projects in KC are in the plaza and westport areas. There is not much left to renovate so maybe KC will see some new construction downtown.
I have always enjoyed Indy and so I look forward to spending some time there this summer.
KCMO might have a higher per capita GDP but its economy isn't that good once you subtract JOCO (suburban county) out of the mix.
Couldn't that be said about most metros when you take out a primary suburban county??? How is StL City without StL County? We all know that joco sucks a lot of life out of KC though.
There isn't really more to do in KC, first of all. Indy's downtown is better, but KC has better urban neighborhoods. I mean honestly, Indy as a metro area even has better shopping than metro KC, which is bad for KC because it should get more people there just for shopping since its the only big city in the region. Indy has to compete with Cincy and Chicago for high-end retail.
Indy gets most of its' visitors from different parts of Indiana for getaways, but other than that, just sports and conventions. I don't doubt that KC has more of a regional pull, but Indy is in a much more attractive region, which means a lot. People can easily travel between Chicago, Cincy, Dayton, Columbus, and Louisville from Indy.
By the way, it's not that there is much of a reason to leave Indy, it's just that we easily can. We can easily travel from the hilly terrain of Southern Indiana for camping to the beaches up in Northwest Indiana and Chicago. We can go to one of the premier shopping destinations in the country (Michigan Ave.) and get home in the same day. If you live in KC, you can't.
How does indy have better shopping? I really don't know as I'm not a shopping snob and don't really follow that, but I would be curious to know what Indy has that KC doesn't. About the only thing I can think of that KC doesn't have is IKEA.
As someone who lives near KCMO, and has family in Indy...
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Originally Posted by kcmo
And sorry, but the plaza is more than a mall. You have to be kidding me. I guess if you are just talking about the retail portion of the plaza you could say that, but the plaza is a neighborhood or district. It's much more than just the retail shops, but even the retail shops have a very urban feel to them, since most of them date back to the 1930's. If you say you live or work on the plaza, chances are you are blocks from the actual core plaza retail area. have you never been there. Anybody that has any interest in urban planning will tell you that the plaza is unique, it's urban and many have tried to copy it and have failed because it's a neighborhood that has come together over nearly 100 years. Can't duplicate that.
True. The Plaza is a unique area of KC that is truly beautiful made even more beautiful by the lights at Christmas time. However, you could argue that KC has nothing like Monument Circle. It may not be as elaborate but there is something quite amazing about it... some guy in a business suit having an ice cream cone, couple of girls chatting on the steps, somebody at the fountain, couples resting in the grass and an old man playing saxophone. Further down the brick road is the beautiful capitol. All this in the absence of major retail other than a few restaurants to the side. I think it is a draw on this one.
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Originally Posted by kcmo
Well, KC does have a decent amusement park and two good sized water parks. Indy people have to drive to Cincy or something right? I guess that's fine but those places are always a great place for young teens to hang out and have season passes to and having them right in the metro is nice for both entertainment and employment of young teens.
I agree with this. Even though I'm not much of an amusement park person, Indy could benefit from a place like Worlds of Fun. However, Cincy does have one of the countries best, but most might consider 2 hours too far too drive for it.
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Originally Posted by kcmo
KC has a much larger monument than Indy and it's a national monument. The WWI museum is one of the best reviewed museums you will find anywhere. Check out trip advisor. 259 reviews and five star average.
The Indianapolis War Memorial is quite impressive. You ever been? The museums underground is massive - as is KC's. TripAdvisor give KC at 5/5 and the War Memorial like a 4.5/5. Not a big difference, but there is a lack in number of votes which is strange. Indy is 2nd on to DC in monuments. Indy can compete.
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Originally Posted by kcmo
The Nelson Museum is a world class facility and it has that awesome KC contrasting architecture of 1920's art deco and 2010's contemporary modern.
Nelson Atkins is pretty unbeatable in the midwest outside of Chicago, but the IMA is really impressive as well. The Nelson has all that beautiful architecture and real elegance, but what I loved about the IMA was the garden in back with the old victorian house. Even further down there was a nice lake with a floating building where an artist spends their summer creating. Tripadvisor gives the Nelson at 5/5 and the IMA 4.5/5. Sounds about right.
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Originally Posted by kcmo
KC also has an interesting and powerful history. Back in the 20's and 30's, KC was always mentioned with Chicago and Philly as a city with a major organized crime history and the prohibition era in KC really left a mark on the city. The city just has more flavor IMO. KC also has a stronger political history with Harry S Truman being from the city.
History is a tricky thing to compare. KCMO does have an interesting history, and I believe has lived longer as a city than Indy. Still, Indy served as one of the major stops on the underground railroad. Remnants of it still remain under the old Slippery Noodle speakeasy (a reputable jazz bar). Also Indy had the first black newspaper, Madam CJ Walker, and was also the only city not to riot during King's assassination thanks to Robert F. Kennedy's historic speech. Also Indy created Kurt Vonnegut. How awesome is that? Kansas City's strength is its jazz culture which makes it a nice jazz venue even today.
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Originally Posted by kcmo
And don't tell me that the indy track is so much better. nascar is nacar. Indy is Indy. If you need your fill of auto racing, KC has one of the better tracks in the country from what I have been told. I have gone to Indy and nascar races with free tickets and it was neat for the first 15 minutes. and people I know that have gone to the Indy 500 say you can't really even see the race because the track is so big. Cars just come by once in a while. It's just a place you go to say you have been there and take in the atmosphere, but if you want to see a good race, just hit up the local track. 100,000 people do it several times a year in KC.
Okay this bugs me. Really? Your going to throw the Kansas City Speedway against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway? Really? After all the talk about how history makes a place more interesting. KCMO will never be on a level anywhere near Indy in terms of racing culture. Yes, racing culture- just because it doesn't hang in a museum doesn't mean it is not worthy of admiration. I am unmovable on this one. After all, your bored by racing yes? What does a speedway matter to you? But to someone who truly appreciates racing, I think the IMS would be a big deal. A piece of history.
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Originally Posted by kcmo
Personally, I think Indy's location is overrated. I roam the entire country. If I'm going to live in flyover country, may a well live in the middle so that Colorado and the west coast is a lot closer too. Just being close to Cincy and Chicago and Louisville doesn't do much for me when I'm just that much further from Denver or Dallas or Seattle. If you want a great location with lots nearby. Try the DC area or the San Fran Bay area. Forget Indianapolis. If you want the ENTIRE country to be accessible (1-3 hour flight and 1/2 day-2 day drive to any place in the US and CA) and still live in a big city with lots to do, you really can't beat Kansas City.
KC's heart location does have its pluses. But when you say KC is as close to Seattle as Indy is to Chicago, you mean people in KC use a plane and people in Indy take the bus. True. However, having to take a plane somewhere is far different than having to take a bus someplace. $20-40 can buy a person in Indy a roundtrip bus ticket to Chicago. They don't have to deal with parking, they don't have to deal with airport security, they don't have to deal with airports in general. Chicago, Louisville & Cincy are spontaneously close to Indy unlike most cities around KC which require months of preparation to be reasonably affordable.
The truth is that KC and Indy are so comparable that it is not even funny. Neither sweeps either.
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. KC is more of a regional city so it has more regional type attractions. Why go to Indy when you have Chicago, Cincy, St Louis etc?
