Random population stats.... (Kansas City, St. Louis, Independence: 2014, homes, neighborhoods)

[kcmo]

I'm not sure anybody cares, but I will post this anyway, I ran across this on another forum, so here are the populations of cities in the metro/region that have over 50,000.

2014 estimates

37 Kansas City, Missouri 470,800
128 Overland Park, Kansas 184,525
170 Kansas City, Kansas 149,636
194 Olathe, Kansas 133,062
231 Independence, Missouri 117,494
324 Lee's Summit, Missouri 93,864
333 Lawrence, Kansas 92,763
437 St. Joseph, Missouri 76,967
547 Shawnee, Kansas 64,599
695 Blue Springs, Missouri 53,573
737 Lenexa, Kansas 51,042

Interesting that Overland Park could hit 200k and Olathe could pass KCK in the next several years. Also Lee's Summit should pass the 100k mark.

Metro Kansas City total 2,411,635
Metro Saint Louis total 2,910,738

The Kansas City region is creeping closer and closer to the Saint Louis region in population.

[nycrite]

Wow, when St Joe and Lawrence are considered part of the KC metro, you know it's sprawling!

[rwiksell]

Indepedence is the 4th-largest city in Missouri, and yet Olathe surpasses it? Amazing...

I'm looking forward to KCMO topping the half-million mark again, eventually. Looks like the only time that happened in the past was at the 1970 census. And it once ranked as low as 19th, but we all know that's never happening again.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by nycrite

Wow, when St Joe and Lawrence are considered part of the KC metro, you know it's sprawling!

Nah, I just listed them as region cities. I do think they are part of the bigger CSA though. For economic purposed, they are part of the greater region. For example, lots of people commute between KC and Lawrence/St Joe. People that live in Lawrence/St Joe visit KC (mostly the suburbs closest to them) on a very regular basis to shop etc. The sports teams easily draw from Lawrence/St Joe etc.

I have a brother that lives in the Northland and commutes to St Joe, which is about the same as commuting to Overland Park or something. There is now fixed bus route service between JoCo and Lawrence. So while not part of the metro, they are definitely part of the overall kansas city extended metro or region.

[lovekcmo]

The St Louis metro is really about depending on stats about half a million to 700,000 on the high end , larger than KC. For some reason St Louis thinks St Louis is millions of people larger, twice as large. It's strange that St Louis thinks they are more comparable as a city to Chicago, 3 times larger than St Louis, than to Kansas City.

[shindig]

It will be interesting to see what the 2020 official census numbers are for KC. I think by then, KC will be well over the 500k mark. Not sure about STL, they seem to continue to bleed population in the urban core. KC seems to be adding a lot more residents in the river to plaza area and the northland than STL. Downtown STL just hasn't caught on as a place to live, work and play like KC has. Cordish seems more interested in downtown KC...could be they have more at stake with PnL vs Ballpark Village.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by shindig

It will be interesting to see what the 2020 official census numbers are for KC. I think by then, KC will be well over the 500k mark. Not sure about STL, they seem to continue to bleed population in the urban core. KC seems to be adding a lot more residents in the river to plaza area and the northland than STL. Downtown STL just hasn't caught on as a place to live, work and play like KC has. Cordish seems more interested in downtown KC...could be they have more at stake with PnL vs Ballpark Village.

Well a lot has to do with the fact that STL is a much smaller city... the annexed areas north of the river are part of KC proper but are basically suburbia, and that's what I think is driving growth. Downtown and Midtown/Plaza areas too, but I don't think enough to offset the population loss in the blighted half of the city east of Troost. Though I will say, there seem to be a number of newer and nicer developments east of Troost in recent years. Interestingly, the older suburbs in the Northland like Gladstone and Liberty don't seem to be growing too fast, the really "booming" areas do seem to be in KC proper, especially the 3 mile or so radius around the Barry Rd and I-29/Zona Rosa/Tiffany Springs area and northward, like Platte City.

KC proper is, based on the 2010-2014 estimates, growing at a faster pace than it has since 1970. That I think is a really good sign for the city. I'm not sure if it will get to 500k by 2020 but it will definitely by 2025.

And wow at JoCo... Overland Park and Olathe are still booming.

[unsgnd]

I'm surprised how close KC is getting to STL. I've always liked STL and used to spend almost as much time there as KC when I was growing up. It's always been a more recognized city, and people in STL tend to think of themselves as more of a Chicago type city or even east coast (in a loose sense). Thought the city always felt to me like it had identity issues within the community between the poor and the affluent similar to KC but on a more exaggerated scale. Bad press has probably spurred another round of white flight which I hate to see in this decade especially considering Ferguson isn't really that bad of an area. Right now there are secluded homes in Ferguson on estates like mansions selling for $40,000. I did always think it was kind of weird how the media always reported the events as specifically occurring in Ferguson MO, rarely did I ever hear them mention it's a suburb of STL. I get the impression people from all over the country / world imagine Ferguson is basically Jefferson City in terms of size and location. That kind of deflected the pressure over to the Missouri goverment to make statements and changes possibly to save the image of STL which has never been great but the damage was done, and I fear STL metro especially around Florissant will lose population although most of that would probably stay in the metro probably pushing into the south side or Earth City.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

And wow at JoCo... Overland Park and Olathe are still booming.

One has to wonder if more large-scale annexations will be forthcoming..

[RisingAurvandil]

Originally Posted by lovekcmo

The St Louis metro is really about depending on stats about half a million to 700,000 on the high end , larger than KC. For some reason St Louis thinks St Louis is millions of people larger, twice as large. It's strange that St Louis thinks they are more comparable as a city to Chicago, 3 times larger than St Louis, than to Kansas City.

Hah, I don't know anyone here who thinks we are comparable to Chicago. That generation is long gone. Most of us know we are more similar to KC, Cincy, Pittsburgh, etc.

I think Missourians base their views on the population within MO. A smaller percentage of metro StL is in Illinois, whereas a larger percentage of KC is in Kansas. Johnson County will eventually surpass Jackson County. Having so many people and businesses leaving the state isn't even imaginable in St. Louis. The denser built environment of central StL probably affects perceptions as well.

Look, growth is good, but most of us know that both cities are declining in their cores. The 2010 census makes that very clear. Sure, each has a few bright neighborhoods, but the vast majority of growth is in the burbs.