Update for Everyone VI: What Is and What Should Never Be

[America Needs R'hllor]

Tomorrow's the Jerusalem Pride Parade, and I'm going with my boyfriend I also know a lot of people from the Jerusalem community but didn't keep contact with many of them so I'm excited about meeting them. It's going to be great!

[Reaganfan Democrat]

At the races.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

I cannot die before I spend a day at the track with Santander.

[Kingpoleon]

At the races.

The stands look packed!

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Won $47 dollars at a casino. Spoke to my brother for the first time in five weeks (he’s really embraced sobriety this time). Met my late therapist’s daughter and got to get some closure of sorts. Triggered teh libs.

Today was awesome!

[Reaganfan Democrat]

I cannot die before I spend a day at the track with Santander.

Saratoga, no less!

[JA]

Here are some thoughts I've had based upon my 23 years of living in Florida and my past month living here in Kansas City...

• I miss the rain and thunderstorms. I grew up with thunderstorms being a nearly daily occurrence for several months of the year. Here in KC, we get rain/storms once about every 10 days.
• Despite missing the daily rain, I do not miss the high humidity. I appreciate how much dryer KC is compared to Florida and, honestly, wouldn't mind it even dryer.
• Even when the thermometer says 90+ degrees here, it isn't very hot. I'd take 100 in KC over 90 in FL any day.
• The people definitely look different here. The women tend to be larger (height and weight) and, although I can't put it into words, their features are quite different as well. It must be due to ethnicity. Oh, and there are quite a lot of Somalis here and they certainly look different from most other African Americans.
• Almost everywhere you go there are "Now Hiring" signs posted. Not only are low-end jobs hiring, but so are professional jobs as well. KC has a lack of college-educated professionals and it certainly makes this an employee favorable market.
• Professional type jobs do not pay nearly as well as they do on the coasts, but low-end jobs pay pretty well, which helps to reduce income inequality. Even in fast food, you'd be hard pressed to find a job paying less than $10/hr - and some customer service jobs (food server, pizza delivery, etc) offer more than $15/hr.
• Your paycheck goes a long way. Everything is way more affordable here. The ability to move out of your parents' house (and not to live with a roommate) is realistic and so is future homeownership.
• Go to Johnson County, KS if you like more upper-class suburban living. Go to Clay County, MO if you like a bit less built-up suburban living. Go to Platte County, MO if you like exurban/rural living. And go to Jackson County, MO and Wyandotte County, KS if you want urban living.
• The portion of KCMO in Jackson County (it extends into 3 neighboring counties) is the core of the city, but also has a very high crime rate and a lot of pretty ghetto areas (nothing like Chicago or St. Louis though). Independence and Raytown are also a bit "underdeveloped" and have some very sketchy areas, but also a few nice neighborhoods as well.
• The downtown of KCMO is very nice - especially if you like the more Old West type of look. It also has a rail line that runs for a few miles, lots of hip restaurants, and a very nice area called the "Power and Light District."
• There are so many hills. I had assumed since it is on the Plains that KC would be rather flat. WRONG. It's the 12th hilliest city in America (I can't find the PDF I saw that stat in, but it's true). As a Floridian, I wasn't used to driving hills. But, I can't deny that they're beautiful. This area has a lot more natural beauty than you'd expect.
• The people are largely quite... provincial. It's more common to simply go to someone's house than go out when hanging out or going on a date. Most people don't spend much time outside of their town except to work. Nature parks and such are underutilized by the locals. And there isn't the diversity of cultures, people, food options, and so on that you experience on the coasts.

Overall, I definitely prefer the Midwest to the Southeast. I think after I finish my lease here, I'll be looking to head further north in the Midwest though; ideally to Minnesota or Wisconsin. But, Kansas City is anything but a bad area to live in. I am definitely glad I relocated here.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What is this “hill” thing you speak of?

[JA]

What is this “hill” thing you speak of?

They're these weird miniature mountains and they're everywhereeeee

[Reaganfan Democrat]

By Lake Champlain for a few days. Parked in Bernie's old parking space at Burlington City Hall just to be an asshole.

[kcguy]

• The people are largely quite... provincial. It's more common to simply go to someone's house than go out when hanging out or going on a date. Most people don't spend much time outside of their town except to work. Nature parks and such are underutilized by the locals. And there isn't the diversity of cultures, people, food options, and so on that you experience on the coasts.

Yeah.  I bought an atlas years ago centered around product marketing.  (For example, what parts of America had higher-than-average consumption of 7-Up?)  The book's summary of Kansas Citians was that we were above-average consumers of nearly every commodity, except travel.  Apparently, Kansas Citians never go anywhere.

As for food options, here are some random restaurants scattered around the city.  I make no guarantees, other than to say that I have been to all of them.
CAJUN:  Jazz's Kitchen - 39th and State Line
NOODLES:  The Blue Koi - 39th and State Line
TRADITIONAL ITALIAN-AMERICAN:  Cascone's - 37th and North Oak Trafficway
ITALIAN BUFFET (LESS TRADITIONAL):  Cinzetti's - 91st and Metcalf, OPKS
TRADITIONAL MEXICAN-AMERICAN:  Ponak's - 29th and Southwest Boulevard
MEXICAN SEAFOOD:  Jarocho - 7th Street and Kansas Avenue, KCK
TAPAS:  La Bodega - 24th and Southwest Boulevard
INDIAN:  Taj Mahal - 75th and Wornall
MIDDLE EASTERN:  Holy Land - 87th and Quivira, Lenexa
GERMAN:  Beethoven's - Paola, in Miami County

As you can tell, I like ethnic food.  While I'm at it, I'll also take this opportunity to hawk the Ethnic Enrichment Festival at Swope Park coming up later this month.

[Virginiá]

I think I often get too feisty with some people on here. Sorry for being a dick sometimes*. Politics gets me riled up like nothing else

* there are a few people here I dislike bigly so in those cases, the shade was very much intentional

[PragmaticPopulist]

I think I often get too feisty with some people on here. Sorry for being a dick sometimes*. Politics gets me riled up like nothing else

* there are a few people here I dislike bigly so in those cases, the shade was very much intentional

Don't worry Virginia. We understand. We're all like that at times. Everyone needs to blow off steam sometimes.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Walking around the UC Berkeley campus.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Walking around the UC Berkeley campus.

Cathy in California!?  Don't let them infect you!

[Ban my account ffs!]

I think I often get too feisty with some people on here. Sorry for being a dick sometimes*. Politics gets me riled up like nothing else

* there are a few people here I dislike bigly so in those cases, the shade was very much intentional

Geeze Virginia stop being such a dick!

[muon2]

I'm glad you're enjoying KC. It's probably the quintessential metro area of the plains Midwest (as opposed to the Great Lakes).

Here are some thoughts I've had based upon my 23 years of living in Florida and my past month living here in Kansas City...

• I miss the rain and thunderstorms. I grew up with thunderstorms being a nearly daily occurrence for several months of the year. Here in KC, we get rain/storms once about every 10 days.
• Despite missing the daily rain, I do not miss the high humidity. I appreciate how much dryer KC is compared to Florida and, honestly, wouldn't mind it even dryer.
• Even when the thermometer says 90+ degrees here, it isn't very hot. I'd take 100 in KC over 90 in FL any day.
• The people definitely look different here. The women tend to be larger (height and weight) and, although I can't put it into words, their features are quite different as well. It must be due to ethnicity. Oh, and there are quite a lot of Somalis here and they certainly look different from most other African Americans.
• Almost everywhere you go there are "Now Hiring" signs posted. Not only are low-end jobs hiring, but so are professional jobs as well. KC has a lack of college-educated professionals and it certainly makes this an employee favorable market.
• Professional type jobs do not pay nearly as well as they do on the coasts, but low-end jobs pay pretty well, which helps to reduce income inequality. Even in fast food, you'd be hard pressed to find a job paying less than $10/hr - and some customer service jobs (food server, pizza delivery, etc) offer more than $15/hr.
• Your paycheck goes a long way. Everything is way more affordable here. The ability to move out of your parents' house (and not to live with a roommate) is realistic and so is future homeownership.

It these observations that you've made that underpin some of the fundamental differences in how the Midwest differs from the coasts in how the US should tackle economic problems.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

It's amazing what simple river erosion can do. I hope you get a chance to take a weekend and head SE into the real hill country of MO.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I love the upper Midwest, but spend a couple of winters in KC before you decide to double down in the Twin Cities.

[TPIG]

Back from London after 35 days! It was an amazing experience with great people, but I'm definitely glad to be back to our great country!

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

I curled a decent size labradoodle like 65 pounds or so. Not that impressive weight and form was bad, but that thing was so much rounder and bulkier than a dumbbell or even a long dumbbell that I considered it a feat for myself.

[Mr. Smith]

Walking around the UC Berkeley campus.

Cathy in California!?  Don't let them infect you!

Oh get over yourself.


Also...seriously?  The one day I have off from having to go down there and that's when something happens?!?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Walked 12.1 miles yesterday, probably a two-year high.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I met Bill Lee this morning!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Flying out from Oakland soon. San Fran was a blast and I’ll miss it. Apparently, we’ll be meeting in Seattle next year—can’t wait to revisit Washington!

[kcguy]

Voted this morning.  I was the second person at my polling station, and they were still setting up and figuring everything out.

We had new voting machines this time.  The workers gave me a blank piece of paper, which I inserted into the machine.  I voted by touchscreen, then pressed "Print".  The machine printed my vote onto the paper and spat it out at me.  I reviewed the paper, re-inserted it, and pressed "Cast Vote".  Then I walked away, and they gave me an "I voted" sticker.

It was the first time I had seen paper in the voting process in years.

[Pouring Rain and Blairing Music]

My neighbors had a little block party for National Night Out. The little kids were excited for the fire truck and police cars. I was excited when I saw that a city councilman showed up.