Monday, November 28, 2005

WITFV28: My City

Technically, I live in a suburb of Kansas City - on the Kansas side, but I consider the Kansas City metropolitan area my home.

I lived in Iowa from the ages of 1 - 4 years old (and also during college, sort of), but outside of that, I have always lived in the KC area. When Alli and I got married, we moved into an apartment in the suburb of Lenexa, then got a house in 2001 in Olathe.

Suburban sprawl runs rampant in Kansas City. Unfortunately, the metro is so geographically large that it is difficult for the city leaders to develop an identity because everyone lives outside of Kansas City proper.

However, that suburban sprawl does not prevent a fierce loyalty to our sports teams, particularly the Chiefs. In addition, there is an intense movement to revive the downtown area right now and I am hopeful that it is successful because I would like to see Kansas City return to its status as one of the premier cities in the country.

One of the things that I have always loved about the city is that it has all the amenities of a large metropolis, but the attitudes of the people are significantly less harsh.

Not only that, but we also have WINTER.

I'm a big "changing seasons" kind of guy. I couldn't live on a coast where the weather is always the same. It snowed today in Kansas City and it was glorious.

So I'm thankful for where I live.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Trust me, you haven't seen suburban sprawl. Our sprawl out here spans 4 states (VA, MD, PA, and WV) and the District. Yes, you heard right, people commute to the area from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. We hate that idea and live at the last stop of the Metro, as we think living in a metropolitan area should involve being able to occasionally go into said city.
Loyalty to sports teams? Like the Chiefs and? Oh, the Royals, whose attendance was ahead of only the Devil Rays this year? Sorry, had to get the digs in there. :-) Good luck to the Chiefs this weekend. Tough one against the Broncos.
Digs aside, I hope KC gets more successful too, so that flights to visit my brother, and now my mom, will be cheaper!