KC Districts Part 5 - The West Bottoms

[kcexpress69]

KC Districts Part 1 - The East Bottoms
KC Districts Part 2 - The Historic Northeast Neighborhood
KC Districts Part 3 - The Columbus Park Neighborhood
KC Districts Part 4 - Quality Hill

Ok everybody!! I'm sure many of you are starting to lose faith in my consistancy in putting up these threads, (Evergrey!! ) But trust me.. I haven't forgotton my buddies here, so I'm gonna give you my next thread. I would have put this one up awhile back, but I wanted to give Ignatious his just due when he put his up about a month ago. Due to the amount of feedback that thread got, this area probably doesn't need much introduction nor explanation. Once the backbone of Kansas City's industry, The West Bottoms now has become an industrial graveyard. Although you will see grit all over the place, it's anything but dead. Some businesses have remained here for better or for worse over the decades. Other buildings have been taken over by start up companies, haunted houses that moved after the Power and Light District and Sprint Center were built, and the idea that this could become the next hot spot for the lofting industry. I absolutely fell in love with this place when I shot these pictures. Let's check it out!!


I took these pictures from the bluffs looking overhead..





Kansas City, Kansas in the background












I was standing on State Line Road when I took this picture....


Quite a few old trucks here. Kind of a time warp.....
















"What the hell is this guy doin?" That guy was probably wondering......



Peeking out from over the hill.....





Uh oh!!! It seems as though I crossed into the territory dominated by the West Bottoms Alley Cats!! Better watch my step!!




I've been given a warning!! He's gonna look the other way!! But next time....































One of the largest buildings in the West Bottoms... I have delivered inside here. Quite a few companies make their home here. It's nearly 100% occupied!!




Kemper Arena. This arena once housed the NHL Kansas City Scouts and the NBA Kansas City Kings before they moved to Sacramento in 1985. Both teams were never that great although the Kings were pretty decent for a couple of years. Ultimately, the location of Kemper was always an achillies heal for Kansas City as far as landing another sports franchise or getting the best concerts. Thankfully the city wised up and built the Sprint Center!! Kemper's fate is unknown.




The American Royal. Home to many horse shows and other events. If I remember correctly, they purchased Kemper Arena.




Another one down!!!!!

[Top Of The Park]

Wow...so much potential for lofts, residential, retail, restaurants, bars and all that comes with it

[flar]

Great tour.

This looks like an amazing area

[Kingofthehill]

Originally Posted by Top Of The Park

Wow...so much potential for lofts, residential, retail, restaurants, bars and all that comes with it

x2

As soon as I saw this post, I thought of nabes that made similar transformations; DUMBO/Williamsburg, Chicago's South Loop, Washington Ave in St.Louis, Downtown Los Angeles, etc etc.

Good stuff, kcexpress.

[MobyLL]

^ I agree with all the above... terrific structures and atmophere there.

[kanhawk]

It's like a time warp to the 1930s. I can almost imagine gangsters in fedoras with tommy guns riding through the streets in Model Ts. Thanks for posting these.

[Evergrey]

very muscular built environment... I like the slender building... and the cat looks fierce!

[Jibba]

Hot damn. If there's one thing I love, it's old-school, bad-ass warehouses and this thread delivers. Way cool. Thanks for taking and sharing all these.

[yerfdog]

I was going to quote this exact same picture as a real standout in a whole great thread.

Originally Posted by flar

Great tour.

This looks like an amazing area

Interesting to see a bunch of different viewpoints of the area from Ignatius' thread. He had more wide shots, you have more street level views.

[Rocket1964]

Originally Posted by Jibba

Hot damn. If there's one thing I love, it's old-school, bad-ass warehouses and this thread delivers. Way cool. Thanks for taking and sharing all these.

This is what I was going to say.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by yerfdog

Interesting to see a bunch of different viewpoints of the area from Ignatius' thread. He had more wide shots, you have more street level views.

Is curious to see different styles, approaches to taking pics..

Here's my perspective of the W Bottoms.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=164400

[Leo the Dog]

Wow, Just imagine the potential here.

[Thundertubs]

Such awesome building stock.

[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by ignatius

Is curious to see different styles, approaches to taking pics..

Here's my perspective of the W Bottoms.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=164400

Hey, I didn't even realize you had a shot from almost the exact same angle as the one I quoted above.

[kcexpress69]

Thanks for the comments so far. I really would like to see this area to make a comback, if time and fire don't get to it first. This area has quite a bit of potential to say the least.

[SuburbanNation]

Very nice! In my opinion, the area is already serving the highest purpose it ever will...small (and not so small) industry and big, loud, "secret" lofts. Perhaps KC would be different if the West Bottoms warehouse district were on the same flat plane as downtown like other midwestern/western cities warehouse areas, but then again, perhaps KC would be different... (and I wouldn't care for it as much as I do).

[Troyeth]

Extraordinary brickwork. Uitstekend.

[Great_Hizzy]

Too bad about Kemper. I've always been a fan of it. I remember when Danny Manning and Kansas won a national championship there.

As for the neighborhood, I agree that it has loft apartment conversion written all over it.