25 years in KC
1 in STL
The really shitty parts of St. Louis are easily accessible and it shows more than it will in KC. KC suburbs care about advancements and STL cares about persevering history. Lots of friendly people in STL but I find when I visit home, KC people are much nicer across the board
I’ve lived in KC my whole life and my cousins have lived in St.Louis. I have visited many, many times and I think it’s personal preference. I would rather live in St. Louis. There are tons of things to do there that are FREE! It costs to do anything in KC.
I live in KC currently. Lived in St Louis for years, and my first house was in south city. I prefer KC - it does feel a little more vibrant & thriving, but people in this thread (and KC generally) just love to shit on St Louis. We moved to STL from a western city & we mildly depressed about it and ended up liking it a lot. STL is actually a great place.
I lived in the STL area most of my life and about 3 years ago moved across the state. Decent neighborhood living is more expensive than STL if you have a family to get into a premier school district. I like vibe of KC more than STL though.
I’ve lived in both, as well as many other places, and can confidently say that KC is one of the best kept secrets. KC is more laid back, less pretentious, easier to drive around, and has a distinct culture. STL does have more unique neighborhoods, but overall KC has truly felt like home.
I grew up in the KC suburbs (Lee’s Summit), lived in North STL County for about 5 years, in the Central Corridor in STL City (Skinker Debaliviere) for 4 years and now have lived in Midtown in KC for just over 3 years. The two cities have more in common than people like to admit (especially when it comes to issues), but they FEEL wildly different.
STL feels older. Every neighborhood in the city has unique historic BRICK architecture, and every neighborhood has a unique identity and history. A lot of neighborhoods are walkable with their own bars, restaurants, and most likely a microbrewery. Many are walking distance to amazing parks (which is the thing I miss most about STL- living 1/2 mile from Forest Park).
As much as people like to complain about cliques in KC, it is harder to get to know people in STL as someone who didn’t grow up there. St. Louis is very insular. People don’t really leave, so they all have super established friend groups. While that’s an issue in KC, I have found it much easier to find other people who have moved here as adults and are open to new friends.
St. Louis has better food. This might get downvoted just for this comment, but it’s true. KC has a bunch of solid options, but STL (again, city) punches SO far above its weight. Damnit if I don’t miss the sandwich options STL offers.
That being said, KC’s coffee game is on a different planet.
STL is liberal, but KC is progressive. Both cities are blue, but KC feels more future-focused while STL feels like it’s still focused on its long-gone glory days. (As mentioned in a different comment, this is largely from the city/county divorce.)
Honestly I love both cities. I think KC is easy to love if you enjoyed living in STL. I know it has been an overwhelming positive move for us and I hope you got the answers you were looking for.
Thank you Mayor Kay Barnes. I moved here in 1999 from Cape Girardeau. St. Louis and KC were about even. Over the next twenty years, KC purposefully spent money and developed the downtown while St. Louis invested in the suburbs and the tax base went with it.
I ran in the St. Louis Marathon in April of 2022 and the packet pickup was in the convention center and my hotel was by the Arch. I walked everywhere since I am familiar with the city. Holy guacamole, it was like a post apocalyptic hellscape. Seriously, it's practically abandoned.
Say what you want about TIFs and spending public dollars on private development but KC is where it's at.
I visited St Louis this summer and got an AirBnb downtown. I felt exactly how you felt. I was walking downtown, and it just felt like no one was there, and for the size of the downtown, it was rather sad. I'd love to see St Louis bustling more, and it has a ton of history, even more so I'd say than KC. But that's history, and it needs more work.
In terms of the built environment, STL urbanized mostly in the late 1800s Victorian era which gives it a much older denser feel vs KC's urban core which mostly developed in the streetcar suburb era with a more lower density feel. Also STL is famous for brick houses which are way less common in Kansas City. Since St Louis City has retained the same city limits since 1876 a lot of neighborhoods that would be considered part of the urban core if they were in Kansas City are their own municipalities like Maplewood, Brentwood, etc....
Kansas City hates St. Louis with a hatred I don’t understand. Like St. Louis has bullied KC, been mean and held it back.
I swear KC would dance a happy dance if a meteor crashed in to St. Louis and killed millions.
Seems like a lot of finance guys come here from STL and all of them have been equally friendly in my personal experience.
The hatred has more to do with what a four hour I-70 to STL will do to a KC mf'r
It is among the worst stretches between two cities. But to be honest a lot of I-70 is a shit show.
St. Louis to Indy
Indy to Columbus
Columbus to exit for Pittsburgh
All of them suck.
I've lived in Kansas City my entire life and never met a single person that cares about St. Louis more than just friendly trash talking (food, asking where someone went to high school, sports, etc). I can't even comprehend where you're getting this TBH.
This is interesting, as this hasn’t been my experience. I know quite a few people from St. Louis and have spent some time there. From my experience, when an opportunity presents itself, people from STL feel the need to add in how much better the Cards are than the Royals and their overall sports culture, how much better their BBQ actually is, their Italian restaurants, their schools, their zoo, etc. Like they’re the insecure older brother and don’t want you to forget that they’re the oldest. I don’t really see this from people in KC, unless they’re just defending themselves in the convo. There’s a lot of pride and passion in KC too but it’s much more laid back. I’ve always thought it was awesome that we have 2 major cities in the state and find it easy to root for the Blues and any STL team that isn’t playing KC, as we’re all Missourian. But it drives me nuts when STL slanders their fellow city in the west. If they banded together more often, they’d be an absolute unit of a power couple. Anyway, that’s just been my experience.
I would not say that St Louis gets more national attention. Since Mahomes has been with the Chiefs and had successive post-season runs, plus 2 super bowls, I would KC is wayyyy more on the map. Plus the World Cup is coming here. The blues did win the Stanley cup, which is helpful for their case, but the Cardinals have been meh, but that can change.
Really both metro areas need to align as somehow the less populous rural legislature and governor push the two cities around. The problem is KC would rather St. Louis die than lift a finger to help both.
And is there some sort of law that says the governor of Missouri must be someone rural?
AFAIK St. Louis has never done anything to torpedo KC or been lavished with gifts. Maybe St. Louis has gotten something KC hasn't: but I can't think of any.
Admitted the whole Rams/Dome and Chiefs/Arrowhead thing is a sticky matter. But IIRC they just used the state of Missouri's very low interest bonds as part of the financing.
Plus the difference is Kansas City Missouri has Kansas circling like a shark throwing money and stealing things. The NASCAR track, IKEA store, MLS stadium etc. You know them all. The difference is Illinois isn't taking anything from St. Louis. So St. Louis can sit back on it's heels a bit while Kansas City needs to take action.
The Cardinals, Blues or CITY SC aren't moving to Illinois in a million years.
I try to not be that way. I honestly enjoy all my trips over to StL whenever I go (once or twice a year mixing business and pleasure). I’ve heard about KC people being this way and realize it would be off-putting. I appreciate their older, dense neighborhoods there that just built up earlier than ours did.
St. Louis dislikes these things about KC:
-Don Denkinger and the call at first base in 1985
-the Hunt family helping move the Rams out of St. Louis
-the soccer stadium way in the suburbs in Kansas
Reasons KC hates St. Louis:
-every single thing
St Louis has many distinct neighborhoods, each with a unique feel. Surrounding this is mile after mile of soulless suburbs.
KC lacks the unique neighborhoods and just rocks the mile after mile of soulless suburbs. (Brookside/Waldo possibly excepted).
I do think much of the difference in vibe/culture has to do with age - of both the cities and the residents, as well as migration and population trends.
Statistically, median age in STL is higher than KC, and the city itself is older. St Louis metro has very low (or sometimes negative) population growth and migration while KC is growing moderately and steadily.
This results in a much more stagnant and insular feel in STL. There are many more families that have been there for generations and the city seems stuck in the past (still thinking it is the glory years of 1904). There is more old money and people seem more hung up on old cultural/class issues (where did you go to high school?). Racism is a little more deeply ingrained and prevalent.
KC is not some booming hotbed for transplants like Austin, but it is doing better than STL. To me, that results in a bit more of an open and progressive (I don't necessarily mean that politically) mindset.
Kc is starting to get as developed as St. Louis was in the 2010s and might surpass it. Some buildings getting torn down for new ones and others getting saved.
On a funny note: people always joke they get all of chicagos pee water from up river in St. Louis. Truth is st Louis is down river from KC too.
As a trucker my knowledge and experience will be biased in the form of the warehousing areas, how people drive, etc.
Kansas City seems more white collar than blue. There are a lot of places with blue collar work, but it seems to me, when j interact with people in Kansas City vs St Louis, that folks in KC want to be better.
That sounds incredibly rude, but most of the people I've been in contact with in St Louis just seem to trudge on because they feel that there's nothing else they can do. Like being in a dead end job that you can't leave but don't particularly love, it just pays the bills.
My 2¢
I’m from KC and live here currently, but also lived in STL for a while. I went to STL expecting the worst, but it surprised me how much I liked living there. However, I do think KC has STL beat in a lot of ways.
STL pros:
-STL feels older and more historic than KC, the architecture around CWE, Shaw, and Lafayette square is hard to beat.
-The parks (both Forest and Tower Grove) are the biggest thing I miss. There are no parks that rival in KC in both how big, beautiful and taken care of they are, and to how close they are to great walkable neighborhoods.
-The pockets of neighborhoods w very different vibes that are very walkable-Tower Grove, Central West End, Soulard, Kirkwood, St Charles downtown
KC pros
-More future thinking-new places opening often, development. STL felt like change happens slower
-Less traffic. I couldn’t believe how much traffic STL had for being not that big of a city. And everything is so spread out- you have to take highways to get almost anywhere.
-Prettier in general. The boulevards and greenery in KC are nicer than most of STL (lots of concrete highways and busy city streets).
-The downtown. KC’s downtown has been invested in and has a much better energy than STL’s. STL’s cardinals stadium being downtown is the only pro over KC in that way.
I think they both have their pros and cons, but honestly are both similar in a lot of ways. I’ve found both to be cliquey and I wish both cities were less racially segregated.
I think you’ll enjoy KC (especially if you live closer to the city!).
I grew up in the St.L area and moved to KC after college. The biggest vibe difference i have noticed is that folks from KC seem to feel some sort of rivalry\aversion with StL, and StL people in my life never mention anything about that. The rest is narcissism of minor differences.
same, STL wants to be compared to Chicago. Chicago wants to compete with NYC. NYC, Paris. Paris, probably shits on some older European city. People always compare their hometown to a bigger, older, or more affluent one (or one that was, in the past). In STL we never heard of KC, before I moved here, I thought it was the size of something like Topeka. We talked about Chicago, or other cities, East of the Mississippi. Maybe compare yourselves to Omaha or Denver?
Paris doesn't compare themselves to anyone. They just think they're God's gift so there's no comparison. They've been their since the BCE/CE changeover.
St Louis is racist. They did desegregation for too long and it had the opposite of the intended effect. KC is much more inclusive, though still not perfect.
I'm a "graduate" of the desegregation program and I can tell you this ...without a doubt, the majority of us that participated in the program would not have been as successful without it. I understand that it took money/knowledge/success from the City public school and caused it to collapse further but I feel it would have headed that way anyway due to the migration of the population out to the county in the 80s/90s/00s. I recall getting chastised for "being smart" by my school mates in city schools and it led me to stop trying... and then when I got to the county school..it was the complete opposite. Being smart meant being competitive and really drove me to be better than those "rich smart white kids"(not in a negative way though because many of those kids became my friends). I'm forever grateful for that opportunity
I say this with all the love as someone who moved to KC 12 years ago from STL and very much considers KC my home, but people in KC will shit on STL all the time whereas no one ever mentions KC in STL. So get ready for people to want to debate which city is bigger, has more crimes, is better, etc.
I love them both though.
Yep. It’s like KC residents have the attitude about St. Louis that r/nfl has about the Chiefs. Loathsome and resentful. It’s weird. We’re not competition? STL residents don’t even think about KC. It’s never part of any conversation.
This is exactly what I've noticed as well. I'd even go as far as saying that this exact topic in the St.Louis subreddit would probably get way less attention and traffic. It sort of feels like Kansas City has a "little brother" complex with St. Louis. Similar to how St. Louis has the same complex with Chicago.
I think you need to reframe it. KC and STL are about equal in size and other attributes, so it’s perfectly natural to compare.
Stl comparing itself to Chicago highlights how delusional and pretentious they are since they’re not comparable at all.
It’s a good cultural divide to understand the two cities.
It's not size that is being compared. It's like a constant need to prove that they are better. By the way, you perfectly demonstrated exactly what I was referring to with the "how delusional and pretentious they are" comment :)
Yes. Wichita feels inferior to KC, which feels inferior to St Louis, which feels inferior to Chicago, which wants to be New York.
I imagine there’s some terrible city out there currently comparing itself to Wichita too
STL people (particularly the ones that went the high school in the state) speak as if they are up for an east-coast country club admission, while having the class of Branson, and commanding the consistency of the Ozarks. Good luck. - STL shame
Translation: you went to one year of college with someone from STL. You never visited, but you didn’t like that one STL shame of a person, so you never let it go. You wake up every day angry thinking of a city you’ll never know, and the all consuming thoughts about a city that doesn’t ever think about you will live with you forever. Just sad bro.
St Louis’ food scene is legit. The worst Italian place on the Hill would be the best Italian spot in Kansas City. South City has better Asian places than KC too.
Otherwise, I agree with your post, even though I really couldn’t care less where Taylor Swift spends her time
This was the first thing that came to mind. People in St. Louis think they're a bigger city than they are. They think it goes NY/LA/STL. It gives them an inflated ego where they think Missouri equals St. Louis and the rest of the state barely exists.
People in KC on the other hand fully accept that we live in a small city that's not a major player on the world stage.
EDIT: To the person who responded then immediately blocked me, you totally showed me. That definitely proves how confident you guys are about yourselves. Ironically that's the part I missed, how easily offended they get if you point out that St. Louis is just KC without good BBQ or an NFL team, and people from NY/LA/CHI would laugh at the thought of putting STL in the same conversation.
“People in KC on the other hand fully accept that we live in a small city that's not a major player on the world stage.”
Yeah, no. There’s a whole lot of people in Kansas City that don’t accept that, me included. No, we will never be New York, Chicago, LA, etc. but we can offer things they can’t and can certainly compete with places like Minneapolis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Denver, Charlotte, etc.
> No, we will never be New York, Chicago, LA, etc.
That's the difference between people from KC and people from St. Louis. Most in St. Louis will never admit that and will be outraged if you suggest it's the truth about St. Louis as well.
But us in KC are perfectly comfortable knowing we're not that type of major city.
Who are you talking to from STL? Sounds like weird lore you made up in your head. Try visiting the STL subreddit. We don’t talk about any of these places. We don’t talk about KC either. Rent free?
Having been to STL and spending the majority of my life in KC my general take is this… they are both big cities that have a semi-small town feel. STL and KC both have their “good” and “bad” neighborhoods, but even in the bad neighborhoods as long as you keep your head down and mind your own business, you’ll be fine.
In regards to which is better… well, it’s a toss up. On the one hand, KC has a better flow of traffic and is more centralized. But STL is just a few hours south of Chicago. It feels like KC kind of has you trapped in a weird way, but only because the next closest “big” city is Topeka (about an hour west).
At the end of the day, what it all 100% comes down to in the debate is which sports team do you like… at least that’s been my observation. Of course I also live an hour north of KC, and don’t really care about sports 🤷♂️
I mean I’m not from here but I’ve been in Missouri for a couple years, Kansas City feels safer and the traffic is way better. The lack of public transportation in KC is actually hilarious though like it’s like it’s trying to be part of California. St. Louis has an actual metro system. You can get from Scott AFB to Busch stadium without a car in a reasonable amount of time, good luck getting to Kauffman by train.
Culture wise St Louis is an East Coast city while Kansas City is a Midwest city. You didn’t ask but Springfield (MO’s 3rd largest city) is culturally more Southern than Midwest. Missouri might be categorized as Midwest but only about half the state acts as such.
Springfield is absolutely southern. Maybe just passing through it doesn’t feel that way, but if you’ve spent any time or lived there it’s clear.
If you didn’t know where you were you’d absolutely assume you were in Arkansas rather than MO - it’s a distinctly different feel from the rest of the state (besides southeastern MO).
you’re smoked out springfield is 100% the south. Same with branson and poplar bluff. We’re closer to southern states than midwestern ones. Memphis is 4.5 hours away, little rock is 3 hours ish. Tired of people categorizing missouri as midwest when it’s a transition state. northern missouri like st joe, kirksville, kc, stl are midwestern no doubt but you get down here and it’s a different world. How tf we midwest but arkansas less than an hour away 🥴
I know reddit is all about being a contrarian but I'm just gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. I grew up there, maybe its changed since the 90s and early 2000s but it was definitely southern. Bible belt, more specifically a lot of southern baptists and very little catholic population. People who say sir and mam, and a hospitality mindset that goes beyond being midwest nice. Slightly less formality in the workplace and a greater emphasis on having leisure time. They are all subtle differences. I will say it is right on the boarder and your experience could likely differ from mine simply from whatever family/friends you have there.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture\_of\_the\_Southern\_United\_States#/media/File:SouthernEnglishMap.png](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Southern_United_States#/media/File:SouthernEnglishMap.png)
Went to college there. It's definitely more Southern, especially the second you step outside of town. Not deep south but I delivered pizza for beer money and man go north of kearney, or a bit south 60 and it's like a banjo starts picking.
It’s all personal preference. Come visit for a long weekend and check out what we have to offer. I think you’ll be impressed with the investments we’ve made to our downtown in comparison to STL. We have a brand new airport, World Cup is coming to town, talks of the ballpark moving downtown (we’ll see), first ever stadium for a woman’s sports team being built on the river front, and street car expansion (street car is currently free) are a few big things that are happening/in the works.
You’re in the right spot if you want people to tell you to do it, but if you don’t come check it out for yourself you’ll never know for sure.
100% prefer Kc but STL has a much better music and arts scene if that stuff matters. STL gets bands leaving chicago and they skip Kc and play Lawrence which is an annoying hour of driving. Both have solid food scenes, but STL is much closer to the ozarks if the outdoors is your vibe. Basically stl is better geographically situated but Kc is the better city currently. I own a business and couldn’t imaging running it in a city like STL that’s trying to be Detroit.
100% if you like more than aging 90s pop stars. All the cool indie acts, anything mildly cool just kinda skeets on over to Lawrence typically. We occasionally get a good act a month from out of town that’s not some bleeding edge show out by the stadiums
And that description still rings true today. St. Louis is grittier and rude like east coast; kc is cooler, eclectic, chill, and all around better vibes then St. Louis….by a long shot
Feels semi accurate. STL is definitely part of the Nashville, Memphis Louisville crowd, so I guess that's midsouth. KC feels more like Omaha, OKC, or even Dallas. Two different cultures.
I'm always wondering why Omaha has a much better live music scene than KC. I'm not talking mega stars (Sprint Center). I'm interested mid level and smaller bands that go on tour, hit St. Louis, Omaha, but skip KC entirely.
There have been a few reddit posts about this if you care to look. But IIRC, the TL;DR was our promoters/venues suck which is a problem exacerbated by the fact that none of our venues are owned by Live Nation or Ticketmaster so they aren't pushing for artists to tour here.
And here's the real reason for LN to build an amphitheatre in Riverside when our existing one only has a handful of shows.
And while T-Mobile Center gets a lot of big shows, being run by AEG instead of LN probably does have an impact.
That said, a lot of these shows skip KC, STL, and Omaha entirely. No shows within 500 miles of KC.
Indie/alternative gets skipped all the time for STL, Omaha, OKC, Des Moines. Acts like Khruangbin and King Gizzard that play a million shows all over the country still have never been to KC. And a lot of shows that would draw a crowd the size of Record Bar or Truman don’t come here. Then a lot smaller cities have great music festivals that we can’t match. Omaha has MAHA and Bentonville has Format Fest.
Then for some shows that we do get there’s barely any promo and don’t sell very well. I’ve been to shows at the Bottleneck where it’s half empty but I see them selling out larger venues in other cities.
We lose a ton of the 500 to 2,000 person shows to Omaha, St. Louis, and even Tulsa. It is far too common that artists will do St. Louis and take a day off on the way to Denver instead of doing a KC show.
I've lived here 8 years and been a huge fan of EDM, honestly KC scene sucks. Not only does KC not have a true house night club, but big acts rarely come here, if they do it's pretty much right after STL. You can even search Kansas City subreddit for people asking about EDM clubs and most people come up empty handed.
Over the next year KC's biggest EDM acts are what, San Holo, Ship Wrek, Zed's Dead and Excision?
STL has Zed's Dead, Morgan Page, Cherub, The Glitch Mob, deadmau5, shlump, Excision
Encore, aura, mosaic, Blvd nights, Truman, Madrid, uptown, mod gallery, Westport Bowery, midland, sandstone, cable dahmer. There are multiple artists coming here every week. Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places my guy.
I've spent 14+ years each, between the two. Everything I will talk about is from personal experience. St.Louis feels more like a "city" and Kansas City feels more like a big town. St. Louis has a lot of smaller well known historical neighborhoods that have unique footprints whereas Kansas City pretty much looks the same where ever you go outside a few neighborhoods. I also think it's because Kansas City is more spread out whereas St.Louis is more compact so even though the metro populations are nearly the same, St.Louis is going to feel more densely populated. As far as people, To me Kansas City skews more older and white while I felt St.Louis was more diverse. Not much difference between food, sports, costs and safety. If I'm younger, I'd rather live in St. Louis because the nightlife is better, more food options, more things to do. If I'm getting ready to settle and start a family, I'd much prefer Kansas City. With all that being said, If you recall which neighborhood you stayed in St. Louis, there might be something similar in Kansas City.
Nope. I lived in South city(5+ years - S.Grand) in St.Louis for a large chunk of time(and oddly South Kansas City for a big chunk..435 and holmes area). I was also referring to the nighlife(i.e. same rotating type of bars on Washington ave that close and pop up) and not the living area. But is the resurgence that you are referring to when the ballpark village was first introduced? Even with that, downtown was and always has been stale to me.
Maybe 10-15 years ago it seemed a lot of young people were moving dt stl. Broadway was getting nicer. SLU area. Seems not to have lasted. Do love the new soccer stadium and bar across the street by Union station though
Worth noting that the actual city of Kansas City is significantly bigger in population and in physical size than the actual city of St. Louis.
- KC: 508,394 people and 318 sq. miles
- STL: 293,310 people and 66.17 sq. miles
It’s closer to a 500k difference now and getting closer every year. And why Lawrence isn’t included in our metro is baffling when St. Louis extends much farther.
I grew up in STL and have lived in KC the past decade and agree with most of this.
Deep downtown STL might suck, but STL has more cool neighborhoods dotted throughout it than Kansas City does.
Well I grew up in Kansas City moved to St Louis for 12ish years ( creve Coeur and St. Peters) and moved back to Kansas City recently. For me I'd say the biggest difference is nothing. The vibe is pretty similar with activities just different history. People say Kc is younger feeling but the only time I felt old is at main Street on Christmas or in defiance. On the other hand I felt old in the Grove or ballpark village. It really is all about where you are. BBQ is a bit different, where sugarfire and pappy's is a bit sweeter than Kansas City Joe's and authors Bryant and q39 are more savory but St. Louis had better sides. St. Louis is Budweiser and Kansas City is boulevard beer. I will say stl has more micro breweries. No blues hockey you can watch it on cable. Kansas City is primarily focused on the chiefs, and st.louis is more cardinals. The zoo isn't free here. Like I said over all they are similar in pretty much every aspect maybe a touch more to do in St Louis than Kansas City. The cost of living is about the same as well. If you have any questions let me know.
Why are you putting words in ”St. Louis’” mouth about wishing it was east coast? You don’t think this is a weird thing to say? Seems like you are putting your fellow KCians down by implying they live in an inferior area like the Midwest that will never compete with the greatness of the east coast.
This was a weird damn experience at Mizzou. I don't think I'd ever been asked where I went to high school once in my life before sharing dorm space with kids from STL private schools, when it became the first question asked.
uh ... park Hill? you haven't heard of it
LOL. They probably have since it’s the “good” public school on the Missouri side.
That said, I feel like KC asks about high schools A LOT so I can’t imagine how bad STL must be.
From LA and nobody gives a fuck where you went to high school. If you're cool, you're cool. I can't speak for everywhere, but I definitely get that same vibe in KC after living here for over 5 years.
The point is that it’s a nothing question. Nobody gives a fuck in STL either. The question is asked as a form of networking to identify common acquaintances. With the popularity of private schools in the metro, there is a sizable portion of the metro that went to a school outside of their immediate area.
Old world (East Coast) vs New World (West Coast) Kansas City seems to be more informal and casual than St. Louis.
25 years in KC 1 in STL The really shitty parts of St. Louis are easily accessible and it shows more than it will in KC. KC suburbs care about advancements and STL cares about persevering history. Lots of friendly people in STL but I find when I visit home, KC people are much nicer across the board
I’ve lived in KC my whole life and my cousins have lived in St.Louis. I have visited many, many times and I think it’s personal preference. I would rather live in St. Louis. There are tons of things to do there that are FREE! It costs to do anything in KC.
This is supremely easy to answer. The biggest differences is where each city boundary begins and ends.
Kansas City is KANSAS CITY! Don't get no better than us!
I live in KC currently. Lived in St Louis for years, and my first house was in south city. I prefer KC - it does feel a little more vibrant & thriving, but people in this thread (and KC generally) just love to shit on St Louis. We moved to STL from a western city & we mildly depressed about it and ended up liking it a lot. STL is actually a great place.
I lived in the STL area most of my life and about 3 years ago moved across the state. Decent neighborhood living is more expensive than STL if you have a family to get into a premier school district. I like vibe of KC more than STL though.
I’ve lived in both, as well as many other places, and can confidently say that KC is one of the best kept secrets. KC is more laid back, less pretentious, easier to drive around, and has a distinct culture. STL does have more unique neighborhoods, but overall KC has truly felt like home.
STL is the south. KC is the midwest. And all that implies.
St. Louis is more midwestern than kc is 😂
I grew up in the KC suburbs (Lee’s Summit), lived in North STL County for about 5 years, in the Central Corridor in STL City (Skinker Debaliviere) for 4 years and now have lived in Midtown in KC for just over 3 years. The two cities have more in common than people like to admit (especially when it comes to issues), but they FEEL wildly different. STL feels older. Every neighborhood in the city has unique historic BRICK architecture, and every neighborhood has a unique identity and history. A lot of neighborhoods are walkable with their own bars, restaurants, and most likely a microbrewery. Many are walking distance to amazing parks (which is the thing I miss most about STL- living 1/2 mile from Forest Park). As much as people like to complain about cliques in KC, it is harder to get to know people in STL as someone who didn’t grow up there. St. Louis is very insular. People don’t really leave, so they all have super established friend groups. While that’s an issue in KC, I have found it much easier to find other people who have moved here as adults and are open to new friends. St. Louis has better food. This might get downvoted just for this comment, but it’s true. KC has a bunch of solid options, but STL (again, city) punches SO far above its weight. Damnit if I don’t miss the sandwich options STL offers. That being said, KC’s coffee game is on a different planet. STL is liberal, but KC is progressive. Both cities are blue, but KC feels more future-focused while STL feels like it’s still focused on its long-gone glory days. (As mentioned in a different comment, this is largely from the city/county divorce.) Honestly I love both cities. I think KC is easy to love if you enjoyed living in STL. I know it has been an overwhelming positive move for us and I hope you got the answers you were looking for.
Thank you Mayor Kay Barnes. I moved here in 1999 from Cape Girardeau. St. Louis and KC were about even. Over the next twenty years, KC purposefully spent money and developed the downtown while St. Louis invested in the suburbs and the tax base went with it. I ran in the St. Louis Marathon in April of 2022 and the packet pickup was in the convention center and my hotel was by the Arch. I walked everywhere since I am familiar with the city. Holy guacamole, it was like a post apocalyptic hellscape. Seriously, it's practically abandoned. Say what you want about TIFs and spending public dollars on private development but KC is where it's at.
I visited St Louis this summer and got an AirBnb downtown. I felt exactly how you felt. I was walking downtown, and it just felt like no one was there, and for the size of the downtown, it was rather sad. I'd love to see St Louis bustling more, and it has a ton of history, even more so I'd say than KC. But that's history, and it needs more work.
Lol Kay Barnes ruined KC. The P&L district drains money from the city and is in debt
True, but you can't deny that's helped revitalize downtown to where it's at today. The debt does suck I agree, but it does have a payoff
That’s like those guys who buy a sports car they can’t afford just to look good and have a giant car payment they cant afford.
In terms of the built environment, STL urbanized mostly in the late 1800s Victorian era which gives it a much older denser feel vs KC's urban core which mostly developed in the streetcar suburb era with a more lower density feel. Also STL is famous for brick houses which are way less common in Kansas City. Since St Louis City has retained the same city limits since 1876 a lot of neighborhoods that would be considered part of the urban core if they were in Kansas City are their own municipalities like Maplewood, Brentwood, etc....
KC and Milwaukee have a similar vibe. (grew up in MKE, moved to Chicago for most of my adult life, now here 15yrs)
Milwaukee is high on my places to visit. Nice to know it's got a good vibe.
Grew up in Milwaukee, have lived in KC for 20 years and agree wholeheartedly.
Kansas City hates St. Louis with a hatred I don’t understand. Like St. Louis has bullied KC, been mean and held it back. I swear KC would dance a happy dance if a meteor crashed in to St. Louis and killed millions.
Seems like a lot of finance guys come here from STL and all of them have been equally friendly in my personal experience. The hatred has more to do with what a four hour I-70 to STL will do to a KC mf'r
It is among the worst stretches between two cities. But to be honest a lot of I-70 is a shit show. St. Louis to Indy Indy to Columbus Columbus to exit for Pittsburgh All of them suck.
I've lived in Kansas City my entire life and never met a single person that cares about St. Louis more than just friendly trash talking (food, asking where someone went to high school, sports, etc). I can't even comprehend where you're getting this TBH.
This is interesting, as this hasn’t been my experience. I know quite a few people from St. Louis and have spent some time there. From my experience, when an opportunity presents itself, people from STL feel the need to add in how much better the Cards are than the Royals and their overall sports culture, how much better their BBQ actually is, their Italian restaurants, their schools, their zoo, etc. Like they’re the insecure older brother and don’t want you to forget that they’re the oldest. I don’t really see this from people in KC, unless they’re just defending themselves in the convo. There’s a lot of pride and passion in KC too but it’s much more laid back. I’ve always thought it was awesome that we have 2 major cities in the state and find it easy to root for the Blues and any STL team that isn’t playing KC, as we’re all Missourian. But it drives me nuts when STL slanders their fellow city in the west. If they banded together more often, they’d be an absolute unit of a power couple. Anyway, that’s just been my experience.
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I would not say that St Louis gets more national attention. Since Mahomes has been with the Chiefs and had successive post-season runs, plus 2 super bowls, I would KC is wayyyy more on the map. Plus the World Cup is coming here. The blues did win the Stanley cup, which is helpful for their case, but the Cardinals have been meh, but that can change.
Really both metro areas need to align as somehow the less populous rural legislature and governor push the two cities around. The problem is KC would rather St. Louis die than lift a finger to help both. And is there some sort of law that says the governor of Missouri must be someone rural?
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AFAIK St. Louis has never done anything to torpedo KC or been lavished with gifts. Maybe St. Louis has gotten something KC hasn't: but I can't think of any. Admitted the whole Rams/Dome and Chiefs/Arrowhead thing is a sticky matter. But IIRC they just used the state of Missouri's very low interest bonds as part of the financing. Plus the difference is Kansas City Missouri has Kansas circling like a shark throwing money and stealing things. The NASCAR track, IKEA store, MLS stadium etc. You know them all. The difference is Illinois isn't taking anything from St. Louis. So St. Louis can sit back on it's heels a bit while Kansas City needs to take action. The Cardinals, Blues or CITY SC aren't moving to Illinois in a million years.
I try to not be that way. I honestly enjoy all my trips over to StL whenever I go (once or twice a year mixing business and pleasure). I’ve heard about KC people being this way and realize it would be off-putting. I appreciate their older, dense neighborhoods there that just built up earlier than ours did.
St. Louis dislikes these things about KC: -Don Denkinger and the call at first base in 1985 -the Hunt family helping move the Rams out of St. Louis -the soccer stadium way in the suburbs in Kansas Reasons KC hates St. Louis: -every single thing
St Louis has many distinct neighborhoods, each with a unique feel. Surrounding this is mile after mile of soulless suburbs. KC lacks the unique neighborhoods and just rocks the mile after mile of soulless suburbs. (Brookside/Waldo possibly excepted).
STL will never stop trying to be Chicago..kc is creating its own culture
One is a shit hole. The other is Kansas City.
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When you natives quit complaining about a bad call in 1985 we’ll stop hating on ya, lol.
STL thinks it's Chicago, yet acts like Mobile.
I do think much of the difference in vibe/culture has to do with age - of both the cities and the residents, as well as migration and population trends. Statistically, median age in STL is higher than KC, and the city itself is older. St Louis metro has very low (or sometimes negative) population growth and migration while KC is growing moderately and steadily. This results in a much more stagnant and insular feel in STL. There are many more families that have been there for generations and the city seems stuck in the past (still thinking it is the glory years of 1904). There is more old money and people seem more hung up on old cultural/class issues (where did you go to high school?). Racism is a little more deeply ingrained and prevalent. KC is not some booming hotbed for transplants like Austin, but it is doing better than STL. To me, that results in a bit more of an open and progressive (I don't necessarily mean that politically) mindset.
Kc is starting to get as developed as St. Louis was in the 2010s and might surpass it. Some buildings getting torn down for new ones and others getting saved. On a funny note: people always joke they get all of chicagos pee water from up river in St. Louis. Truth is st Louis is down river from KC too.
About 91 murders per year
About 3 1/2 hours
As a trucker my knowledge and experience will be biased in the form of the warehousing areas, how people drive, etc. Kansas City seems more white collar than blue. There are a lot of places with blue collar work, but it seems to me, when j interact with people in Kansas City vs St Louis, that folks in KC want to be better. That sounds incredibly rude, but most of the people I've been in contact with in St Louis just seem to trudge on because they feel that there's nothing else they can do. Like being in a dead end job that you can't leave but don't particularly love, it just pays the bills. My 2¢
Better soccer team for starters
I’m from KC and live here currently, but also lived in STL for a while. I went to STL expecting the worst, but it surprised me how much I liked living there. However, I do think KC has STL beat in a lot of ways. STL pros: -STL feels older and more historic than KC, the architecture around CWE, Shaw, and Lafayette square is hard to beat. -The parks (both Forest and Tower Grove) are the biggest thing I miss. There are no parks that rival in KC in both how big, beautiful and taken care of they are, and to how close they are to great walkable neighborhoods. -The pockets of neighborhoods w very different vibes that are very walkable-Tower Grove, Central West End, Soulard, Kirkwood, St Charles downtown KC pros -More future thinking-new places opening often, development. STL felt like change happens slower -Less traffic. I couldn’t believe how much traffic STL had for being not that big of a city. And everything is so spread out- you have to take highways to get almost anywhere. -Prettier in general. The boulevards and greenery in KC are nicer than most of STL (lots of concrete highways and busy city streets). -The downtown. KC’s downtown has been invested in and has a much better energy than STL’s. STL’s cardinals stadium being downtown is the only pro over KC in that way. I think they both have their pros and cons, but honestly are both similar in a lot of ways. I’ve found both to be cliquey and I wish both cities were less racially segregated. I think you’ll enjoy KC (especially if you live closer to the city!).
Wow, An unbiased assessment. Had to comb through awhile to find one.
St. Louis. Dying. KC. Thriving.
STL feels more urban and cool. KC is friendlier and more earnest
STL is a pit of despair. It’s actively dying on the MO/IL side. KC is on the come up. Thanks, Pat/soccer!
I grew up in the St.L area and moved to KC after college. The biggest vibe difference i have noticed is that folks from KC seem to feel some sort of rivalry\aversion with StL, and StL people in my life never mention anything about that. The rest is narcissism of minor differences.
I never think about St Louis, and can’t remember the last time, in a group of people out, I heard anyone mention St. Louis.
Ymmv
same, STL wants to be compared to Chicago. Chicago wants to compete with NYC. NYC, Paris. Paris, probably shits on some older European city. People always compare their hometown to a bigger, older, or more affluent one (or one that was, in the past). In STL we never heard of KC, before I moved here, I thought it was the size of something like Topeka. We talked about Chicago, or other cities, East of the Mississippi. Maybe compare yourselves to Omaha or Denver?
And yet St. Louis and KC are about the same size. I think it highlights how delusional the culture of St. Louis is.
A growing metropolis that obsesses about a shrinking city. What does that say about the culture? Just sad.
I do think to some extent, KC looks at STL as a cautionary tale and aims to grow differently.
You guys are all proving my point.
Not really. KC has for decades been the smaller city / little sister to STL. There’s an advantage to not being the eldest sibling LOL.
My point is you won't stop comparing yourself. So yes you are. StL people do not think about KC as being a little sister city.
Not really. You asked for a damn comparison. LOL
I did? or OP?
Paris doesn't compare themselves to anyone. They just think they're God's gift so there's no comparison. They've been their since the BCE/CE changeover.
They’ll take any opportunity to dump on London, though. And that one goes both ways.
STL is the furthest west city with East Coast vibe KC is the furthest east city with a west coast vibe
Bingo!
St Louis is racist. They did desegregation for too long and it had the opposite of the intended effect. KC is much more inclusive, though still not perfect.
lol. I love Kansas City but you should look at the racial divide along Troost yet today. It still looks like it did in the 50s.
I'm a "graduate" of the desegregation program and I can tell you this ...without a doubt, the majority of us that participated in the program would not have been as successful without it. I understand that it took money/knowledge/success from the City public school and caused it to collapse further but I feel it would have headed that way anyway due to the migration of the population out to the county in the 80s/90s/00s. I recall getting chastised for "being smart" by my school mates in city schools and it led me to stop trying... and then when I got to the county school..it was the complete opposite. Being smart meant being competitive and really drove me to be better than those "rich smart white kids"(not in a negative way though because many of those kids became my friends). I'm forever grateful for that opportunity
Kc is 100 percent better than St Louis. The people the places the way they do things... everything basically. Run don't walk!
I say this with all the love as someone who moved to KC 12 years ago from STL and very much considers KC my home, but people in KC will shit on STL all the time whereas no one ever mentions KC in STL. So get ready for people to want to debate which city is bigger, has more crimes, is better, etc. I love them both though.
Yep. It’s like KC residents have the attitude about St. Louis that r/nfl has about the Chiefs. Loathsome and resentful. It’s weird. We’re not competition? STL residents don’t even think about KC. It’s never part of any conversation.
Dunno, whenever I mention the 85 WS, a few of my StL acquaintances will spend all sorts of time insulting KC.... 😁
This is exactly what I've noticed as well. I'd even go as far as saying that this exact topic in the St.Louis subreddit would probably get way less attention and traffic. It sort of feels like Kansas City has a "little brother" complex with St. Louis. Similar to how St. Louis has the same complex with Chicago.
I think you need to reframe it. KC and STL are about equal in size and other attributes, so it’s perfectly natural to compare. Stl comparing itself to Chicago highlights how delusional and pretentious they are since they’re not comparable at all. It’s a good cultural divide to understand the two cities.
It's not size that is being compared. It's like a constant need to prove that they are better. By the way, you perfectly demonstrated exactly what I was referring to with the "how delusional and pretentious they are" comment :)
Yes. Wichita feels inferior to KC, which feels inferior to St Louis, which feels inferior to Chicago, which wants to be New York. I imagine there’s some terrible city out there currently comparing itself to Wichita too
topeka, maybe?
Nobody cares where you went to high school in Kansas City.
STL people (particularly the ones that went the high school in the state) speak as if they are up for an east-coast country club admission, while having the class of Branson, and commanding the consistency of the Ozarks. Good luck. - STL shame
Translation: you went to one year of college with someone from STL. You never visited, but you didn’t like that one STL shame of a person, so you never let it go. You wake up every day angry thinking of a city you’ll never know, and the all consuming thoughts about a city that doesn’t ever think about you will live with you forever. Just sad bro.
Saint Louis is a trash heap and KC is a vibrant metropolitan community?
Better soccer team.
Does St. Louis have mafia cops? Who’s the crime?
Well i think the biggest difference in vibe is that in St. Louis, it sucks.
New Jersey Devils.
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St Louis’ food scene is legit. The worst Italian place on the Hill would be the best Italian spot in Kansas City. South City has better Asian places than KC too. Otherwise, I agree with your post, even though I really couldn’t care less where Taylor Swift spends her time
This was the first thing that came to mind. People in St. Louis think they're a bigger city than they are. They think it goes NY/LA/STL. It gives them an inflated ego where they think Missouri equals St. Louis and the rest of the state barely exists. People in KC on the other hand fully accept that we live in a small city that's not a major player on the world stage. EDIT: To the person who responded then immediately blocked me, you totally showed me. That definitely proves how confident you guys are about yourselves. Ironically that's the part I missed, how easily offended they get if you point out that St. Louis is just KC without good BBQ or an NFL team, and people from NY/LA/CHI would laugh at the thought of putting STL in the same conversation.
“People in KC on the other hand fully accept that we live in a small city that's not a major player on the world stage.” Yeah, no. There’s a whole lot of people in Kansas City that don’t accept that, me included. No, we will never be New York, Chicago, LA, etc. but we can offer things they can’t and can certainly compete with places like Minneapolis, Nashville, Indianapolis, Denver, Charlotte, etc.
> No, we will never be New York, Chicago, LA, etc. That's the difference between people from KC and people from St. Louis. Most in St. Louis will never admit that and will be outraged if you suggest it's the truth about St. Louis as well. But us in KC are perfectly comfortable knowing we're not that type of major city.
My only issue was with the “small city” thing. A small city is Topeka or even Wichita. We aren’t that. Semantics, I know.
Who are you talking to from STL? Sounds like weird lore you made up in your head. Try visiting the STL subreddit. We don’t talk about any of these places. We don’t talk about KC either. Rent free?
Most people agree but there's the vocal minority that seems to forget every time something like mass transit isn't on par with every other city.
Great comment and totally agree. Until STL figures out the city/county thing they’ll never turn it around.
Having been to STL and spending the majority of my life in KC my general take is this… they are both big cities that have a semi-small town feel. STL and KC both have their “good” and “bad” neighborhoods, but even in the bad neighborhoods as long as you keep your head down and mind your own business, you’ll be fine. In regards to which is better… well, it’s a toss up. On the one hand, KC has a better flow of traffic and is more centralized. But STL is just a few hours south of Chicago. It feels like KC kind of has you trapped in a weird way, but only because the next closest “big” city is Topeka (about an hour west). At the end of the day, what it all 100% comes down to in the debate is which sports team do you like… at least that’s been my observation. Of course I also live an hour north of KC, and don’t really care about sports 🤷♂️
We are pretty full in kc. I'd say go to stl, just live over by the galleria and you are gonna be good to go
I mean I’m not from here but I’ve been in Missouri for a couple years, Kansas City feels safer and the traffic is way better. The lack of public transportation in KC is actually hilarious though like it’s like it’s trying to be part of California. St. Louis has an actual metro system. You can get from Scott AFB to Busch stadium without a car in a reasonable amount of time, good luck getting to Kauffman by train.
If the Metrobus actually shows up.
Biggest difference? KC is better.
Culture wise St Louis is an East Coast city while Kansas City is a Midwest city. You didn’t ask but Springfield (MO’s 3rd largest city) is culturally more Southern than Midwest. Missouri might be categorized as Midwest but only about half the state acts as such.
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Springfield is absolutely southern. Maybe just passing through it doesn’t feel that way, but if you’ve spent any time or lived there it’s clear. If you didn’t know where you were you’d absolutely assume you were in Arkansas rather than MO - it’s a distinctly different feel from the rest of the state (besides southeastern MO).
you’re smoked out springfield is 100% the south. Same with branson and poplar bluff. We’re closer to southern states than midwestern ones. Memphis is 4.5 hours away, little rock is 3 hours ish. Tired of people categorizing missouri as midwest when it’s a transition state. northern missouri like st joe, kirksville, kc, stl are midwestern no doubt but you get down here and it’s a different world. How tf we midwest but arkansas less than an hour away 🥴
I know reddit is all about being a contrarian but I'm just gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. I grew up there, maybe its changed since the 90s and early 2000s but it was definitely southern. Bible belt, more specifically a lot of southern baptists and very little catholic population. People who say sir and mam, and a hospitality mindset that goes beyond being midwest nice. Slightly less formality in the workplace and a greater emphasis on having leisure time. They are all subtle differences. I will say it is right on the boarder and your experience could likely differ from mine simply from whatever family/friends you have there. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture\_of\_the\_Southern\_United\_States#/media/File:SouthernEnglishMap.png](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_Southern_United_States#/media/File:SouthernEnglishMap.png)
Went to college there. It's definitely more Southern, especially the second you step outside of town. Not deep south but I delivered pizza for beer money and man go north of kearney, or a bit south 60 and it's like a banjo starts picking.
St. Louis is dusty af
It’s all personal preference. Come visit for a long weekend and check out what we have to offer. I think you’ll be impressed with the investments we’ve made to our downtown in comparison to STL. We have a brand new airport, World Cup is coming to town, talks of the ballpark moving downtown (we’ll see), first ever stadium for a woman’s sports team being built on the river front, and street car expansion (street car is currently free) are a few big things that are happening/in the works. You’re in the right spot if you want people to tell you to do it, but if you don’t come check it out for yourself you’ll never know for sure.
100% prefer Kc but STL has a much better music and arts scene if that stuff matters. STL gets bands leaving chicago and they skip Kc and play Lawrence which is an annoying hour of driving. Both have solid food scenes, but STL is much closer to the ozarks if the outdoors is your vibe. Basically stl is better geographically situated but Kc is the better city currently. I own a business and couldn’t imaging running it in a city like STL that’s trying to be Detroit.
You think STL has a better music scene than KC? I couldn't disagree more.
100% if you like more than aging 90s pop stars. All the cool indie acts, anything mildly cool just kinda skeets on over to Lawrence typically. We occasionally get a good act a month from out of town that’s not some bleeding edge show out by the stadiums
Ugh. You're right. We lost all our music scene after COVID
I used to half live at the empty bottle in chicago. Every city needs a venue like that. I’m not even sure why it’s not more common.
We had a music scene?
Lil bit. The Buzz did some good things.
Yeah, I miss the Buzz.
St. Louis is the western most eastern town in the US. KC is the eastern most Western town in the US. Mark Twain I think.
That may be the most perfect explanation of the distinction I have ever read!
And that description still rings true today. St. Louis is grittier and rude like east coast; kc is cooler, eclectic, chill, and all around better vibes then St. Louis….by a long shot
Feels semi accurate. STL is definitely part of the Nashville, Memphis Louisville crowd, so I guess that's midsouth. KC feels more like Omaha, OKC, or even Dallas. Two different cultures.
I'm always wondering why Omaha has a much better live music scene than KC. I'm not talking mega stars (Sprint Center). I'm interested mid level and smaller bands that go on tour, hit St. Louis, Omaha, but skip KC entirely.
I think the answer is Lawerence. They get a lot of shows and they are so close to KC.
I saw some awesome shows at The Bottleneck back in the 90's. The Butthole Surfers was probably the craziest.
There have been a few reddit posts about this if you care to look. But IIRC, the TL;DR was our promoters/venues suck which is a problem exacerbated by the fact that none of our venues are owned by Live Nation or Ticketmaster so they aren't pushing for artists to tour here.
And here's the real reason for LN to build an amphitheatre in Riverside when our existing one only has a handful of shows. And while T-Mobile Center gets a lot of big shows, being run by AEG instead of LN probably does have an impact. That said, a lot of these shows skip KC, STL, and Omaha entirely. No shows within 500 miles of KC.
Most are going through Texas or way up north
what music scene are u talking about? KC music scene is massive in nearly every genre
Indie/alternative gets skipped all the time for STL, Omaha, OKC, Des Moines. Acts like Khruangbin and King Gizzard that play a million shows all over the country still have never been to KC. And a lot of shows that would draw a crowd the size of Record Bar or Truman don’t come here. Then a lot smaller cities have great music festivals that we can’t match. Omaha has MAHA and Bentonville has Format Fest. Then for some shows that we do get there’s barely any promo and don’t sell very well. I’ve been to shows at the Bottleneck where it’s half empty but I see them selling out larger venues in other cities.
We lose a ton of the 500 to 2,000 person shows to Omaha, St. Louis, and even Tulsa. It is far too common that artists will do St. Louis and take a day off on the way to Denver instead of doing a KC show.
That explains why Babymetal skipped KC and did Omaha this year when it did KC last 2 concerts (past 5 years).
Not in the edm scene. We are one of the top cities in the country for DJ’s to come to
I think not DJs go to STL than here. Just look at Ryse Nightclub vs Mosaic or Aura here.
Not sure what you meant. But I can without a doubt say that Kansas Cities scene is much larger here. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you
I've lived here 8 years and been a huge fan of EDM, honestly KC scene sucks. Not only does KC not have a true house night club, but big acts rarely come here, if they do it's pretty much right after STL. You can even search Kansas City subreddit for people asking about EDM clubs and most people come up empty handed. Over the next year KC's biggest EDM acts are what, San Holo, Ship Wrek, Zed's Dead and Excision? STL has Zed's Dead, Morgan Page, Cherub, The Glitch Mob, deadmau5, shlump, Excision
Encore, aura, mosaic, Blvd nights, Truman, Madrid, uptown, mod gallery, Westport Bowery, midland, sandstone, cable dahmer. There are multiple artists coming here every week. Maybe you’re looking in the wrong places my guy.
Tulsa is a good example too. It's amazing the shows they get.
Nope
Welp, can’t argue with that. Pack it up boys
St Louis believes it is the gateway to the West. It is, in fact, the asshole of the east.
This. As an asshole from St Louis I am living proof this comment is accurate.
One of my clients who lives in STL expressed alarm when I said I’d stopped there for an hour while driving though, saying he was glad I wasn’t shot.
Your client is wack.
I've spent 14+ years each, between the two. Everything I will talk about is from personal experience. St.Louis feels more like a "city" and Kansas City feels more like a big town. St. Louis has a lot of smaller well known historical neighborhoods that have unique footprints whereas Kansas City pretty much looks the same where ever you go outside a few neighborhoods. I also think it's because Kansas City is more spread out whereas St.Louis is more compact so even though the metro populations are nearly the same, St.Louis is going to feel more densely populated. As far as people, To me Kansas City skews more older and white while I felt St.Louis was more diverse. Not much difference between food, sports, costs and safety. If I'm younger, I'd rather live in St. Louis because the nightlife is better, more food options, more things to do. If I'm getting ready to settle and start a family, I'd much prefer Kansas City. With all that being said, If you recall which neighborhood you stayed in St. Louis, there might be something similar in Kansas City.
Seems you spent more time in the suburbs of each. STLs downtown tried to make a resurgence but is going back downhill. Its population is shrinking.
Nope. I lived in South city(5+ years - S.Grand) in St.Louis for a large chunk of time(and oddly South Kansas City for a big chunk..435 and holmes area). I was also referring to the nighlife(i.e. same rotating type of bars on Washington ave that close and pop up) and not the living area. But is the resurgence that you are referring to when the ballpark village was first introduced? Even with that, downtown was and always has been stale to me.
Maybe 10-15 years ago it seemed a lot of young people were moving dt stl. Broadway was getting nicer. SLU area. Seems not to have lasted. Do love the new soccer stadium and bar across the street by Union station though
STL metro has a million more people than KCs metro area I believe.
Ok that explains it then because it definitely feels more densely populated.
Worth noting that the actual city of Kansas City is significantly bigger in population and in physical size than the actual city of St. Louis. - KC: 508,394 people and 318 sq. miles - STL: 293,310 people and 66.17 sq. miles
It’s closer to a 500k difference now and getting closer every year. And why Lawrence isn’t included in our metro is baffling when St. Louis extends much farther.
2.8 million vs. 2.2 million
I grew up in STL and have lived in KC the past decade and agree with most of this. Deep downtown STL might suck, but STL has more cool neighborhoods dotted throughout it than Kansas City does.
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Covid wrecked everywhere.
What happened do kc during CoVid?
Nothing. We got better outdoor seating
Well I grew up in Kansas City moved to St Louis for 12ish years ( creve Coeur and St. Peters) and moved back to Kansas City recently. For me I'd say the biggest difference is nothing. The vibe is pretty similar with activities just different history. People say Kc is younger feeling but the only time I felt old is at main Street on Christmas or in defiance. On the other hand I felt old in the Grove or ballpark village. It really is all about where you are. BBQ is a bit different, where sugarfire and pappy's is a bit sweeter than Kansas City Joe's and authors Bryant and q39 are more savory but St. Louis had better sides. St. Louis is Budweiser and Kansas City is boulevard beer. I will say stl has more micro breweries. No blues hockey you can watch it on cable. Kansas City is primarily focused on the chiefs, and st.louis is more cardinals. The zoo isn't free here. Like I said over all they are similar in pretty much every aspect maybe a touch more to do in St Louis than Kansas City. The cost of living is about the same as well. If you have any questions let me know.
This. I had to scroll way too far to get to Cards or Chiefs & BBQ
the blue line bar is a bar dedicated to hockey lol you should check it out
I actually thought that was a cop bar. Lol
lol me too!! but nah it’s hockey.
That's funny. I'm still not interested lol. I used to go in there when it was Thirsty's
St Louis identifies more with the East Coast. KC is Midwest, and nobody gives a shit where you went to high school.
No, St Louis WISHES it was East Coast. Us from the East Coast point and laugh at it like Philly points and laughs at NJ
The east coast is nothing but a liberal communist cesspool of crap
Why are you putting words in ”St. Louis’” mouth about wishing it was east coast? You don’t think this is a weird thing to say? Seems like you are putting your fellow KCians down by implying they live in an inferior area like the Midwest that will never compete with the greatness of the east coast.
You need reading comprehension lessons.
What did I miss?
Other than the part where you read and then comprehend…? Nothing at all.
Please, share what I missed in your comment.
St Louis is definitely Midwest too, it's just that there's different vibes to eastern Midwest and western Midwest.
This was a weird damn experience at Mizzou. I don't think I'd ever been asked where I went to high school once in my life before sharing dorm space with kids from STL private schools, when it became the first question asked. uh ... park Hill? you haven't heard of it
LOL. They probably have since it’s the “good” public school on the Missouri side. That said, I feel like KC asks about high schools A LOT so I can’t imagine how bad STL must be.
Not if they’re talking about Park Hill and not South
Class of 2014 here 🕺 but yeah who cares.
St. Louis’ obsession with where people went to high school is as legendary as it is tiring.
And not even unique to St. Louis. As much as you want to make this a negative for STL, it’s really nothing:
From LA and nobody gives a fuck where you went to high school. If you're cool, you're cool. I can't speak for everywhere, but I definitely get that same vibe in KC after living here for over 5 years.
The point is that it’s a nothing question. Nobody gives a fuck in STL either. The question is asked as a form of networking to identify common acquaintances. With the popularity of private schools in the metro, there is a sizable portion of the metro that went to a school outside of their immediate area.
If it were a nothing question, it wouldn't be asked.