Kansas City - Bigger Than You Think
“As big as you think” is the official slogan of the state of Kansas. (Debate the suitability all you like.) Now it looks like Kansas City, Missouri could up the ante a little. Apparently the US Census underestimated the population of the Kansas City metro area by about 80,000 people.
The US Census has significantly under counted KCMO’s population and that we actually have 533,117 people living here, not the 450,000 or so previously thought. Besides the big boost in population, the study also shows that household incomes and purchasing power are much higher than conventional wisdom says, especially in supposedly poor East Side neighborhoods.
Overall, the study shows an urban economy in better shape than usually believed. The population figure alone could be critical in getting more federal and state support for things like housing, transportation, health care, etc.
So Kansas City tops the half million mark, and the urban renaissance I want to see is a little bit closer to reality.
HT: Blog KC
June 24th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Interesting stats. I wonder how much the stuff KC is building downtown are attracting people to the inner city. It definitely seems like lofts are springing up everywhere.
The other question I think needs to be asked is where are all the homeless going now that downtown is being renewed? There’s still quite a few downtown but more and more places are unexceptable for them to hang around.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:07 am
There are a lot more people downtown now that the P&L District is open. And a ton of development…means more living spaces..therefore bigger crowds…which feeds the development. Kinda cyclic right now.
When I go downtown, I typically see the homeless in the same places as usual. A lot of them gather on Broadway for meals.