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Two of my favorite Kansas City businesses now have live, fully-functional, well-designed,websites. Check ‘em. And if you’re in the market for great coffee or a Vespa scooter, make a visit in person.

If you want to learn about urban Kansas City’s uneasy relationship with evangelical Christianity, the archives of The Pitch are a good place to start.

A couple observations jump out pretty fast.

1. Don’t use bait and switch “marketing” tactics to “share the gospel.” People hate it. (Scroll down to “Hell No, We Won’t Go!”

2. Don’t disrupt the neighborhoods you’re trying to serve. With, you know, crazy rock and roll music and overflow parking.

Additional suggestions? As I continue to read the local rags, I’ll be keeping a list.

I was driving down the Paseo a few days ago and noticed this abandoned castle-like structure a couple blocks away. Since Kansas City originated as a cow-town, not a European fiefdom, I was compelled to return with a few friends and my camera to explore the castle’s mysterious allure.

Still don’t know what this building used to be, but I’m working on it. This place is probably closer to 19th and Vine…and, I admit, is not actually downtown (too bad, eh). But like the Filling Station, you can get there from downtown in a couple minutes.

Sprint Center

Kevin Pritchard gets it. The Portland Trailblazers’ GM, who is bringing his squad to the Sprint Center tonight to scrimmage against the Atlanta Hawks, thinks the NBA has viability in Kansas City. KUSports.com:

As far as Friday’s game … the location is perhaps a bigger story than the meaningless exhibition contest. Kansas City hopes to attract an NBA or NHL team to the Sprint Center sooner rather than later.

“I look forward to seeing the Sprint Center. I heard it’s unbelievable,” said Pritchard, starting point guard on KU’s 1988 NCAA championship team. “It’s such a basketball-crazy area. I think it could (support an NBA team),” he added.

Pritchard led the Kansas City Knights to the ABA championship in 2001, joining the San Antonio Spurs scouting department the following season.

“Being with the Knights was an amazing experience,” Pritchard said. “It was the minor leagues and by definition there are challenges. I got to learn from the bottom up. I learned to do a lot of different things that have been valuable to me.

“It’s nice to be playing a game in Kansas City again. The challenge has been all the ticket requests — about 70. That’s a good problem to have,” he added with a laugh.

Like Kev says, and like I’ve been saying for a couple years, KC is “basketball crazy.” We need an NBA franchise in here to showcase all the NBA talent playing in Lawrence, Kansas (and the one or two NBA players who might come through Manhattan and Columbia in the next ten years. Ha ha ha… )

The latest issue of the KC Urban Times makes an argument, albeit a mostly emotional one, that KC citizens should vote for the latest Light Rail Proposal on November 4. I think you could build a more compelling argument by bringing in some environmental and economical statistics and $$ figures, rather than calling for KC to lose its “cowtown mindset” (haha)–nevertheless, I am on board with the new public transport deal, which is arguably the first one that’s actually been feasible. (The KC Star has a helpful article on the Light Rail issue.)

I think Light Rail, slated to run from Vivion Road (North) to 63rd Street (South) would help move Kansas City’s downtown renaissance forward. Call me an optimist.

And while I’m on the topic of things I’d like to see happen downtown, let me say that it’s high time I acquired one of these:

Perfect for getting around downtown, amazing fuel economy…and would probably bump my cool factor up a notch too. Clearly, I need to make some connections at Vespa of Kansas City.