Gritty Kansas City Flava ~ Brooklyn Avenue Style

[Tosspot]

Gritty KC Flava... Brooklyn Avenue in Northeast, 24th and 27th Streets on the East Side.

Michael from the Kansas City development forum and myself teamed up to bring you these photos, he showed me around this area and I kept my camera in tow. Mike came up with the idea for these photos, I took the photos, and the commentary on the areas shown in this thread are from Michael.

Starting with the Somalian Village on Lexington and Brooklyn. Most days the streets are packed with activity, the heat kept most people inside.

Heading south on Brooklyn from Lexington to Independence Avenue through what once was a mecca of the Italian community in KC.

Across 9th Street heading south.

There is some new infill going up near Gate's development. It loooks like crap to me but anything is better than grass.

On to the east side. Most people (wrongfully) refer to everything east of Troost as the 'east side'. Contrary to popular opinion (and the local news stations), KC's east side is bounded by Truman Road on the north, 31st Street on the south, I-435 on the east and Prospect on the west. The East Side used to be a thriving neighborhood full of life and commerce, now it's a deconstructed war zone. Here are a few shots along 14th Street, which was the 'Main Street" of the East Side. There were several grocery and sundry stores, record shops, churches and a junior high school along 24th Street. It's mostly been torn down and easily half of the lots are nothing but grass. These pics were taken between Jackson and Hardesty on 24th Street. We saw at least 3 hookers within these 12 blocks.

These skyline shots were taken behind St. Paul's School Of Theology near 20th and Hardesty

[Tosspot]

Onto 27th Street, which was once a thriving thoroughfare of housing and retail. I remember as a kid driving down 27th Street and wondering how so many people could be in the street. There was once so much street life and activity. We didn't see many people out due to the heat but drug dealers and a few cops hurrying by. Oh yeah, I noticed quite a few tow trucks too.

A few skyline shots from 71 Hwy

It's time to EAT at Bryant's on Brooklyn. Smiles all around after a great day in KC!

Michael

[MadVlad]

That doesn't look so bad....

[hood]

That doesn't look so bad....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was thinking the same thing, doesn't qualify as a "destructed warzone", nice pics though.

[rusthebuss]

There is alot worse looking places in Norfolk than that dude. I'll try to post some of them later on.

[Tosspot]

Well, the main problem with the areas depicted is that a great deal of vacant, grass-covered lots exist there, remnants of what was once a much more economically viable area of the city. The, shall we say, more fortunate areas of Kansas City Missouri effectively subsidize the more derelict areas such as this, because it sure can't cover the infrastructure costs it generates through it's own tax base.

Though I'm sure the same can be said for downtrodden areas of cities all over the place.

[Recchia]

The skyline pics from the 71 highway, the third one down, the building all the way to the left is really cool, it looks just like the Superman building in Providence.

Nice pics, I like "real" city shots.

[planter]

Great pics! I've lived in the KC area all my life but I've still never been through most places in midtown or downtown, I'm only familiar with areas south of the southern side of 435 (S. Overland Park, Leawood, Grandview, Lee's Summit, Belton)

[Tosspot]

Great pics! I've lived in the KC area all my life but I've still never been through most places in midtown or downtown, I'm only familiar with areas south of the southern side of 435 (S. Overland Park, Leawood, Grandview, Lee's Summit, Belton)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cool...we've gotta get you to the rest of the city soon!

check out http://www.kcskyscrapers.com/newforum/index.php

it's the KC board discussion board for all the new development and reinvestment in Kansas City, there's also a photo subsection you can peruse too, to get more acquainted with the other areas of the city

Cheers

[Sleek89]

Lol, thats not bad at all.....never been there but if thats the worst place then wow.

[RiversideGator]

KC is a great town. Please dont think these shots are representative of it. There are some very nice sections and it is well worth a visit.

[Tosspot]

KC is a great town.  Please dont think these shots are representative of it.  There are some very nice sections and it is well worth a visit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, I've posted many other areas of the city before, just never the ones shown here.

[Snowguy716]

Despite the crime and other problems, those places have a lot of character. They're distinctly American. Great photography!

[hood]

There is alot worse looking places in Norfolk than that dude. I'll try to post some of them later on.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Please do, I'm always interested in seeing the "other side" of cities.