The metro area straddles the Missouri-Kansas state line and includes more than 136 cities and 11 counties. Kansas City, Mo., itself takes in parts of four counties -- Jackson, Platte, Clay and Cass -- not to mention all or part of 13 school districts.
Kansas City boasts more fountains than any other city except Rome and more boulevards than any except Paris. Its 1,769-acre Swope Park is the second-largest urban park in America. However, Kansas City is perhaps best known for its steaks, barbecue and jazz. With more than 60 barbecue restaurants and numerous cookoff competitions, it is arguably the nation’s barbecue capital. Kansas City became a hotbed of jazz shortly after World War I in the now-famous area around 18th & Vine. Jazz is undergoing a renaissance here, a factor in the new Kansas City Jazz Museum, a complex that also includes a new Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Kansas City is the hometown headquarters of Hallmark Cards, U.S. Sprint, Farmland Industries, Hoechst Marion Roussel Pharmaceuticals, Russell Stover Candies, Yellow Freight, H&R Block, the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, the Nazarene Church, Unity School of Christianity, Payless Cashways, Interstate Bakeries, AMC Theaters, American Century and numerous other businesses.
It ranks first in inland foreign trade zone space, underground storage space, greeting card publishing, frozen food storage and distribution, and hard winter wheat marketing. It ranks second in wheat flour production and the size of its rail center. Both General Motors and Ford have major plants here, ranking Kansas City eighth in the nation in auto assembly.
The city also is a major transportation hub. About 400 flights a day come and go from Kansas City International Airport, where the maximum distance from aircraft to curb is less than 75 feet. Eleven regulated barge lines transport goods through Kansas City on the Missouri River. KC is one of only five U.S. cities with three intersecting interstate highways (I-70, I-29 and I-35). The city’s rail system carries 300 daily freight arrivals and departures.
For sports fans, Kansas City, Mo., has seven professional sports teams: the Kansas City Chiefs (football), Kansas City Royals (baseball), the Kansas City Blades (ice hockey), the Kansas City Wiz (outdoor soccer), Kansas City Attack (indoor soccer), the Kansas City Mustangs (women’s basketball) and the Kansas City Explorers (tennis).