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Biking - KC - Downtown

Downtown and Vicinity

Downtown is good for bikes, there are plenty of streets to choose from, and even during the weekdays the traffic is tolerable. On the weekends there is very little traffic, and the streets are pretty much wide open for cycling. There are a couple of challenges though, the core of downtown is ringed by a loop of freeways, and the whole thing sits atop a tall bluff.

map: downtown neighborhoods
map: some routes
map: City Market to Riverfront Park

River Market
This area just north of the loop includes the City Market (farmer's market), as well as several restaruants, coffee houses, a grocery, and the River Market Brewery. It's also home to KC's obligatory loft scene. Easiest access from central downtown is northbound on Walnut, or alternately on Grand or Wyandotte. Saturdays, spring through fall, are maket day when the place is packed with farmers, vendors, and shoppers - great people watching opportunities. The Steamboat Arabia Museum is a very interesting recount of the excavation of a sunken Missouri River steamboat. Watch for thick traffic on Saturdays. (dark blue on the map)

Riverfront Park
River City's riverfront is surprisingly inaccessible, largely due to the bluffs and industrial railroad wasteland. However, better connections are developing. From the River Market area follow the new Grand Blvd. viaduct straight north over the railroad tracks and down to the Missouri River. This new mile-long park is still fairly unknown, so it is never crowded. The Isle of Capri Casino is adjacet to the east end of the park. (dark blue on the map)

In the Spring of 2003 the city completed a bike/pedestrian bridge linking the River Market with the riverfront. This bridge is at 2nd and Main - just follow Main St. north until it ends at the bridge. As of Fall 2003 this bridge does not yet provide access to the Riverfront Park, but by 2004 it will tie into a developing Riverfront Heritage Trail linking the riverfront to the West Bottoms, Kansas City KS, and maybe KCMO's West Side neighborhood.

Columbus Park
Just east of the River Market is an old Italian neighborhood centered around Columbus Park. The Frank Sinatraesque Garozzo's Restaurant is here. While still retaining it's Italian influence, in recent years it has seen an influx of East Asian immigrants. Today there is a great mix of Italian and Vietnamese restaurants and grocers. (purple on the map)

18th and Vine
Just southeast of the loop, 18th & Vine is famous from the 1920s and 30s as home of Kansas City jazz and blues, as well as the historic center of the city's African-American community. Recent redevelopment has added the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum, as well as some apartments, lofts, and soon-to-be restaurants.

Quality Hill and Garment District
These residential areas on the west end of the downtown loop include lofts and townhomes - centered around Broadway, north of the convention center. There are some decent ascents in the far northwest corner of the loop, around Case Park. Tanners, The Quaff, and The Peanut are good watering holes on/around Broadway. The Majestic Steak House and Phoenix piano bar are also here. John's Food and Drink on Wyandotte is a groovy three level bar with a great deck on the roof. (red and orange on the map)

Case Park
This small park on Quality Hill offers views of the Missouri River, Downtown Airport, West Bottoms, and downtown Kansas City, Kansas. There's a statue commenerating the Lewis and Clark expedition, which supposedly made a stop at this point. In the fall, Case Park is a great place to watch the Aviation Expo. Take Pennsylvannia Street north until it dead ends at the park.

Crossroads District
Renovated warehouses form the city's main art gallery district in the area south of the loop to Crown Center. Galleries and studios are all over the place, from the funky to the posh. If you're up for an evening ride, this area is usually packed on the first Friday of every month - when most places stay open until 9pm for new shows and such. Think free food/booze and beautiful people. Also in the Crossroads are Y-J's coffee house at 18th and Wyandotte, and Bazooka's Showgirls at 17th and Main. Across from Bazooka's is a cool, huge retro furniture store, Retro Inferno. The Abdiana Building at 20th and Grand has 5+ floors of really interesting and one-of-kind furniture and home stuff. (light blue on the map)

Union Station and Crown Center
The newly renovated Union Station at the northwest corner of Main and Pershing now contains the cool-but-pricey Science City museum and several restaurants - including the interesting Union Cafe. On the southeast corner Crown Center is ground zero for the Hallmark Empire, including the Hallmark Visitors Center and the really spiffy Kaleidoscope children's museum/rumpus room. There is also a small mall with the Crayola Cafe and Store and some other fairly unique shops. The square outside often has concerts, or ice skating in the winter. Penn Valley park is on the southwest corner, and includes the WWI Liberty Memorial, postcard-featured Scout statue, and a small trail. (dark green on the map)

Westside
This area southwest of the loop is the center of KC's Latino community, so of course there are many excellent Mexican and Spanish restaurants, mainly along Southwest Boulevard. The Summit Street bridge over the south side of the freeway loop is a good kodack spot. (yellow on the map)

The McGee St. Dive Bars

For a challenge
Try the Broadway hill. Broadway from Southwest Boulevard north to the Bartle Hall convention Center on Truman Road. You'll see what I mean about downtown being on top of a bluff!