| Kansas City, born in the 1800's as a major river port, is strategically located in the
heart of the Midwest. Its metroplex spans the Kansas-Missouri state line, encompassing
more than 2.3 million residents. Areas of interest include the renewed
riverfront, with shops, restaurants and the Steamboat Arabia Museum located in the River
Market area. Also located in the riverfront area are a variety of riverboat casinos.
Known for its beautiful Spanish architecture and numerous fountains, the
Country Club Plaza is a major shopping and dining attraction. The holiday season is kicked
off annually when a lighting ceremony takes place on Thanksgiving night, and the Country
Club Plaza becomes aglow with holiday lights. Near the Country Club
Plaza is the renowned Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Minutes from the Plaza, near downtown, is Hallmark's Crown Center. Here
you'll find live theatre, shops, restaurants and cinemas. From Crown Center you can travel
10 minutes to historic Westport, a renovated historic district with shops, restaurants,
brew pubs and a lively nightlife.
Major league sports are a passion in Kansas City. Teams
include the Chiefs NFL football, American League Kansas City Royals baseball, the
2000 MLS Champion Kansas City Wizards
outdoor professional soccer team and the Kansas City Comets indoor soccer team.
The Kansas Speedway (NASCAR) opened in 2001 to rave reviews and hosts race
events in June, July, September and October.
But, besides the fun stuff, there's some good hard reasons why we like to
live here:
Kansas City consistently ranks among the nation’s most affordable housing
markets according to the National Association of Home Builders. The accounting firm, Ernst
& Young, named Kansas City as one of a very small handful of markets offering
amenitized housing for approximately 20% of disposable household income.
The Kansas City’s cost-of-living typically falls 4-5% below the
U.S. average as reported by ACCRA. Among large U.S. cities, this performance makes Kansas
City one of the most affordable.
Kansas City’s impressive concentration of high ranking school districts in Expansion
Management magazine’s annual educational quality ratings means Kansas City offers
its children and parents the best education opportunities. One school
district garnered first place in the academic ratings and another ranked ninth. School-age
Kansas Citians enjoy three of the top twenty-five school districts in the nation: 3 area
districts rated “gold star,” the highest of the five composite performance
categories; nine others were awarded “blue ribbon,” the next highest category.
In general, KC's young people out perform the national averages in SAT scores, percentage
of high school graduates, and among those residents with four or more years of college.
Kansas City has more highway lane miles per person than any other city in the country. A
study of traffic density on highways and thoroughfares in 50 major urban areas by the Texas
Transportation Institute ranks Kansas City as the least congested major
metropolitan area in the country.
Of the 50 largest U.S. airports, Kansas City International Airport is
the least concentrated in airline domination. The large number of low-cost, low-fare
airlines and the presence of most of the full-service majors keeps competition up and air
fares down. Kansas City has held the lowest in airline concentration ranking for five of
the last six years.
CLIMATE
Kansas City has 4 seasons, and not one of them is bad.
| Average Annual Temperature: |
53.6°F |
12.0°C |
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High |
January: |
34.7°F |
1.5°C |
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July: |
88.7°F |
31.5°C |
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Low |
January: |
16.7°F |
-8.5°C |
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July: |
68.2°F |
20.1°C |
Annual precipitation: 37.62 in. (94.05 cm.)
Annual snowfall: 20.6 in. (51.5 cm)
Annual days of snow, ice, or hail in excess of 1.0 in. (2.54 cm): 6.8
Annual average wind speed: 10.7 mph (17.22 kph)
Annual Relative Humidity at 12:00 Noon: 60%
Source: 1996 Local Climatological Data, International Airport, Kansas City, Missouri,
U.S. National Climatic Data Center
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