Kansas City, Missouri is a city in western Missouri. There is also a Kansas City located nearby in eastern Kansas. It is the largest city in Missouri with an estimated population of 444,965 as of 2005,[1] however, the St. Louis Metro region is larger then the Kansas City Metro Area. Typically the two state region is referred to as "Kansas City", and as far as the two specific cities called Kansas City, "KCMO" refers to the Missouri city and "KCK" referring to the Kansas city. Kansas City is known as the "City of Fountains" because it has more fountains than any city in the world other than Rome.[2]
It is home to the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs which were a founding team of the American Football League in 1960 with founder Lamar Hunt. Major League Baseball's Kansas City Royals, makes their home in Kansas City, MO. Both the Chiefs and Royals share a parking lot near each other at the Truman Sports complex off Interstate 70 near Interstate 435. The Kansas International Speedway (KIS) is located in Kansas City, Kansas. The KIS opened in 2004 and host many NASCAR and Indy series races and other events.
The Federal Reserve Bank has one of the twelve system banks of the Federal Reserve System in Kansas City. This makes Missouri unique in being the only state to have two Federal Reserve Banks in the same state.
The Kansas City area is the base of operation for Hallmark Cards, Sprint-Nextel, Applebee's, Garmin, Unity Church, Russell Stover Candies to name a few.
Kansas City area politics
The current mayor as of April, 2007 is Mark Funkhouser, a Democrat.
Missouri
- Missouri's 4th congressional district - the far east suburbs in Ray County plus a vast stretch of rural areas to the east and south. Currently represented by Ike Skelton (Democrat)
- Missouri's 5th congressional district – all of Kansas City proper in Jackson County plus Indepdendence and portions of Cass County. Currently represented by Emanuel Cleaver (Democrat)
- Missouri's 6th congressional district – all of Kansas City proper north of the Missouri River and plus suburbs in eastern Jackson County beyond Independence and a vast stretch of suburbs and rural areas extending all the way to the Iowa border and more than 100 miles. Currently represented by Sam Graves (Republican)
Kansas
- Kansas's 2nd congressional district – the extended suburbs beyond Johnson and Wyandotte counties plus the entire eastern third of Kansas. Currently represented by Nancy Boyda (Democrat).
- Kansas's 3rd congressional district – the near west suburbs in Johnson and Wyandotte counties plus a section of Douglas County and Lawrence. Currently represented by Dennis Moore (Democrat)
Hosted national political conventions
Kansas City has hosted the 1900 Democratic National Convention, the 1928 Republican National Convention, which nominated Herbert Hoover from Iowa for President, and the memorable 1976 Republican National Convention, which nominated Kansas U.S. Senator Bob Dole for Vice President. The 1976 Republican National Convention was held at Kemper Arena.
Kansas City consistently votes Democratic in Presidential elections, however on the state and local level Republicans often find some modest success, especially in the Northland and other parts of Kansas City that are predominately suburban.