Strolled the West Side Sunday fascinated by the mixture of architectural styles exemplified by the shot above. Really old and really new side by side and merged. Not all to my liking but certainly interesting on many levels. My father's family lived on the West Side from the 1890's through the early 1900s.... only one of their houses still stands... This probably explains my fascination with this area.
I always park by the FBI Building theorizing that car thieves MIGHT be smart enough to give it a wide birth.... crossing the Summit Street Bridge over 670 leads you straight into the heart of the district.
Much of the housing stock has been meticulously restored... I suppose "gentrification" is the appropriate term but that seems to have negative connotations. As far as preservation is concerned, if it can be saved... gentrify away to your hearts content.
Nice to see the daffodils .... but, strangely, no one was outside.
I know virtually nothing about giving proper names to architectural styles... but it is easy to tell the old and the new apart.... i.e. above and below....
This will be my only snarky comment. I do believe that architects, in general, should adopt the motto of the medical profession.... "First, do no harm." 
More style melding.... a little less jarring here. (above)
Beautiful restoration above... and the Bluebird Cafe below... right of center.
Above... 20th Century strip mall. I was delighted to find a brand new little cafe that will be opening in the first part of April. Just east of Bellevue on 17th Street. They were having a test day and I snuck in.... you can't miss the entry... below...
The name is FUD with a horizontal colon over the U... which I have no idea how to do on a keyboard. It smelled absolutely wonderful in there.... and was very warm and welcoming....
I wish I hadn't just eaten lunch. I'm going back....
Above.... very tall, very slender and very new. Below.... faithfully restored... I lined my shot up with the fence... so the house must be crooked.
North side of the above house shows a very large garden.... looks like preparations are underway for planting... you can see how the very tall, very narrow and very new dwarfs its neighbor. I already made my one snarky remark.
Good housing is in demand on the West Side... so much so that they are using trees.... above... a tree house and the mother manse.... below the tree house isolated.
More merging of old and new above.
Took the above shot to show how close to downtown the West Side is... walk to work.
This, to me, is an example of older construction that doesn't quite match the architectural majority. I like the building... it just seems out of place.
Above new, below old.
Eclectic doesn't even start to explain......
The back of a house with another tree dwelling.... I think we see recycling in action here.
Above.... stumbled upon this coven of modern which I didn't know existed... " interesting" I'll give them...below, what appears to be the oldest house in the "cul-de-sac" which actually surrounds the oldest park in the city. (I've got to get out more... I didn't know about it either.)
Land donated in the mid 1800s for KC's .... first..... Andrew Drips Park. Naturally someone had to screw up the granite with a chisel. At the north end of the cul-de-sac is another foot bridge that takes one around behind the FBI Building, by a ball field in Mulkey Park... that one I'd heard of.
Above.... steps to nowhere with the Skyline in the background. Below the Steer on it's "new" perch... although it's been there a while.
Went passed the car to get one shot of the skyline from the Summit Street Bridge just as the sun made a brief appearance. I just scratched the surface when it comes to photographing the west side... I'll be going back again soon.
Love it.
ReplyDeletethe double dot is called umlaut, I am guessing it may be pronounced "food" or something like that.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umlaut_%28diacritic%29
I was always wondering about the strange modern looking houses you can see from the highway.there are few of them that are pretty unique,the latest one is still brand new.
Yes... it's pronounced "food." My next West Side post will feature those multi-million dollar cliff dwellers.
ReplyDeletenext time you are going give me a call,I always wanted to see them up-close
ReplyDeleteBe glad to I'd love the company.
ReplyDeletedon't make me sad about the neighborhood in which i invested!
ReplyDeletesigh.
THAT's where the bricks (and low taxes) are!
My guess is that the costs of investing in property on the West Side are going upward rapidly... with millionaire's row on the bluff over the traffic way... higher evaluations will spread west quickly... you're area is just fine ... steadier increases in value are always preferable.
ReplyDeleteIn Kansas City we so often decry the destruction of our old architecture, often justifiably because there's been so much of it in the last sixty years. Some consider an eclectic mix of old and new one of the charms of city living. This neighborhood shows why better than many others. Instead of wholesale bulldozing we have the infill of tracts that met their demise more organically.
ReplyDeleteI love The Westside. It's one of the first neighborhoods in Kansas City that I was able to identify when I moved here over a decade ago. Thanks for the pics.
ReplyDeleteDon' forget Jefferson Street 16th - 20th Street
ReplyDeleteterrific job. this has got to be one of your best photo essays ever. wonderful quality--and great quantity, to boot. very individual. great job.
ReplyDeleteMo Rage/KC Photog Blog
Absolutely gorgeous photos of one of my favorite Kansas City neighborhoods. I have always loved the West side. One of my favorite restaurants is there - Lill's on 17th.
ReplyDelete