Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U. With 8, square miles 21, km 2 and a population of more than 2. Louis and is the largest metropolitan area in Kansas, though Wichita is the largest metropolitan area centered in Kansas. Historic cultural origins include KC styles of jazz , vaudeville theater , barbecue , and steak.
The larger Kansas City metropolitan area can be visualized as a map with roughly four quadrants:. The southeast quadrant includes Kansas City, Missouri , and surrounding areas in Missouri. It includes the Grandview Triangle. The southwest quadrant includes all of Johnson County, Kansas , which includes the towns in the area known as Shawnee Mission, Kansas. The northwest quadrant contains Wyandotte , and Leavenworth , counties in Kansas and parts of Platte County, Missouri.
The map's northeast quadrant is referred to as the Northland. The river bend's sharpest part forms a peninsula containing the Kansas City Downtown Airport. Downtown Kansas City, Missouri has a population of 25, Downtown is bounded by the Missouri River on the north, the Missouri-Kansas state line on the west, 31st Street on the south and Woodland Avenue on the east. The downtown area includes the Central Business District and its buildings, which form the city's skyline. The Downtown Loop is formed by Interstates , 70, and Within the downtown loop are many of the tall buildings and skyscrapers that make up the city's skyline.
Other nearby neighborhoods are River Market and Columbus Park, both located between the downtown loop and the Missouri River. Between the downtown loop and the state line are the Westside neighborhood and the West Bottoms , located at the bottom of the bluff adjacent to Kaw Point.
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is perched upon a high point immediately south of the downtown loop. Berkeley Riverfront Park. Shopping is centered on the Country Club Plaza, which has luxury retailers, hotels, and restaurants. Brookside and Westport also contain smaller-scale, neighborhood-oriented, and niche-market retailers. Johnson County, Kansas contains many municipalities with a population of , It has the largest economy in the metropolitan area and is the fastest growing county by total population.
