Living in the Scoot Utopia

This past weekend I volunteered with the Kansas City Host Committee and answered questions for dozens of out-of-state visitors at the Crown Center hotels.

I love Kansas City but I was blown away by how good of a time the people who stopped by the booth were having. They all really seemed to love our city. I even had some Oklahoma people tell me they like it better when the games are in KC than in Oklahoma City.

The bar I was asked about most frequently was Paddy O'Quigley's (??), and the restaurant I was asked most about was Jack Stack. I also gave directions multiple times to Lidia's and City Tavern, Pierpont's, both d'Bronx locations, Mama's, The Cashew, Grinders, The Majestic, Mango Room, Manny's, Margarita's, Taqueria Mexico, Plaza III, Arthur Bryant's, and Oklahoma Joe's.

Several people asked me where the closest movie theaters were and one family laughed when I showed them how to get to th Cinemark on the Plaza as they had just returned from the Plaza. (They were all to happy to go back though!) I'll be nice next time being able to direct them to the AMC downtown.

I also had a few people who were interested in specific shops that were only at The Legends. But as soon as they showed them how to get there the reaction was the same for all: "Oh, that's way too far. Never mind, How do I get to The Plaza instead?"

The hardest question I received was where someone could go to rent video games. I gave the person the address of the Westport Blockbuster but told them to also check the hotel concierge in case the hotel had any available.

People kept telling me repeatedly how good of a time they were having and how much they loved Kansas City. I only fielded two complaints:

1. Several people complained about the fact that for some reason you can't get channel 38 in KC's hotels ... the channel the games were on.

2. That our public transportation sucks. People who took cabs had no complaints, but those who relied on the KCATA had difficulties. There were complaints of slow to nonexistent service (shuttles that were supposed to run every 15 minutes were nowhere to be found), buses switching their sign to 'out of service' and driving off while people stood stranded, difficulty finding the southbound MAX stops, the poor placement of the MAX stops, etc. The cry was loud and clear for a fixed, reliable, easy-to-identify form of public transportation. There was a definite cry for light rail.
   

I had a lot of fun answering people's questions and hope it helped make a lot of visits better. I can't wait until 2010 when I can do it again!

By the way I received 0 complaints about parking even though some of the visitors chose to drive their own cars to the games. Returning guests told me their parking was free or cheap and that they found spaces right away. I myself spotted 3 free spaces less than 1 block from Sprint Center shortly after the K State game started Friday night, and my friends who came to meet me later all managed to park within a block of the arena as well. Sorry, TKC, you were wrong again! (I notice he's been awfully silent on that subject after pressing it so hard last week. ;) )