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Downtown, Kansas City — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Downtown is Kansas City's central business district, the largest in the metropolitan area, holding Union Station and the National World War I Memorial.
About Downtown
Where to stay in Downtown
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Barney Allis Plaza sits at the centre of the convention trade. The largest houses stand around it, and the 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City is carried on the district's own landmark list rather than on a hotel directory alone. Grand Avenue runs through it.
You would book here to walk to Science City at Union Station, the National World War I Memorial and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum rather than to drive in from the outer ring each morning.
About Downtown
What are the main landmarks in Downtown?
The National World War I Memorial stands at the head of the district's list. Kansas City's museums fill the rest. The Arabia Steamboat Museum, the National Airline History Museum and the Kansas City Garment District Museum each take a single trade as their subject, and the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum keep two chapters the city made its own.
Science City at Union Station, Sea Life Kansas City and the Legoland Discovery Center Kansas City take the family end, and the College Basketball Experience the sporting one. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception holds the older ground.
What is the history of Downtown?
Four private houses still stand on the district's landmark list. The Maj. William Warner House, the Joseph Grear Peppard House, the Frank M. Howe Residence and the Philip E. Chappell House are what remains of a Downtown where people kept addresses rather than desks.
Grand Avenue Temple, Christian Church Hospital and Exposition Park belong to that earlier map. Kansas City built its offices around them. The Downtown Council of Kansas City fixed the working boundary that is most commonly accepted, and the Greater Downtown Area Plan of 2010 drew a wider one east to Woodland Avenue.
Where is Downtown?
Downtown runs from the Missouri River south to 31st Street, and from the Kansas-Missouri state line east to Bruce R. Watkins Drive.
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Updated September 2026