63rd Street runs almost 10 miles on either side of the Missouri-Kansas state line. On either side, the development along the corridor has a unique feel. On the Missouri side, 63rd Street starts as a road surrounded by single-family homes. First crossing Ward Parkway and ultimately coming to Brookside – it’s an urban, gridded street pattern, all the way from State Line Road to Swope Parkway. Passing the major commercial hubs at Brookside and Troost. There, the road enters Swope Park grounds, and becomes curvilinear. The mostly commercialized development along the corridor first becomes crowded by greenery before opening up into open fields. As you approach the I-435/E-350 HWY interchange, industrial uses start sprouting up on either side. Finally, the commercial developments reappear. Raytown, Missouri’s small downtown district surrounds 63rd Street at Raytown Road. The East side of 63rd Street dead ends at the Western boundary of Raytown – Woodson Road.

On the Kansas side, 63rd Street starts off with single-family residential homes on either side. At Nall Avenue, 63rd Street merges into Shawnee Mission Parkway – instantly becoming a suburban arterial through Mission, Merriam and Shawnee, Kansas. Shawnee Mission Parkway (63rd Street) connects to Metcalf Avenue with a cloverleaf interchange and I-35 with a diamond interchange. This, at the corridor’s most suburban point, eight traffic lanes exist. West of I-35, frontage roads appear on either side of the street. The frontage roads give access to an staggering amount of suburban commercial developments. Eventually, at Pflumm Road, 63rd Street reappears as it diverts from Shawnee Mission Parkway. After a short portion of road with more single-family homes surrounding the street, the West side of 63rd dead ends just past Maurer Road in Shawnee, Kansas and literally becomes a single-family home’s front driveway.

All of this is to say just how ever-changing the 63rd Street corridor really is. Depending on which side of State Line road you are on, 63rd Street may not even be the name of the road most associated with the corridor. The Missouri side of 63rd is more urban, the Kansas side is more suburban. The Missouri side has many distinct districts that you pass through whereas the Kansas side just feels like one large district with the only difference being the seven seemingly unnoticeable city limit changes. However, together the two sides of state line complete the 63rd Street corridor. Without either side or without any district along the corridor, it would not be the same.