The Valentine neighborhood grew up around the development of the multiple street car routes that paralleled the neighborhood and flowed throughout the greater midtown district. Before Southwest Trafficway barreled through the western Midtown neighborhoods it was called Summit and possessed a streetcar that ran through the center of the street. On the other side of the Valentine neighborhood, Broadway Blvd had a mix of bus and streetcar routes over the years.

As time rolled on and paradigms shifted streetcars were removed, bus routes were cut, and streets were upgraded to handle higher capacities of car use. Today Southwest Trafficway acts as an interurban highway, moving cars to and from I-35 down to the Plaza eventually connecting to Ward Parkway. A bus route still exists on Broadway, though its route is much different than previous iterations. Valentine is also in proximity to the new Main St Streetcar route, only four blocks away.

Urbanist remiss the days of old when the Valentine neighborhood had an abundance of public transit access, but all hope is not lost. Both Broadway Blvd and Southwest Trafficway corridors are still ideal candidates for additional streetcar extensions to connect downtown with the southern neighborhoods, potentially rolling all the way down to 95th St. There is always the option of a more connected Valentine, but it will take most of the city to rebuild the once great Kansas City streetcar and larger public transit infrastructure.

Below is a public transit map of Kansas City’s streetcar, trolley and motor bus lines from 1944.