All posts by Brenna Kiu

Chestnut to Agnes Census Analysis

The area on 35th Street between Chestnut and Agnes (Census Tract 56) has transformed from a predominantly White, suburban neighborhood to a predominantly Black, lower income area. In 1950, Tract 56 was reflective of Kansas City as a whole in terms of race, income, and education. However, the 2000 Census shows a very different picture. Tract 56 is no longer representative of Kansas City, which indicates a certain level of segregation between White and Black, between high income and low income, and between the upper class and lower class. Combining this data with observations about how Kansas City is laid out, it is not hard to see the correlation between race and income which could stem from the (still-existing) role of racism during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

35th Street & Chestnut – Agnes

This area has always been a single-family residential community since its annexation in 1897. Since the blocks were filled with housing units around 1925, there has not been too many massive changes to the area. It remains a charming neighborhood in the urban center of the Kansas City Metro Region. Perhaps the biggest change for the community over the past 100 years has not been the development within the neighborhood, but the development outside of it.

It has made a transition from being a quiet suburb on the outskirts of Kansas City, to being part of the urban community due to the expansion of the surrounding suburban sprawl. There are indications of the neighborhood’s age from the large trees and the historical houses which are accompanied by the modern day luxuries we all know today, like power lines, clean sewer systems, and tall street lights. It is interesting to see how a community can transform from suburban to urban and how old can meet new.