Westport is for WT people who embraces their WT heritage.

P&L is for WT people who don't realize they're WT.

I can't speak for everyone, but I've been to Westport hundreds of times and only been murdered once or twice.

Rosanna Square is catty-corner from the spot where a girl was abducted and later murdered in one of the city's most high profile murders. So yea, its safe.

Love the social experiment, it just goes to show you that the news is responsible for the lots of fear and mis-judgements about the city. I mean fear is what put them in the suburbs in the first place, Right?

I always tell people that P&L is the place where the Suburban Tourist go on the weekend.

But you could do this social experiment in any city, like Chicago go out to the far burbs and ask them about this cool neighborhood on the South Side or North Side of Chicago and you would get the same responses.

That hasn't been my experience. Chicago area suburbanites seem to be pretty well-informed about and proud of the city. At least the people I've met.

What about St. Louis suburbanites?

Were you surprised by the results of your "experiment"? I wouldn't expect a reasoned critique of KC social venues from a bouncer at a run down bar in a suburban strip mall. Similarly, I wouldn't expect directions to Bluestem from a server at an Applebee's on Noland Road. I wouldn't ask a guy in a Dale Jr. t-shirt where I should buy my next suit.

Coincidentally, I was at a wedding shower in Brookside area Saturday night. Group of 5-10 friends (late 20s, early 30s Brookside, Waldo, PV residents) were all talking about all the new places in Westport that we've heard about but never tried. Women chimed in that they had just had drinks at new Port Fonda and that it was awesome.

All relative.

where do the non-"WT" folks party in KC, in your opinion?

westport is still a bit of a partyzone on weekend nights, but it's way more tame than it used to be. i also don't really get a "WT" vibe from it either, but maybe I am "WT." i mean, in the last few years places like america's pub and johnny dare's have closed, whereas more classy/normal places like the boot, westport cafe, port fonda, beer kitchen, foundry, etc. have opened. i haven't been to gusto or the union, but they seem to be steps up from the westport of 1999.

^Yeah, less metro party zone, more neighborhood places yet still a good weekend vibe. Westport is now targeting what the urban core likes (neighborhood hangout places) instead of what obnoxious party goers want yet still has a metro/tourist draw. Westport is much better off not trying to come up with manufactured themed places that try to attract the metro party crowd. P&L has helped Westport in that regard.

With the America's Pub closing, I wonder if there has been a measurable reduction in late night problems.

I think the confusion stems from the fact that I am spending more time in Westport, as of late.

i thought i saw you the other day, bedecked in some Faded Glory-brand jean shorts, clutching a Busch Light and screaming FREEDOM ISNT FREE at passersby whilst reclining on the hood of your Eagle Talon, before being tased by Westport security.

Looks like Westport didn't scare away a bunch of Baseball Writers and Media on Saturday night, looks like they had a blast at Kelly's
http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/ ... -practice/

Was I surprised? Certainly not. But I wasn't going to let my expectations hold me back from asking. I simply wanted hear if a few random suburbanites' opinions had remotely changed over the past decade. Back in '06 I moved into City Place in Westport right after college. Having grown up in OP/Leawood, my friends thought I had gone mad; none of them even knew how to get to Westport. Fast forward six years, and the majority of them now live or go out in or around Westport. This is a primary reason why I thought that maybe there's been progress in the general attitude and perception. Sure, it was a tiny sample of people that I asked, but the Westport warnings were just as dire and absurd last weekend as they were ten years ago (and I thought Westport was perfectly safe ten years ago).

As far as the current Westport "vibe" goes, I don't perceive it as being WT in the slightest. If anything, I think the hipster population seems to be more and more representative of the area (though, ironically, maybe that's because everyone is becoming a hipster nowadays). And with Beer Kitchen, McCoy's/Foundry and Harry's now occupying 3 corners of Westport's heart, I think Kelly's is the only locale fostering that over-the-top party atmosphere (shot girls, frat guys, less emphasis on food service, etc.) that seems to continually spill onto the corner of Westport & Penn. Throw in Firefly, The Union, Riot Room, et al, and you've got quite an eclectic mix of bars to accompany an ever-growing eclectic and excellent mix of restaurants.

Between the P&L opening and America's Pub closing, I believe Westport has benefited enormously.

Damn, bro, didn't you hear?

Busch changed their recipe when they changed the label!!!!!

Eurotrashed, I tell you.

In my opinion, people who live west or north (or nw) of chicago are the ones more connected to the city, wheras people to the south are less so. st. louis has a similar sort of pizza pie slice of the suburbs that are more informed about the city that i could point towards but it's a smaller slice than chicago.

Firebirds Burritos opens Oct 25

https://www.facebook.com/westportkc/pos ... 1880539080

Freebird. More stoners, fewer ballerinas.

I knew where it was years before, but I first went to Westport on my own when I was 17. A group of us from the school paper waltzed into the Entercom office without an appointment and managed to get into a sound booth for a piece.

Back then it had a worse reputation. Fast forward 15 years and I'd say the reputation of being dangerous is way less fair.

The same can be said about downtown. people still say it's empty but I can drive through it at 7:30pm and see someone walking on almost every single block from 22nd to 6th and Main. It's only empty if you go places no one wants to go.

Today I mainly go for the art store.

Good one!

Just tried Freebirds in Westport today. Was doable, far more options than Chipotle. I essentially built carnitas street tacos and they were not bad. At least they have corn tortillas as option and cilantro. The sauces/salsas aren't as hot as I like but I had my Marie Sharps habenero sauce with me. Was under $6 for 2 tacos/drink and it came with chips and you can choose salsa/queso/guac - cheaper than El Rancho and Chipotle. I thought it was overall better than Chipotle and not bad for a SW/Cali type chain but haven't tried the wraps.

The place doesn't operate very efficiently. They had 15 people on staff. Even though it was busy, I usually only see 6 or so at Chipotle with long lines.