KCK & The Westside by Chuong Doan

KCK & the Westside is an ongoing project to document the ever changing social and cultural demographics found within downtown Kansas City, Kansas and the Westside neighborhood of Kansas City, Missouri. As business and art developments continue to revitalize the area, how do new faces interact with the old? Sparked by the art movement in the Crossroads located just south of Kansas City, MO’s downtown loop, an influx of business and housing development has carried over into these surrounding areas. Both Kansas City, KS and the Westside neighborhood have long been known for their cultural and economic diversity – both with a high concentration of immigrants who came to Kansas City to create a better life for themselves and their families. Currently, both Kansas City, KS and the Westside are home to a growing number of Hispanics – beginning with a migration that started in the late 1800s. Kansas City was connected with the American Southwest via the railroad that thousands of Mexican immigrants were enlisted to construct, at a time when the United States had placed restrictions on hiring Chinese and Japanese laborers. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 produced a new wave of refugees to the area, mainly Catholics fleeing persecution. My work explores how new development in these areas will continue to change the face of these diverse neighborhoods as we progress further into the 21 st century.