Covering a 5-block stretch of W 39th Street in Kansas City, Missouri between State Line Road on the west to Terrace St. on the east. Named for its location, you'll find everything from the local ice-cream parlor to kink, and almost everything in between.

Accessible by local transit - The Metro -, sidewalks line both sides of the street. Ample parking on 39th Street, as well as on cross streets - Bell, Genessee, Wyoming and Terrace. Watch out for the one-ways on Genessee and Terrace. A 10 minute hike from historic Westport.

While the neighborhoods around 39th St. West are rustic and generally well-kept, there is still an edge of the 'hood around some of the apartment buildings in the blocks between SW Trafficway and Roanoke. Most community members make an effort to keep the litter to a minimum, all the shopowners know each other and keep an eye out for the less-than-respectable types who may come to try to panhandle their clientele. Metropolitan security does a reasonable job in patrolling the neighborhood, and the security officers are sometimes even friendly to the neighborhood regulars.

Everyone comes around 39th St. West; you'll see children and families frequent Miami Ice (the city's best cold-stone mixed ice cream), neighboring bar and grill Fric 'n Frac's (best $10 steak in town), many 20 and 30-somethings chatting on the patio at The Crave cafe, or heading into Freaks on 39th tattoo shop. There's some of the best cuisine in town at Friend's Sushi and Bento, Po's dumpling bar, the Blue Koi, Aladdin Cafe, Room 39, Taj Palace, Genghis Kahn, Saigon 39 and Scotty's --- or just plain ol' good food at Bell Street Mama's, Jazz - a Louisiana Kitchen, d'Bronx, or Minsky's. Don't forget our token chain stores - Starbucks and Chipotle. There's the great neighborhood bars - DB Coopers, Jimmy's Jigger and Gilhouly's. Also, we've got Prospero's and WhiteLight bookstores, Herb Garden Too, and MisKnits. Tucked in-between are other businesses such as Patina Studios, Twisted Sister Cards and Gifts, Alpha Chiropractic, and of course the best tobbaconist in town - Havana Moon (fully humidified) cigar shop.

Everyone is very laid back and friendly. You'll soon discover that the more time you spend on 39th St. West, the more you feel like you've walked into an episode of Cheers. It's a neighborhood with heart, which is fighting to stay alive when the Plaza and Westport are both being devoured by rampant commercialism. Wednesday evenings give us a local farmer's market in the parking lot of Twisted Sister and The Crave Cafe. No one is a stranger when you're walking down the street.

With the proximity to KU Medical Center, one might expect all the local shops to be over-run with scholarly types. Instead you find an eclectic mixture of all walks of life, young, old, rich, poor, urban hip, hippies, retro, and retrofit. Try out Boomerang for their very Retro clothing and knicknacks. If you can catch them when they're open, the little pastry shop makes fantastic croissants. Looking for a bobble-headed Buddha? Twisted Sister's the place to go. With Wi-Fi accessible from almost any point on 39th St. West, you're never far away from your email, either.