Every great city has it’s water source: L.A. has the Pacific, Miami has the Atlantic, Chicago has Lake Michigan, St. Petersburg has the Baltic Sea, Paris has the Seine, Cairo has the Nile, Shanghai has the East China Sea, Buenos Aires has the Atlantic. These cities are built around their ports. If you are lost in a city. Find the source of water and it will orient you again.
Access to water made communication, transportation and trade easier. Cities with ports flourished. People came and stayed awhile. Immigrants settled. Travelers passed through the city’s inns and stocked up on supplies. Goods shipped out, went downstream, along the coast and across oceans to reach the buyer.
Kansas City, look upon the reason for your existence:
Anne Foster 