Kansas City is affectionately known as The City of Fountains, Paris of the Plains and Cowtown. What it should be known as is “Where Romance Comes to Die.” Now I might sound a bit cynical and dramatic, but it is true, dating in Kansas City sucks. 

   For the average person, it takes a lot of courage to go up to someone and just say “hi.” That’s why the trend has turned to dating apps. 

  Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, Her; the list never stops. While these apps allow for great connectivity, don’t let their ads fool you. According to Bustle.com, a study of 500 dating app participants shows only 15% of couples made it to a year. 

  Dating apps make the matching part easy, but actually getting somewhere once matched is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Tinder prompts the guy to message first; Bumble the girl. Waiting for that first message can be agonizing, and when the messages are dry it’s just a waste of time. 

  Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of date-worthy things to do in Kansas City. Despite buzzing with over 500,000 people, the city’s social scene is a bit lacking, and the widespread nature of Kansas City makes planning an outing even harder. 

  When it takes 20 minutes just to get to your friends, and another 20 minutes to get to your location, it puts a damper on the excitement that comes with going out.

  Say you make it past the talking stage, onto the meeting stage, and the plans actually make it out of the text messages. What do you do? 

  The first few dates are easy enough. Plenty of restaurants to choose from, great things to do and everyone always has a great place they just have to show that special someone. Not only does the cost add up quickly, eventually you’ll run out of ideas and end up doing what every midwesterner does: walk around Target for 2 hours.

   Now I am not saying dating in Kansas City is impossible, but it’s not easy. With the rise of internet culture and covid setting the social sphere back, it’s hard to meet genuine people and form a connection. The city is buzzing with life and excitement, but failed date after failed date makes it so much harder to appreciate what Kansas City has to offer.

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