What can I do to make my downstairs layout better?
Moving the kitchen to another location is typically a rather large project because things like plumbing and critical electrical wiring have to move. Even swapping sides in a kitchen can lead to a lot of "down to the framing" type of work. 

Your picture does not show the current kitchen layout so it is not possible to envision just what may be possible. Despite that, opening up the space between the kitchen and dining room may be the easiest thing to solve the long narrow kitchen plan as shown.