What is Olathe like?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

Olathe seems to be a friendly place. It's humble and has a sense of community despite its beige physical environment. Same goes for Lee's Summit, Independence, Blue Springs, and Liberty. There's a certain "humanity" in these outer suburbs that I just can't put my finger on. They're just not as afraid of strangers, stuck up or indifferent, I guess.

That may be somewhat true, but the very socially conservative nature of the area is a foreign concept to me. It has much more of a Texas feel that I just don't like at all.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

That may be somewhat true, but the very socially conservative nature of the area is a foreign concept to me. It has much more of a Texas feel that I just don't like at all.

In what type of environment did you grow up and go to school?

Not everybody is preoccupied with politics in day-in, day-out life. I'm sure there are plenty of people in Olathe and similar suburbs who are quite liberal who simply don't dwell on it or advertise it. These people probably exist in the suburbs in proportions reflective of the overall population of this country.

[TinaMcG]

Originally Posted by MOKAN

In what type of environment did you grow up and go to school?

Not everybody is preoccupied with politics in day-in, day-out life. I'm sure there are plenty of people in Olathe and similar suburbs who are quite liberal who simply don't dwell on it or advertise it. These people probably exist in the suburbs in proportions reflective of the overall population of this country.

Yeah, there are, and I'm one of them. I have made friends who share my views as well, including our next door neighbors. I thought inmoving here from Chicago, I would feel surrounded by people on the opposite end of the social and political spectrum, but I don't. I'm not crazy about the people we elect, but then I only have one vote, so I live with it.

[KikyousDream]

to be honest, I grew up in Olathe 1993-2002, so my opinion is a little biase...but where I live now in comparson, its like the other side of heaven...but I just visited and I agree, its kinda ugly until you get into the neighborhoods. I lived off of the South end of Blackbob... when I moved in in 93 there was nothing there on that end except a junk yard/RV storage Park, a Connoco Station and ...well that was pretty much it..when I left the whole area had boomed!!! and today, in 2011 it still seems like it was growing. But it isnt pretty....not like master planned communities, and it didnt seem like there was any sorta planning on where to stick buildings. The schools are nothing short of excellent. The people it seems, having recently visited, are all VERY friendly. I dropped my credit card and ran off and some burly guy picked it up, chased me down, smiled and said "Don't want to walk off without this!" where I live now...yeah such things would have never happened. I also liked that as a child, I could walk to school and not have to think about crime. I would hands down choose this city to raise a family. But looks for something off of Blackbob. it close to the highway, its within walking distance (if you like to walk) to a decent sized shopping center and an AMC movie theater if my memory serves me right. It will always be home to me

[denverian]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Yes, Downtown Overland Park is located just to the west of 79 street and Metcalf. It sure isn't a remarkable area, but does offer a bit of a "main street" flavor with some shops and a couple restuarants. Most of the built environment of Overland Park inside 435 is established and has AGED WELL for the most part. Housing stock is at least 40-45+ years old- particularly along and east of Antioch road. Although Olathe does have newer and nicer parts, the overall quality of the housing stock is not as good. Basically, the quality started going downhill pretty fast as the "booming 90s" swept over JOCO with lots of cheap disposable builders grade quality houses slapped up in a matter of weeks- particularly many areas of Olathe. The population growth of JOCO BEFORE this time period was a more reasonable pace- so I think some of the neighborhoods reflect that in terms of the quality of the housing stock. Crime is lower in OP than Olathe. The best area of JOCO is mostly close to the MO state line. The further south and west you go in JOCO the more it starts feeling like central KS or TX. Gardner and Leawood might as well be in two different planets if you get my drift- enormous differences.

My parents moved from OP to Olathe a few years ago to a maintenence provided new home development. The houses in their development are stucco/cement tile roofs and appear to be well built, but what the heck is wrong with most of the other new housing developments in Olathe? Most of the houses look like the siding on the sides and back is some sort of cheap, off-the-shelf, thin paneling type material that you could see was already warping. The fronts of houses had some architectural detailing, but the sindes and back all looked like some sort of cheap, pre-fab barn type building. And then they all had decks, no fences and no trees/landscaping. I just couldn't picture anyone going out on their deck to stare across a sea of grass to look at the ugly backs of other houses.

[TinaMcG]

Originally Posted by denverian

My parents moved from OP to Olathe a few years ago to a maintenence provided new home development. The houses in their development are stucco/cement tile roofs and appear to be well built, but what the heck is wrong with most of the other new housing developments in Olathe? Most of the houses look like the siding on the sides and back is some sort of cheap, off-the-shelf, thin paneling type material that you could see was already warping. The fronts of houses had some architectural detailing, but the sindes and back all looked like some sort of cheap, pre-fab barn type building. And then they all had decks, no fences and no trees/landscaping. I just couldn't picture anyone going out on their deck to stare across a sea of grass to look at the ugly backs of other houses.

The thing that really put us off so many homes was the fact that the fronts were always nicer than the backs. There might be brick trim on the front, and cheap siding on the back. This was a new concept for me, and we wouldn't buy any home that didn't look consistently attractive all the way around. Seems people are more concerned about curb appeal than anything else. Personally, I want the back of our place looking really nice because that's where WE spend most of our time.