What's KC like (crime, tornadoes, racism)

[PVPete]

KC kinda prides itself on having friendly people. There is a certain midwestern hospitality I think.

The state line tension I think gets overblown. Like Tabula says, it will rear its ugly head in online forums and during college sports, and political issues like regional funding for amenities. But for the most part, most people don't care.

KC has really ramped up special events and concerts recently. Sprint Center has been hailed as one of the best venues for landing big musical acts. Starlight Theater is an outstanding outdoor theater/concert venue that has landed some big acts this year (Janet Jackson, Selena Gomez, Journey) and has recently made some major upgrades. Capitol Federal Ampitheater (or Verizon or Sandstone or whatever they call it now) is pretty dumpy and far away but still seems to get some major acts. I'm also amazed at the great acts that musical venues like Crosstown Station, Grinders and Knuckleheads can land. KC is a pretty underrated musical scene I think.

[L.A.Woman]

<3 Hello everyone! I'm originally from Ca. and I've lived in Az. On & off for almost 10 yrs.....And for me there is no better place than Mo. "You will not find a place with more heart and spirit than Kansas City,Missouri".(Simply because there isn't.(I so very strongly mean this)."I love SO many things about this city,I wouldn't be able to put it all in words"..."It's beyond The wonderful Jazz,B b q,and incredible diversity.....theres something else..."something that kinda keeps you comming back and calling this place home for good".

[kcmama]

i didn't think the original post came across as negative at all. I love that you've been searching for the perfect city for you, and KC is one of the top contenders! If you'd like to let us know what kind of housing you'd be looking at, maybe we can suggest some specific areas that will meet your needs. Buy or rent? house or apartment? Price range, if you care to share? The closest thing to racism i see is that people outside of the urban core are afraid to venture into the city. i think this actually has more to do with the way crimes are reported than people actually having racist views. We are in the western JoCo suburbs and it's a bit more diverse than you'd think. My kids' classes are usually about 1/4 minorities.

[88onfire]

I think you have a good idea of KC, if i was gonna have a "storied" picture of Kc in my head this would be it. Not too big, and the BBQ is by far the best in the country, be sure to get some burnt ends!!! Keep this in mind, I'm a country boy that lives around Pleasant Hill / Lone Jack and I have my typical "redneck" stickers and western clothes and I always talk to people in town, I always get good and friendly conversations out of people. Not saying there isnt racism but I like to think its getting better from both sides of the fence.

We were more worried about the floods this year than the tornados, had one scare all year about a week after the Joplin incident.

It's not quite southern, it's not quite western, it's got the best of both. The city itself is really neat, lots of old buildings and factories still going in their old buildings (in a good way, not even bad enough for emissions testing on cars, which is good for a city this size)

Lots of older buildings with neat architecture, the streets get pretty crazy downtown, LOTS of 1 ways.

Thats about all i can think of now, id say good choice on cities!

[Matthew Hall]

When we aren't doding bullets we're dodging bullets fired by rasicsts. Please don't come.

[LittleJazzyP]

That's an interesting list of potential cities! I've visited a few of them, and used to live in KC. KC has amazing parks, and of course, the Plaza, which is one of my favorite places on earth. Minneapolis-St. Paul is probably the cleanest city I have ever seen, but you may get more snow there than you really want.

Not to make a difficult choice more difficult, but have you ever visited Indianapolis? It is another fairly low-cost urban center, and has some wonderful neighborhoods. I lived there for about two years. I liked it.

Tornadoes are a possibility in many of the places you mentioned, but, as has been pointed out, they are covered by a standard insurance policy. Every place on earth is prone to some kind of natural disaster. I would not let that be a factor in my decision, to be honest.