Young couple moving to KC area, tips? (Lee's Summit, Parkville: transplants, condo)

[poke17]

If it's not a dealbreaker, you shouldnt limit yourself to just the Overland Park/JoCo area. Take an extended weekend, get with a realtor, and check all corners of the city. There are a ton of great areas in the city that will get you what you're looking for. A good realtor should be able to point you to some neighborhoods that are heavy with younger families. We just recently moved from one house in the northland to another, and being around similar age group was a big factor. For $300k, you should be able to find a nice 4bed/3car house. You'd be paying less per sq.ft. north of the river or in the Lee's Summit area than you would on the KS side - and for new construction KS side you'd be getting further away from downtown which doesnt sound like its a huge deal.

Cant really speak to the KS side on this, but from our recent house search, for a $300k new construction home, you're probably looking at roughly $120/sq.ft. for something in a good neighborhood.

[kristin0113]

MOKAN, you have some great questions!

Right now, my husband and I live in Grand Prairie, TX, which is smack dab in the middle of Dallas and Ft. Worth. We like it here because in just a short drive we can make it to either city, with plenty of things to do in both areas, but we live in an apartment and want to buy a house.

We aren't night life people, but we do like to attend local events/ festivals/ an occasional night out to dinner/movie. It's not important for us to be in the middle of everything going on, and we aren't the type to go out on the town very often. Ideally, we would like to find a newer house (0-10yrs old) in a family friendly neighborhood (low crime, kids are safe in the front yard). We want a place with some of the city amenities (grocery stores, shopping, movies, etc) but still has that small town feel (less traffic, quiet, friendly). We don't want a "cookie-cutter" house with neighbors peering into our back yard and we want to have a decent yard but don't require acres of land/trees to be happy.

Also, we are open to living in either KS or MO, just around the general vicinity of KC because it's equal distance to either of our parents.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by kristin0113

MOKAN, you have some great questions!

Right now, my husband and I live in Grand Prairie, TX, which is smack dab in the middle of Dallas and Ft. Worth. We like it here because in just a short drive we can make it to either city, with plenty of things to do in both areas, but we live in an apartment and want to buy a house.

We aren't night life people, but we do like to attend local events/ festivals/ an occasional night out to dinner/movie. It's not important for us to be in the middle of everything going on, and we aren't the type to go out on the town very often. Ideally, we would like to find a newer house (0-10yrs old) in a family friendly neighborhood (low crime, kids are safe in the front yard). We want a place with some of the city amenities (grocery stores, shopping, movies, etc) but still has that small town feel (less traffic, quiet, friendly). We don't want a "cookie-cutter" house with neighbors peering into our back yard and we want to have a decent yard but don't require acres of land/trees to be happy.

Also, we are open to living in either KS or MO, just around the general vicinity of KC because it's equal distance to either of our parents.

Parkville, MO, might be your best bet. It's close to downtown and the city, but is also on the west edge of the metro. It's set in hilly, forested terrain along the Missouri River. It has the best riverfront park in the KC area. And it's actually a true small town with a thriving steam-boat era, 19th-century downtown with restaurants and shops. It's completely safe, very family-oriented, and has what may be the best school district on the MO side of the metro that is among the best in the area. There's a range of housing, but Parkville is one of the most upscale suburbs on the Missouri side. At the same time, it's not a snotty place. I think there's a tinge of small town/country left to the place. There are 3 large and newer grocery stores. A mall-type new-urbanism development nearby. All of the other typical suburban stores are near enough to be convenient, but far enough to not be a nuisance. And it's close to KCI Airport.

Parkville Municipal: City of Parkville Missouri Official Website
Downtown Parkville: Historic Downtown Parkville, Missouri
Zona Rosa: Shopping, Stores, Restaurants, Things to Do in Kansas City, Missouri
Briarcliff Village: Briarcliff Village
Map: Parkville, MO - Google Maps
Demographic/crime data: http://www.city-data.com/city/Parkville-Missouri.html
School info: Park Hill School District in Kansas City, MO | GreatSchools
Local real estate site with convenient map search feature: Reece & Nichols Real Estate, Mortgage and Title Experts | Kansas City Homes for Sale with Reece & Nichols.

Parkville is pretty awesome, but what you're looking for describes the Missouri suburbs much more than it does the Kansas side. Liberty, MO and Lee's Summit, MO would be the 2 next best choices you could make, I think. Most of the Kansas suburbs are in Johnson County, KS, and it's a corporate hub, a very busy place, with big-city style suburbs, lots of traffic, not much green space, etc. Pretty much every one of the Missouri side suburbs provides a small-town feel, etc. because, well, most of the Missouri-side suburbs are true small towns that the metro grew into and they became suburbs.

Oh and I forgot to mention Parkville has a small respectable, private college, Park University:
Park University - Online, Undergraduate, and Graduate Degrees

Just a suggestion. Parkville is unique, so there's nothing quite like it anywhere else in the immediate metro. Good luck.

[kcmo]

Johnson County = Plano, TX with even less transit options into the city than Plano has.

It almost looks like texas in parts of JoCo because the topography really flattens out and it becomes less lush and green. But that’s where most of the suburban office parks are and that area has the edge on high end suburban shopping.

So if you like Plano, then you would like JoCo.

The MO suburbs are a bit more blue collar and working class, but they still have a fair share of white collar commuters, actually they are still mostly white collar areas. Lee's Summit, Parkville, Liberty, Independence, NKC all have neat little downtowns and the MO side has more hills, trees and lakes. The trade off is the roads are not as gridded out because of the more challenging topography. Schools are the same in all of KC's nice burbs (MO and KS).

It’s amazing how similar the KS/MO suburbs are to the NoVA/Maryland suburbs around DC. It’s nearly identical, although with far less friction animosity toward each other or DC.

Maryland suburbs are like the MO burbs. NoVA is like JoCo. I chose Maryland for the same reasons I would choose the MO suburbs in KC. NoVa could be any suburb in America. United states of Generica. Maryland has a completely different culture and even topography and much of the Maryland suburbs are developed around water (similar to many mo side suburbs of KC). Tysons Corner “might” have a few more super high end stores or more than one location of them, something I don’t care about. We are an hour closer to the Beach and Baltimore and the Bay are right around the corner and there is less traffic and housing is cheaper.

But just like many of KC’s eastern suburbs, we have to driver through the nasty part of DC to get to the good parts while NoVA is just across the river from the best parts of DC.

The similarities are striking. NoVA is so meh. I would be itching to move by now had we moved there.

[tzeb]

I agree with Mokan's post about Parkville. In Parkville, that newer house you are looking for will be available in a prettier, more downtown-convenient location than the same house built in Johnson County, Kansas. If you don't like Parkville for some reason, then Lee's Summit or the Liberty area would be my suggestions.

The only reservation I'd have about Parkville is that some parts of it are tucked away rather far from an interstate. I believe you wrote that clients would be visiting your house, and you needed easy access from an interstate.

[TabulaRasa]

Lee's Summit fits the bill for what you may be looking for, but Parkville definitely has the more "small town" feel to it overall, if that's a draw. Lee's Summit has that around the late-1800s era downtown, which is neat (also where I live), but the rest of it (which is more new construction vs. historical district designation vintage) is essentially just suburban-feeling. It has good highway access, is quite family-oriented, has good schools, is safe, kids play in yards, quiet, and friendly.

[thriftylefty]

I wouldn't rule out something along highway 10. Being within close proximity to Lawrence will be plus at your age. The Overland Park /Lawrence corridor is where I think would be a good investment. Gardner and De soto Schools are ranked pretty high. Since that area is still in development you might find some giant historic homes (with room for a pony ) under the $200's. I might add that IMO the interior highway system is pretty good (especially on the Kansas side) due to less population and driving would not be a big concern. De Soto is about 30 minutes from the Plaza and Lawrence KS. This is a good site to find highly ranked schools and homes near by
De soto Schools - Find a Public or Private School in De soto, Kansas - SchoolDigger.com

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

Lee's Summit fits the bill for what you may be looking for, but Parkville definitely has the more "small town" feel to it overall, if that's a draw. Lee's Summit has that around the late-1800s era downtown, which is neat (also where I live), but the rest of it (which is more new construction vs. historical district designation vintage) is essentially just suburban-feeling. It has good highway access, is quite family-oriented, has good schools, is safe, kids play in yards, quiet, and friendly.

I'd argue that the small-town feel is just as much cultural and about solidarity as the actual built environment.

[TabulaRasa]

It is. I grew up in small, rural communities. In my experience since my years in those environments, most suburbs lack that aspect, try though they might to look the part of a small town. Downtown Lee's Summit (or fill-in-the-blank suburb) has independent shops and restaurants, etc. that mimic the mom n' pops of my small-town youth, but nobody that runs those places knows me by name, has a grandma who grew up with my grandma, will recognize me if they run into me at the grocery store, school play, etc. There's just too many other people for that level of intimacy. That's the tradeoff, though, for me, going from small town/rural to urban/suburban. There are pros, as well, of course. There are suburbs that may, in places, LOOK like small towns (and sometimes WERE originally small towns, prior to become engulfed by a sprawling metro), but I find that the comparison really only goes so far, when the population is so much larger.

But, really, Parkville obviously IS a much, much smaller town than Lee's Summit, with a population discrepancy of more than 80,000 people, and is obviously much smaller in area, as well.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

It is. I grew up in small, rural communities. In my experience since my years in those environments, most suburbs lack that aspect, try though they might to look the part of a small town. Downtown Lee's Summit (or fill-in-the-blank suburb) has independent shops and restaurants, etc. that mimic the mom n' pops of my small-town youth, but nobody that runs those places knows me by name, has a grandma who grew up with my grandma, will recognize me if they run into me at the grocery store, school play, etc. There's just too many other people for that level of intimacy. That's the tradeoff, though, for me, going from small town/rural to urban/suburban. There are pros, as well, of course. There are suburbs that may, in places, LOOK like small towns (and sometimes WERE originally small towns, prior to become engulfed by a sprawling metro), but I find that the comparison really only goes so far, when the population is so much larger.

But, really, Parkville obviously IS a much, much smaller town than Lee's Summit, with a population discrepancy of more than 80,000 people, and is obviously much smaller in area, as well.

I enjoyed reading what you've had to say and agree with you. The bigger a place gets the more it loses its small-town atmosphere culturally and people become more indifferent and anonymous, which is what JoCo has largely become. At the same time, for the many people who grew up in Lee's Summit, like one of my roommates, the small-town community aspect is still very strong. That old network still exists amongst the larger crowd. Really, I think many city neighborhoods had (or still have) that same community aspect, a tight-knit community amongst the larger crowd. I think mobility is what's really changed that. Social networks have become sprawled like our cities. When I say mobility, I mean both cars and planes, but also the college-educated professional worker.