Need help finding a house and information in independence missouri (Kansas City: middle-class, real estate)

[4x4dakota]

I found out that I will be moving there in June and I'm not sure what to think yet. I saw some videos on youtube that make it seem like a really quiet place to live and the home of Truman.

If there are any realtors that want to find a house for me please contact me.

Whats it like in Independence?
What kind of things are there to do?
I like riding my atvs and dirt bikes are there trails for that?
Also I have a boat and wave runners what is the closest lake thats a decent size?

I'm 25 years old will I be able to meet other people and girls my age? I like country girls so will I be able to find that there? Please give me some info.

[kc chris]

Originally Posted by 4x4dakota

I found out that I will be moving there in June and I'm not sure what to think yet. I saw some videos on youtube that make it seem like a really quiet place to live and the home of Truman.

If there are any realtors that want to find a house for me please contact me.

Whats it like in Independence?

It's got a bad rap for meth among other things. Not a lot of people speak very highly of Independence. You might feel more at home in Buckner (if you're looking for rural), Blue Springs, Grain Valley or Oak Grove... all very close to Independence (Blue Springs kind of runs right into it), should be a short highway drive but get you far enough away.

Originally Posted by 4x4dakota

What kind of things are there to do?

Arrowhead (home of the Chiefs) and Kauffman (Home of the Royals) are on the corner of Independence, and the rest of Kansas City is a 15-20 minute drive.

Originally Posted by 4x4dakota

I like riding my atvs and dirt bikes are there trails for that?

Not really, closest are Perry Lake just north of Lawrence, Deepwater just south of Clinton, and Finger Lakes just north of Columbia. All are 2+ hours away... some closer to 3.5.

Originally Posted by 4x4dakota

Also I have a boat and wave runners what is the closest lake thats a decent size?

For a small boat and wave runners Lake Jacomo is very close (I'm unfamiliar with their rules), and Longview Lake is nearby. You will be a few hours from Lake of the Ozarks which can handle any size boat you have, or Truman Lake which is a nice fishing lake. You'll also be about 3 hours from Stockton, 4 hours from Table Rock or Beaver Lake which are all three very large beautiful lakes.

Originally Posted by 4x4dakota

I'm 25 years old will I be able to meet other people and girls my age? I like country girls so will I be able to find that there? Please give me some info.

Maybe. KC apparently ranks low on the dating scene but I don't think people here try hard enough.

[Mad Anthonie]

Originally Posted by kc chris

It's got a bad rap for meth among other things. Not a lot of people speak very highly of Independence. You might feel more at home in Buckner (if you're looking for rural), Blue Springs, Grain Valley or Oak Grove... all very close to Independence (Blue Springs kind of runs right into it), should be a short highway drive but get you far enough away.

The meth rap is old news. We got that because our PD went after the meth makers aggressively. Because of that most dopers have moved to other areas where they aren't watched so closely.

Originally Posted by kc chris

For a small boat and wave runners Lake Jacomo is very close (I'm unfamiliar with their rules), and Longview Lake is nearby. You will be a few hours from Lake of the Ozarks which can handle any size boat you have, or Truman Lake which is a nice fishing lake. You'll also be about 3 hours from Stockton, 4 hours from Table Rock or Beaver Lake which are all three very large beautiful lakes.

Blue Springs Lake is just off the SE border of Independence, and waverunners and small boats are welcome there. Lake Jacomo drains into Blue Springs Lake.

We also have the Independence Events Center, home to the Missouri Mavericks Hockey Team and a popular concert venue.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by Mad Anthonie

The meth rap is old news. We got that because our PD went after the meth makers aggressively. Because of that most dopers have moved to other areas where they aren't watched so closely.




Blue Springs Lake is just off the SE border of Independence, and waverunners and small boats are welcome there. Lake Jacomo drains into Blue Springs Lake.

We also have the Independence Events Center, home to the Missouri Mavericks Hockey Team and a popular concert venue.

Thank you. It's nice to see an informed poster about Independence. Sounds like you live there, thanks for responding to the OP because Indep has a bad rap because people give it a bad rap (like it was even necessary to mention meth in the first place to somebody new to the area, that’s why it has the “image”). Seems like the only people that bring up the meth thing is those not from Indep.

Sorry, this is just a real pet peeve of mine. If there is a city that deserves more credit where credit is due it’s Independence.

Independence is a large suburb, yet it does have an urban side and with that urban problems. So parts of the city (mostly northern side) are very poor, not really dangerous, just poor. But most of Independence is just down to earth and working class, not run down, yet not affluent either. Just people living in well maintained ranches and split levels not trying to keep up with the jones, but still educated and commuting to the same jobs as everybody else in the metro. The city also has a very nice middle/upper middle class suburban side of town where it meets up with the borders of Lee’s Summit and Blue Springs. There are some amazing upper bracket neighborhoods in Independence. One of my favorite suburban areas in all of metro KC is tucked away just east of 470 in the bluffs. All custom built million dollar homes built onto the cliffs.

Independence has done some great things and it’s done great things not by poaching companies from kcmo, but by giving modest people a safe place to live with decent shopping and entertainment and culture nearby. The city has also taken on urban schools that were once in the KCMO school district when most other suburbs would have run the other way and said it’s not their problem.

When the city did notice a rise in meth, the PD attacked the methlabs hard and shut them all down and because they shut them all down at once, the city set a record for methlab busts and will forever be labeled as a meth city even though the city didn’t have any to shut down only a couple of years later because they had actually removed the problem.

Sorry for the rant.

The person above me did a god job answering your question. Blue Springs Lake (not Longview) is very close to Indep which is a very popular water sports lake. Jacomo which is more for fishing is nearby. Independence also has a fantastic hiking and biking trail, the Little Blue Trace. The city has a great mall and most stores you could ever want, an arena and several good museums and other attractions. The Square is one of the few vibrant suburban downtowns in the metro.

As far as 4 wheeling, I would say Indep is better for that because they have a ton of rural land in the far northeast part of the city limits like around Route 7. Don't to ATV stuff, but used to mountain bike and some of the best trails in the midwest for biking are on the border of Blue Springs and Indep and I'm pretty sure there are ATV trails nearby that area too. Blue Springs and even Grain Valley are pretty built out. Blue Springs is nearly built out and landlocked, so tIndep would have less places for stuff like that because they have all that open land north of Blue Springs.

Good luck.

[kc chris]

He's looking for rural activities and country girls so you're recommending "urban indepmo"?

The whole town has a stigma locally, I lived next to it for 8 years (in another not so great area, meth lab blew up down the street 3-4 years ago!), the stereotypes exist for a reason. For better or worse, it's not a town you want to say you live in, the meth labs were there because the meth users are there.

Also riding ATV's or dirt bikes on any of the areas "official" mountain bike trails is a HUGE no-no, and there are no sanctioned riding areas near Kansas City. There is an MX track in Grain Valley now, but it's a commercial operation.

Look just past Independence to the towns surrounding it on the eastern and northern side, you'll be happier.

[northbound74]

Sheesh.
Independence is just fine. It is quite large for a suburb, and has some older urban-ish areas that aren't quite up to snuff by Stepford standards. It has some cool features that make it unique among KC suburbs, though. It is fairly quite and laid-back for the most part. The mall area can be rather busy in the southeastern section.
But yeah, the OP might like the more rural areas on the far east side of town and beyond a little ways.
As far as I know, Missouri doesn't have any state-run ATV trails. They'll all be on private land. Check ATV websites for local trails. That kind of thing would be more popular further down in the Ozark region, which is close enough for weekend trips.

[MOKAN]

I have a hard time thinking of Independence as 'urban'. It's like a small town with its own identity that's been plopped down in a metropolitan area. Just because a place has historic and older sections doesn't mean it's urban, nor does the fact it has dirt-poor white people in a few neighborhoods and meth users and the general presence of a struggling population/culture. Small, isolated towns have those features too.

Also, much of Independence is suburban and one of the best suburban areas in the metro (2nd best mall in the area, for instance and just a huge cluster of chain restaurants and retail). Even much or most of the older and historic sections of Independence are inhabited by normal, legit, working to middle-class people. Have a look at the housing prices around the Square sometime for proof. Independence just isn't socially segregated like many places nowadays. So you have people all across the socioeconomic spectrum mixed together. In that regard, I think Independence also takes on an 'all American' vibe. Further, look at the progressive endeavors of the Independence School District - taking on and improving a high school and its feeder schools from the failing KCMO school district. And the more recent weight-loss initiative. Plus, the police department seems to be doing their job, driven by a passion to keep Independence a nice community and improve upon where it already is. These things aren't what drug addicts or white trash do. The outsiders and there stereotypes - they just don't know any better. They're ignorant. And that ignorance and stereotyping only serves to counteract the actual real-world, feet-on-the-ground progress going on in Independence, MO.

Anyway, I know for a fact from personal experience that many "country" and small town people who *have* to move to KC do choose Independence, probably beause the place aligns with their values. However, if I would certainly recommend Buckner, Oak Grove, Grain Valley, or other outlying areas if the OP wants to keep it as "country" as possible while having to live near Kansas City.

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by 4x4dakota

I found out that I will be moving there in June and I'm not sure what to think yet. I saw some videos on youtube that make it seem like a really quiet place to live and the home of Truman.

If there are any realtors that want to find a house for me please contact me.

Whats it like in Independence?
What kind of things are there to do?
I like riding my atvs and dirt bikes are there trails for that?
Also I have a boat and wave runners what is the closest lake thats a decent size?

I'm 25 years old will I be able to meet other people and girls my age? I like country girls so will I be able to find that there? Please give me some info.

Houses? Have at it.

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