Seeking feedback on Kansas City, MO (NW Ambassador Dr. or Around Zip 64153)

[nealrm]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Yea, it's just not easy to explain to new people the geography of the Northland. Most locals in metro KC outside of Clay and Platte don't really even understand the Northland very well.

Most residents up there are Kansas Citians. They live in KCMO proper. Most people that live in the Parkville area for example have a Kansas City, MO address. They also don't really associate themselves as being from Parkville as people in other parts of the metro do. Parkville is the nearest place to identify with and they go to Park Hill schools, but they generally will say they live in KCMO or the Northland if needing to be more specific. I lived up there for many years and have many relatives there. Parkville itself is tiny and has very few newer areas such as the National. The the larger also affluent/middle class areas around Parkville are in KCMO proper or unincorporated Platte County.

The reason I bring this up over and over is because when people ask about options north of the river, people always just name off the suburbs up there when the biggest suburb of them all with almost all the new homes and apartment complexes is Kansas City, not Parkville or Weatherby Lake. Even Liberty grows very slowly, most growth in the Liberty area occurs in KCMO city limits. If you are looking for a home in the Northland, 90% of your options will be in the city of KCMO. Which is basically a large suburb. Kansas City north of the river is 100% suburban and has about 130,000 people and is growing very rapidly (much faster than Liberty, Gladstone etc). KCMO's suburban northland is growing so fast that it's canceling out continued population loss in Jackson County and still giving the city a sizable net gain in population.

People moving to KC should understand this. Just trying to make it clear that you most likely will be looking at a kcmo address if looking at the northern suburbs, so you may type in Parkville, but it's okay to look at the KCMO homes that will pop up when searching for Parkville. A new person to the area may not understand this and may think that will be in the KCMO school district etc.

You're right, most of the city/towns in that area are surrounded my KC. KC went on a big land grab in the 70's(??) and annexed much of the county. Thing may have changed some over the year, but I always stated I was from Parkville.

To the OP: When you are in the area looking at homes, stop in and order some taco or a burrito with everything from "In-a-Tub". It's a local treat. (You may wish to bring a defibrillator along also, the food is somewhat unhealthy)

[ricky_72749]

Thank you every one for your valuable input and contribution in this thread. I apologize for disappearing and not responding to some wonderful responses here. I visited the place for personal interview and absolutely loved it. The area around airport is very nice and people are friendly and helpful too. Did not get a chance to go anywhere, but I did visit the downtown. The biggest city I ever lived in was L.A, so I kept comparing, but I guess people in KCMO downtown are much more friendlier than L.A downtown folks, who sometimes forced me to act like a snob because it is hard for a simple person like me to have upbeat job and work with such personalities. I am moving to KCMO initially for 6 months contract (will be extended), which gives me enough time to figure out if I want to settle down there. Once again, thanks for all your time to provide the much needed feedback and guidance.