Overland Park ranked one of the 20 best places to live... (Kansas City: best neighborhood, real estate)

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Since you bolded my traffic comment... The foot print of the roads in JoCo is humongous. Not only is everything super wide, but the right of way is typically two or three times what is needed so you have huge medians and vast amounts of grass separating roads from buildings.

Like I said, it obviously appeals to a lot of people. It's the ultimate suburban lifestyle of soccer moms, strip malls and the feeling of being "safe" because everything is new and isolated from big city problems etc, everybody is in their own car and rarely interact and they are fully contained within their own demographic (economically, socially and racially). Other than an occasional ball game or something, these people love to stay right in the area they live where things feel perfectly planned and safe to them.

Lots of people like this lifestyle.

Lots of people don't.

And, once again, all the sarcasm in the world with quips of "strip malls" and "soccer moms" will only work on the very young and foolish.

KC people know what a good thing they've got.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by CrownVic95

And, once again, all the sarcasm in the world with quips of "strip malls" and "soccer moms" will only work on the very young and foolish.

It is what it is...

[zach_33]

There's definitely a bubble effect, but it is not significantly different from other suburban bubble communities in the US. In your new town, DC, I walked from my hotel up through Logan Circle maybe a year ago and I was struck by how isolated all the wealthy young residents were as they walked by and around the homeless and the (obviously) more long term residents of the area, glued to their Ipods with headphones in ear. Pick your poison. Of course I'd rather live in Brookside than South Leawood, but Columbia Heights ain't exactly what I'd call heaven. And don't even get me started on Bethesda - you think OP is its own little world? C'mon, man.

[kcmo]

Bethesda is very much tied to DC culturally. What you are describing is more the faster paced east coast lifestyle. At least there are people walking around, even if they are wearing headpones and trying to get somewhere.

[zach_33]

Bethesda is culturally attached to the powerful people who control the govt purse strings which supports their opulent lifestyles, but they wouldn't be caught dead hanging out in northeast or down in Anacostia.

If fast paced means anxious to exploit the enormous quantities of money that are up for grabs, then yes I agree.

Yupsters detached from their own environment, walking up the street with headphones in ear and eyes glued to Ipod strikes me as bizarre.

I have issues with midwestern suburbanites too, but the view from DC is just as disturbing.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by zach_33

Bethesda is culturally attached to the powerful people who control the govt purse strings which supports their opulent lifestyles, but they wouldn't be caught dead hanging out in northeast or down in Anacostia.

If fast paced means anxious to exploit the enormous quantities of money that are up for grabs, then yes I agree.

Yupsters detached from their own environment, walking up the street with headphones in ear and eyes glued to Ipod strikes me as bizarre.

I have issues with midwestern suburbanites too, but the view from DC is just as disturbing.

I think the headphones thing is mostly just when people are alone (commuting, exercising etc). There also seems to be a great deal of public socializing going on too. And I’m not saying Overland Park should be tied to 27th and Troost, so your Anacostia comment doesn’t make a lot of sense, although have you seen what’s happening in NE??? People are going there, trust me. From NoMA to Chinatown, it’s booming. Even Southwest is booming near the Navy Yard and spreading fast through what used to be ghetto. Bethesda is very much a part of the DC region. The red line to DC is right there, you can bike along the Capital Crescent Trail with connects Bethesda to DC and that trail is extremely busy and popular. Overland Park barely recognizes that it's a suburb of a city just a few miles away. If you are 135th Street, you may as well be 500 miles from KCMO.

Have you been to Bethesda? It’s VERY family oriented, even in downtown, only those families are biking to and from DC, taking the trains to and from DC.

And while I agree, DC’s younger crowd are a bit too yuppy and money/career hungry for my tastes and while I really like DC, it is not really one of my favorite cities for that reason, the suburbs are still very different than those in the Midwest, especially those in Kansas. I personally much prefer a place like Bethesda over a place like Overland Park. Neither is perfect, but I would be fine in Bethesda, I would be miserable in Overland Park.

And believe it or not, the culture of DC does not revolve around politics or poaching the government’s money. Most work normal jobs and just live normal lives. It’s just a different lifestyle than what most in Overland Park would live.

[SPonteKC]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Bethesda is very much tied to DC culturally. What you are describing is more the faster paced east coast lifestyle. At least there are people walking around, even if they are wearing headpones and trying to get somewhere.

There is PLENTY of this in metro DC too:



About 3 times more than there is in KC.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by s.davis

There is PLENTY of this in metro DC too:



About 3 times more than there is in KC.

Didn't say there wasn't. Again, all cities have suburbs. JoCo is more culturally independent from its core city. You can all disagree with that, but that's my opinion.

[zach_33]

word. yeah I've jogged through Bethesda on occasion when I have the time, but I have known (priveleged) people from there at Wash U and U Chicago. It's beautiful; uber expensive, akin to elite Bay area inner-suburban hoods like maybe Burlingame. Way nicer than OP I'd say, but way out of reach for most people on an OP budget. I too bemoan the disposable society values of OP, and the car dependency is depressing, but here I am. It aint so bad. Its only til the kids grow up. If I could afford $2 million for a house and I lived in DC, I'd live in Bethesda.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by zach_33

word. yeah I've jogged through Bethesda on occasion when I have the time, but I have known (priveleged) people from there at Wash U and U Chicago. It's beautiful; uber expensive, akin to elite Bay area inner-suburban hoods like maybe Burlingame. Way nicer than OP I'd say, but way out of reach for most people on an OP budget. I too bemoan the disposable society values of OP, and the car dependency is depressing, but here I am. It aint so bad. Its only til the kids grow up. If I could afford $2 million for a house and I lived in DC, I'd live in Bethesda.

FYI, when I think of Bethesda, I think of Downtown Bethesda, which is a very different place than the sprawling suburban mansion areas. I know a lot of those big homes are there for the reasons you mentioned. Government related CEO's, Contracting companies etc.

Downtown Bethesda is pretty cool, but even so, I like places like Silver Spring better. More diverse, just a tad more gritty.

OP is not bad because even though most out there live in a "kansas bubble”. (They live in Kansas, not Kansas City). You don't have to be like that. KC is a relatively small place and you can live in OP and still be very interactive with KCMO and have plenty of regional pride. You would go against the grain, but it can be done. I would assume you are the type that can ignore the attitudes out in JoCo. Personally, it was too much for me and I wouldn’t' be able to do it. I don’t even like being out there for short periods of time .