Family moving to KC from CA. Lee's Summit vs Johnson County?

[KC_Retiree]

Originally Posted by westender

Wow -- old thread resurrected.

Gardner is a FAR suburb. Lees Summit is a moderately far suburb. If you are working in downtown KCMO or "The Plaza" area, near 47th and Broadway aka Wornall, then you probably will want to be closer to town than either Gardner or Lees Summit.

Prices have doubled since I last posted in this thread, so I'm not sure if my 2018 recommendation of Fairway or Westwood remains viable. However, Mission still has some bargains -- same with Roeland Park and Waldo. The Roanoke/ Volker area of KC is also good if you are urban-minded. Same with "South Hyde Park" formerly known as Sunny Slope.

Good points. Downtown might be OK via I-35 from Gardner. It's long but an uncomplicated route with heavy traffic but it's not gridlock traffic or even white knuckle like some bigger cities have. But Gardner to the Plaza would require getting off the interstate and negotiation a lot of city streets. Doable but a way more time consuming commute. There are closer in places with decent housing stock that isn't too expensive but the buyer would pay more per square foot than in Gardner. Plus Gardner is kind of an exurban industrial place - it's not too pleasant.