Moving to KC in October. (Pacific, Center: loft, university, living in)

[Weaubleau]

I'm going to come out and say it, you don't want to live in Downtown Lee's Summit. While they have done a great job, and it is the metro's best suburban/small town ish downtown by far, that is exactly what you will get, a small town downtown feel. Now, if that is what you are going for, downtown Lee's Summit is the best in the metro for that. If however, you are used to a big city urban feel, outside of 3rd St and a couple cross streets, in Lee's Summit you quickly get into residential only areas if you walk through their downtown. Plus to go to any OTHER urban areas in the metro, you pretty much have to drive and park.

[kcmo]

I would agree with what others are posting. River Market or Plaza and I would also add Union Hill.

FYI, you may or may not know this, but the KC area has a surprisingly active mountain biking community with some of the best single track in the midwest.

Landahl in Blue Springs is a very good and well maintained mountain bike park
https://www.singletracks.com/bike-tr...rk-reseve.html

Swope Park
https://www.singletracks.com/bike-tr...ark-trail.html

Shawnee Mission Park
https://www.singletracks.com/bike-tr...sion-park.html

There are others, but those some of the more popular ones.

Lawrence, Kansas has some nice trails too.

PS, I would kindly ignore pretty much any advice your friend in Belton might give you. Belton is one of the most blue collar, conservative and somewhat rednecky suburbs in metro KC. Most people that live there probably won't set foot in the central city and would avoid it all costs except to go to a concert or something. Almost any area you will be looking at will be void of random shootings etc. They certainly wouldn't be any less safe than something like Little Italy in San Diego. Things do happen in larger cities, but by far and large, KCMO popular districts are safe. Just be city smart.

[MoNative34]

River Market, downtown, crossroads and south of the plaza.

You can do better than Westport.

[Okey Dokie]

Good mountain bike trails at Smithville Lake, or so I’ve been told.

[almazing]

Lots of great advice! Definitely making things much easier for me to find a place to live. You guys and gals rock!

[olyp]

I would also suggest to look at Westside North area - it has some newer rental places, more challenging to buy. It is a residential part of downtown but you can walk to places.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Weaubleau

I'm going to come out and say it, you don't want to live in Downtown Lee's Summit. While they have done a great job, and it is the metro's best suburban/small town ish downtown by far, that is exactly what you will get, a small town downtown feel. Now, if that is what you are going for, downtown Lee's Summit is the best in the metro for that. If however, you are used to a big city urban feel, outside of 3rd St and a couple cross streets, in Lee's Summit you quickly get into residential only areas if you walk through their downtown. Plus to go to any OTHER urban areas in the metro, you pretty much have to drive and park.

I'm a former resident of downtown Lee's Summit, lived there in my early thirties, and absolutely adored it.

That said, it doesn't sound as if it's what the OP is looking for at all.

[rwiksell]

I could be wrong, but I think very few people lump the Plaza, or even Westport, into Midtown. Why? Because they don't have to. Both districts have their own nomenclature and their own brand identity. It's the area between Westport and Downtown that needs the label Midtown.

If you want to lump Westport and Plaza into an umbrella district, my suggestion would be "Uptown". It makes geographic sense, but unfortunately I've never heard anyone use it.

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

Sorry to further derail this thread with pedantic discussion of region boundary definitions, but I do find this an interesting topic. I think the Westport/Midtown designation is a topic that has a range of viewpoints because it has evolved so much, especially over the recent years.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the tag of Midtown is a fairly recent thing, rising up maybe in the last 20 years. I don't think the area was ever called Uptown, but it is interesting that the historic Uptown Theater is in the heart of Midtown. I have seen some older references (and a few newer) to Crown Center as KC's Midtown. Since these terms are derivative from New York, that would make sense as Crown Center and Downtown KC is more analogous to Midtown and Downtown Manhattan.

From my perspective, coinciding with the rise of the Midtown designation in KC was the shrinking of what people would consider to be part of "Westport". I seem to recall a much larger area that people used to refer to as part of the Westport region of KC. I think this might have some historic roots from the time when Westport was a separate city, prior to annexation by KC. I think those original boundaries were similar to what is now called Midtown. While I still see some larger descriptions of Westport, the common usage seems to have shrunk down to just the core of the entertainment district, plus a few surrounding blocks.

For me, the brand identity of Westport is synonymous with the identity of Midtown. The Plaza does have a very different identity and that is why I think it is often consider separate from Midtown. However, the fact that these areas have distinct designations doesn't mean they can't be part of Midtown. Every part of Midtown has a distinct designation such as Hyde Park or Valentine, but they are still part of Midtown, just like the River Market and Crossroads are distinct, but part of Downtown.

The way I view it, the north-south corridor of the western part of KC's urban core has 4 regions that every individual neighborhood or district falls in: Downtown, Midtown, Brookside, Waldo. The city defines Downtown as the river to 31st St (although I might argue for 27th St as the cutoff) and Midtown as 31st to 55th (although I would suggest Brush Creek, or 51st St at the furthest). I don't know if the city has official definitions for Brookside, but that would go south to Gregory and Waldo would be Gergory to 85th.

I think you could argue for a 5th region for the Plaza, being 43rd St to 55th. However, that would put South Hyde Park and Southmoreland in the Plaza, and to me, those are Midtown neighborhoods.

Anyway, back to the OP: I have seen several suggestions for the Plaza, and it is a great area, but based on your criteria of "hipster gentrified areas. Lots of unique and colorful stores and restaurants, but not too pretentious", I don't think it would be the best fit. The Plaza is a semi-upscale shopping district that is largely consists of chain stores and restaurants. I do think some would consider it pretentious. However, the West Plaza neighborhood has a different vibe and might be more inline with what you're looking for.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

I could be wrong, but I think very few people lump the Plaza, or even Westport, into Midtown. Why? Because they don't have to. Both districts have their own nomenclature and their own brand identity. It's the area between Westport and Downtown that needs the label Midtown.

I certainly don't mentally group the Plaza with Midtown, and definitely nothing south of it. Westport's more up for grabs in my hand. But it's a point well taken that the definition of "Midtown" is pretty fluid.