How racially diverse is Lee's Summit? (California, Sugar Creek: low crime, invest, businesses)

[jwny]

Hi everyone,

I'm contemplating a move to KC from Buffalo,NY after law school graduation and I'm investigating KC suburbs. A little about me...I'm black, my husband is white, and we have an 11 year old son. I gather from reading the various posts on the board that Lee's Summit is one of the nicer areas to live in KC. Would an interracial family be out of place in Lee's Summit or KC in general? I'm from California originally, so I'm not expecting that degree of liberalism, but it'd be nice not to feel out of place. Like any mom, I think I'm worried more about how my son will be treated as a bi-racial child.

From the research I've done so far, KC sounds like a great town for us. We're sports fanatics, so having the Royals and Chiefs in our backyard would be heaven on earth. It's 2008 and I probably shouldn't even be asking about race...I'm just curious.

Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by jwny

Hi everyone,

I'm contemplating a move to KC from Buffalo,NY after law school graduation and I'm investigating KC suburbs. A little about me...I'm black, my husband is white, and we have an 11 year old son. I gather from reading the various posts on the board that Lee's Summit is one of the nicer areas to live in KC. Would an interracial family be out of place in Lee's Summit or KC in general? I'm from California originally, so I'm not expecting that degree of liberalism, but it'd be nice not to feel out of place. Like any mom, I think I'm worried more about how my son will be treated as a bi-racial child.

From the research I've done so far, KC sounds like a great town for us. We're sports fanatics, so having the Royals and Chiefs in our backyard would be heaven on earth. It's 2008 and I probably shouldn't even be asking about race...I'm just curious.

Any info is appreciated. Thanks!

.

Lee's Summit is the suburb of choice in KC for middle/upper class black families by far. I don't have the stats, but something like 1/4 or 1/2 of the new residents in Lee's Summit the past ten years are black. There are tons of black owned businesses etc. Yet the whites are still flowing in as well. It's a nice, well balanced suburb with low crime, very good schools, greats roads and good shopping/dining, and close to the stadiums!

I know it's 2008, but race issues are still out there. I have a good friend who is black and lives in Lee’s Summit, he grew up in the city with me. He would still be in the city, but for his wife (they always get their way), but he would not live in another suburb, especially the KS suburbs, for anything.

[GraniteStater]

Lee's Summit, like all major suburbs in the KC metro, is getting more diverse every year. I would say about 85-90% of the population in Lee's Summit is white with a growing African American, Asian, and Hispanic population. Back in 2000 Lee's Summit would have been far less diverse compared to today. Fast growing areas that are well off attract all types of people.
Good luck on the move to the KC metro area

[STLCardsBlues1989]

Sounds like a fine area for you.

And Royals tickets shouldn't be hard to get. They averaged about 20k last year.

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

Sounds like a fine area for you.

And Royals tickets shouldn't be hard to get. They averaged about 20k last year.

The Royals are expecting bigger crowds this year, for all sorts of reasons, but still, tickets aren't hard to come by. Their games are a lot of fun to go to. Just swept Detroit to start the season...looking good so far!

By the way, Lee's Summit is a nice town.

[radfarkc]

Hello,

My significant other and I are an interracial couple living in Lee's Summit and I can say with all honesty that we've never had an issue. Also, I know of another interracial couple with children living here for the past 8 years and they wouldn't live anywhere else. They also moved from the east coast. The schools are excellent and it's a short drive to KC for sports or other entertainment.

[Versatile]

Pretty much the way that interracial couples in the KCMO metro area are looked at is- you look at them and see them but not really because they look just like anyone else and then you realize that you are late or whatever and go on about your way.
In other words you shouldn't have any problems imo


I edited to say that i would avoid the Sugar Creek area. Not sure if those people ever grew up or not. Sugar Creek is out of the Lee's Summit area a good bit.

[kcmo]

Who the hell would even consider Sugar Creek as a place to live??

I think these questions are kind of dumb anyway (sorry). Why would KC be any different than St Louis, Denver, Atlanta or Chicago?

Too many (are gays welcome?) threads I guess. Of course they are.

You could probably live anywhere in KC and be just fine. I was just pointing out the fact that Lee's Summit is the "suburb" of choice for middle and upper class blacks in metro KC.

[Versatile]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Who the hell would even consider Sugar Creek as a place to live??

I think these questions are kind of dumb anyway (sorry). Why would KC be any different than St Louis, Denver, Atlanta or Chicago?

Too many (are gays welcome?) threads I guess. Of course they are.

You could probably live anywhere in KC and be just fine. I was just pointing out the fact that Lee's Summit is the "suburb" of choice for middle and upper class blacks in metro KC.

Somebody that has not been there and smelled it!