Would you chose KC over Denver as a place to live? (please see details) (Kansas City: environment)

[OA 5599]

I've been considering a move to Denver on and off myself when I get done with my master's (there are a lot of jobs in my field in town). As much as I love skiing and the mountains, I really do not like dry climates, and paying a large premium to live close to mountains. Denver is a fun city, and has a lot of things I like such as a lot of young people, a nice downtown, and the surrounding area has a lot of really good microbrewerys. I just have no desire to live somewhere that arid in order to be within driving distance of skiing and good hiking....Austin is a bit dry for my taste, and it gets more than twice the precipitation Denver does. Plus, housing is so much more, and a lot of the 'burbs that I have been to are pretty bland...cookie-cutter houses (I haven't seen anywhere near all of them though). The whole area is dependent on snowfall from the Rockies, and as the population grows water shortages will become more and more common. I have though, always had a good time visiting Denver and the surrounding Rockies.

I've more or less decided to move back to Missouri. I can get a decent job in KC, STL, or Springfield, although I don't think I'll live in KC (no offense - its just a little too far from the Ozarks, and as far as MO cities go I like the more urban/older feel of STL). Paying a few hundred bucks for a plane ticket to go skiing every year is much cheaper than paying 50% + more for a house than I'd pay in Missouri!

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

I've been considering a move to Denver on and off myself when I get done with my master's (there are a lot of jobs in my field in town). As much as I love skiing and the mountains, I really do not like dry climates, and paying a large premium to live close to mountains. Denver is a fun city, and has a lot of things I like such as a lot of young people, a nice downtown, and the surrounding area has a lot of really good microbrewerys. I just have no desire to live somewhere that arid in order to be within driving distance of skiing and good hiking....Austin is a bit dry for my taste, and it gets more than twice the precipitation Denver does. The whole area is dependent on snowfall from the Rockies, and as the population grows water shortages will become more and more common.

I've more or less decided to move back to Missouri. I can get a decent job in KC, STL, or Springfield, although I don't think I'll live in KC (no offense - its just a little too far from the Ozarks, and as far as MO cities go I like the more urban/older feel of STL). Paying a few hundred bucks for a plane ticket to go skiing every year is much cheaper than paying 50% + more for a house than I'd pay in Missouri!

Yea, I'm with you. And no offence taken, I like StLouis as much as I like KC. KC is just home.

I would rather live in StL though if I didn't grow up in KC. KC offers everything a big city should offer, but St Louis just acts and feels more like a big city than KC does and KC takes on too much rural culture from migration. (most people that move to KC are from small rural towns and states around KC). Plus Kansas has way too much influence on KCMO IMO. It's just sort of an odd town in that regard.

Enjoy St Louis. Lived there for four years and visit at least four times a year. It's a great city, plus you are that much closer to Chicago etc. .

[patrickmich]

wells thanks for suggesting Lee's Summit. I looked at the map and it does seem likethere are lakes in that area. In Denver I work for a trucking company and our companyis near the airport. I would like to do similar work in KC, and as such I think it wouldbe wise for me to live nearer the airport. As good as lee's summit sounds, I think I willfocus on something up north. You know, I feel quite odd getting so excited about Kansas City.(and I am excited) Nobody ever talks about KC. Nobody ever says when I graduate, I wantto go to KC! But from what I have seen, it is very appealing. But maybe I amjust longing so badly for rivers and trees. Moving is a big deal because I have a goodjob here in Denver. But I don't know if it's worth it to spend another summer in a placethat doesn't know what a good thunderstorm is. When I stayed in KC during that visit, I stayed at Value Place,once in Liberty, and then in Gladstone (?). What freaked me out a little bit was theabandoned, or dying, malls I saw. It's things like this that spook me.But as I said, when you are an outsider, one tends to be overly and sensitive.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by backspace

wells thanks for suggesting Lee's Summit. I looked at the map and it does seem likethere are lakes in that area. In Denver I work for a trucking company and our companyis near the airport. I would like to do similar work in KC, and as such I think it wouldbe wise for me to live nearer the airport. As good as lee's summit sounds, I think I willfocus on something up north. You know, I feel quite odd getting so excited about Kansas City.(and I am excited) Nobody ever talks about KC. Nobody ever says when I graduate, I wantto go to KC! But from what I have seen, it is very appealing. But maybe I amjust longing so badly for rivers and trees. Moving is a big deal because I have a goodjob here in Denver. But I don't know if it's worth it to spend another summer in a placethat doesn't know what a good thunderstorm is. When I stayed in KC during that visit, I stayed at Value Place,once in Liberty, and then in Gladstone (?). What freaked me out a little bit was theabandoned, or dying, malls I saw. It's things like this that spook me.But as I said, when you are an outsider, one tends to be overly and sensitive.

One HUGE difference between Kansas City and Denver is that Kansas City summers are VERY long with high levels of humidity and heat. You can not escape the heat/humidity very easily at all in KC compared with Denver. Denver has much lower humidity values, and you can easily drive up into the mountains for cooler air during the summer. I think last summer was very bad, and we had weeks where the low temperature did not get any lower than 75F. This is when the A/C does little good, and runs all the time even when you have it set to 74F.
In terms of abandoned malls, that is a common feature you will find in some of the inner ring suburbs. The enclosed indoor mall trend has pretty much fallen by the wayside in Kansas City. Metcalf South Mall in Overland Park has tanked over the past 10-20 years. Bannister Mall has now pretty much shut down in south KC, MO. One of the few enclosed malls that is doing well is Oak Park Mall in Overland Park.
It sounds like you are really looking for a newer up and coming area that is affordable yet suburban, eh? If you do not mind cookie cutter houses and want to be closer to the airport you should probably focus your searches on Clay County in MO and possibly Platte County around Platte City.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by backspace

wells thanks for suggesting Lee's Summit. I looked at the map and it does seem likethere are lakes in that area. In Denver I work for a trucking company and our companyis near the airport. I would like to do similar work in KC, and as such I think it wouldbe wise for me to live nearer the airport. As good as lee's summit sounds, I think I willfocus on something up north. You know, I feel quite odd getting so excited about Kansas City.(and I am excited) Nobody ever talks about KC. Nobody ever says when I graduate, I wantto go to KC! But from what I have seen, it is very appealing. But maybe I amjust longing so badly for rivers and trees. Moving is a big deal because I have a goodjob here in Denver. But I don't know if it's worth it to spend another summer in a placethat doesn't know what a good thunderstorm is. When I stayed in KC during that visit, I stayed at Value Place,once in Liberty, and then in Gladstone (?). What freaked me out a little bit was theabandoned, or dying, malls I saw. It's things like this that spook me.But as I said, when you are an outsider, one tends to be overly and sensitive.

Well, then go for southern Platte County around Parkville, Riss Lake (if you can afford it) or the Weatherby Lake area. Very cool area with lots of trees, lakes, and just plain neat terrain. The Cliffs in Parkville is awesome with homes built into the cliffs of the Missouri River bluffs. All ten minutes from KCI.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I won't make this a pissing match, but I think you need to give KC a little more credit here. I was off on the population of Denver because of Boulder and Greeley which are added to the Denver MSA to create a CMSA. The population of Denver as of 2007 is 2.4 million. Add in Boulder/Greeley and it swells to 2.8 million. The Denver metro area is huge, it's half of Colorado, so you can't really say the city is any more dense than KC, because it's not. You can drive around the outskirts of Denver alone 470 etc and it's just like some of the outskirts of KC like the north side of 435.

The only way to compare KC to Denver in a fair way is to add Lawrence and St Joe to the KC area as they are to KC as Boulder and Greeley are to Denver.

So the KC area is around 2.4 million to Denver's 2.8. Or the core KC metro area is about 2.1 million and the core Denver area is 2.4. KC also has Topeka/Columbia near by, as Denver has Colorado Springs.

Either way, Denver has grown to be larger than KC (by nearly half million as you say), but..... KC has far more people within a quick drive than Denver does. Missouri is fairly populated and KC pulls well from Omaha, Des Moines, Wichita, Springfield, Tulsa and even St Louis.

So, I'm not debating the size of the cities as much as the fact that both cities are about the same size and have similar markets and enough people to create a metropolitan area that has nearly everything one would one in a major metro area.

One more thing on the population thing. KC adds about 25k a year to Denver's 50k. Just a fun fact.

As far as the arts scene, I honestly think KC has Denver beat there, KC has made a lot of national news lately with its arts scene and it's always called one of the tops in the country beating out cities much larger. One reason for that is that our local billionares are into the arts rather than sports etc. We have a 400 million dollar performing arts center under construction, just finished a 300 million dollar expansion of the Nelson Art Gallery which was already a top museum in the world. We also have the Kemper museum of Modern art and our cities 1% for art has created art all over the city. KC also has one of the largest first Friday events and art gallery districts in the nation. Not to mention the KC Art Institute.

KC also have Denver beat with museums and historic structures. KC has the WW1 Museum, the Negro League Baseball Museum, the Jazz Museum, the College Basketball Hall of Fame, the Steamboat Arabia Museum, the Kemper, the Nelson, the Truman Museums and many others. Our Union Station is one of the finest train station in the nation, I like Denver's but it doesn't compare to KC. World of Fun and Oceans of Fun make Elitch Gardens look like a carnival, KC will soon have one of the largest water parks I the world with Schlitterbaun, KC has a major nascar track and should get a winter sport team (NHL/NBA) soon.

With the Power and Light District, Crossroads, Crown Center, Country Club Plaza, Westport, City Market etc, KC does well against the urban core of Denver.

Having said all of that, Denver offer some things that I really like. Light rail, bike trails, a downtown baseball stadium etc.

But if you have no interest in the mountains, I don't know why you would live in Denver and pay out the ass to live there. The city itself can be a bit bland or fake, it's flat as hell, there are no trees or hills, the traffic is horrendous because the entire metro area is built along I-25, the airport is expensive to fly out of and a pain in the ass to use and the city is 600 miles from a similar sized city.

I do love the mountains, even if it's just watching the sun set from a park down the street from my house. It wasn't that expensive for us since we moved here from California. And I'll always debate that Denver is "flat as hell". Ever been to Dallas? It's not the same rolling hills as KC, but it just depends on what part of the city you're in. Parts of KC are very flat.

Back to the OP, why would you explore out on the plains? Actually there are some interesting little towns, but head up into the mountains (and they do have trees, huge towering trees) and you'll find so much to explore and beautiful views. But it sounds like your idea of happiness could easily be found in KC for much cheaper.

[patrickmich]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Well, then go for southern Platte County around Parkville, Riss Lake (if you can afford it) or the Weatherby Lake area. Very cool area with lots of trees, lakes, and just plain neat terrain. The Cliffs in Parkville is awesome with homes built into the cliffs of the Missouri River bluffs. All ten minutes from KCI.

I will look into Platte County. But I don't think I will be buying anyhouses built into cliffs and what not considering I make about 30K a year.

[patrickmich]

Hey do you know what it might cost for a 1 BR apartment around the KC area? I meanfor something that is in a new and nice? Around Denver right now I can find a 1Br ina place with a pool and fitness center, for example, for about $700. I'm guessingKC or STL might be slightly cheaper, but not much. I pay for all my utilities where I live. Plains 10, I don't mind so-called cookie cutter houses. I do want to eventually buya house where there might be a wood line behind me, though. So I will probably look for an area that is more wooded than not.

[patrickmich]

I was looking towns north of the metro area; namely, platte city, smithville, kearney.Can anyone give a quick run down of these towns. I am looking for a suburb (or nearbytown) that is new.. lots of new contruction, that is...and yet is not an enclave for the well-heeled. thanks.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by backspace

I was looking towns north of the metro area; namely, platte city, smithville, kearney.Can anyone give a quick run down of these towns. I am looking for a suburb (or nearbytown) that is new.. lots of new contruction, that is...and yet is not an enclave for the well-heeled. thanks.

1) Platte City- Mainly a lot of cookie cutter construction with most growth occurring within the past 10 years. This is a solid middle class area, but the Downtown retains its old charm.
2) Smithville- This is also a newer area, but the houses tend to be very spread out. Some development is concentrated around the reservoir while other developments are closer to highway 169. Some areas are upper income, but this is a middle-class area with appreciating home values.
3) Kearney- This is probably an exurban community, but is close to I-35. It has grown a lot over the past 10 years as more people want to have a house in a semi-rural area, but easy access to I-35 for commuting. This area is a good investment for future real estate appreciation. I predict suburban development will start to occur more frequently in this area over the next 10-20 years.