Family of four relocating to Kansas city Missouri..any community type places?? (Gladstone: apartments, rental)

[char_hart]

My husband got a job working in Kansas city Missouri and will be working in the areas of Gladstone, North Kansas city, Oakview, Riverside, Liberty, Independance, pretty much all over that side of Kansas city

Both my husband and I have never been to Kansas city, right now we are living in Central texas, though before texas (living with inlaws right now) we lived in San Diego while my husband was in the Navy.

We are used to living in Military housing, so we love the community feel and are really looking for something like that.
Right now we are going to rent first, and looking in the range of $800-$1200.00, and then hopefully in a year would like to eventually buy a house.

My husband and I have a two year old and a six month old, so very soon we will be looking in to pre-k and such for our two year old (turns three in November), so schools are pretty important.

So any help with information would be more then appreciated!!

Also we should be coming to Kansas city Missouri with in a couple of weeks to check the city out, anyone know of any good realesates?

[kcmo]

Man, this forum is starting to become a full time job!

OK, sounds like I can at least narrow this down to the Northland!


“community feel”….. well, I’m going to assume you want to stay in the suburbs and not get too rural.

North Kansas City is the first place that comes to mind. It has an amazing downtown and some great old neighborhoods and new ones too. The new neighborhoods are “new urbanism” which is like row houses etc. NKC is the little town just north of Downtown KCMO. You will have to look at a map to understand, but KCMO surrounds NKC on all sides. Most of the Northland is actually KCMO, not NKC. Confused? NKC is great, low taxes, good schools (if that’s an issue), great community center and just a couple of miles from downtown KCMO with quick access to all of the greater Northland area.

Here is a link to Northgate Village (the new area in NKC)
Welcome to Northgate Village ::A Hunt Midwest Community::

You would probably like Liberty as well. Although it’s a further out suburb, it has more of a community feel to it than most suburbs. With all the new strip malls and big boxes, there is still something about Liberty that says “charm”. Lots of history, a nice downtown etc.

Across the interstate from Liberty in KCMO you have the Shoal Creek Valley which is probably the fastest growing area in all of metro KC. You will find every housing type you could dream of here, but you might look into their new urbanism stuff as well for a more “community” minded development
Carma Community, Shoal Creek Valley :: The Village

Parkville is another place you might like. It’s smaller, but growing fast. One problem with Parkville is that most of the new housing there is high end stuff. It’s either junk or 350k and up. But it’s a neat area with a destination downtown.

Those come to the top of mind mind. But the Northland really offers any kind of living that anybody would ever want from urban condos in Briarcliff to typical suburban homes that are going in like nuts along Highway 152.

If you are going to do apartments first, I would probably stick to the I-29 corridor. That’s where most of the nicer apartment places are.

The crossing is nice near Zona Rosa
The Crossing - Home

The Province near Briarcliff Village
Briarcliff Development

The Zona Rosa apartments if you want to be right in the middle of tons of shopping and dining
The Lofts At Zona Rosa :: Home

But there are lots more all over the northland.

Hope that helps!

[MrsMo]

Definitely stay in the north part. Great schools north of the river,Public and parochial.

[kcmo]

Silly me, I see that you have a young one! So condos and stuff are probably out. But I would still try the new urbanism developments I mentioned which have single family homes (shoal creek and Northgate).

If you are looking to rent a home, I would look around the North Oak and 152 area, the I-29 corridor from 64th to Barry and the Liberty area.

You might also try Gladstone where you will probably find a nice older home to rent in a nice area.

If you end up going with a more traditional single family home, I would drive HWY 152 between Tiffany Springs and Liberty and just get off any every exit and drive around. There are so many new homes in that corridor it will take you months to take it all in.

You really can't go wrong with schools in the Northland. Park Hill, NKC, Platte and Liberty are all good districts.

Good luck!

[char_hart]

Thankyou so much!!! that certainly answers my questions, we are going to be driving up to Kansas city, MO on Monday and will be house/apartment hunting this week. We found a free apartment rental advisor who is going to be helping us as well, which is pretty bloody awesome!!

Both my husband and I like the look of some of those links that you posted for us, and are looking in to it. We also don't mind rural areas to, considering before living here in the states I used to live in a pretty rural area in Australia lol!

Either way though, thankyou again for your help, and if you think of anything eles PLEASE do not hesitate to post it because we need all the help we can get

[melissajo]

I attended school in the NKC School district and am proud to say so. Now that I am a teacher, I feel like I had many great opportunities there that most other people I know, did not have. My elementary years were much more cultured than anyone else I know (including my own students down here in SW MO).

I have family in Liberty, Kearney, and NKC. I don't hear too many complaints about school from them. Just stay north of the river. The KC school district is a mess.

[bls5555]

I have 2 sons and we are in the park hill school district and I am impressed. We just moved here in January and so far everything has been very good. The Park Hill school district covers Parkville and certain areas of Kansas City, MO. There might be others but those are the 2 I know of. Not sure if Gladstone is in the Park Hill District.

[RjRobb2]

Originally Posted by bls5555

I have 2 sons and we are in the park hill school district and I am impressed. We just moved here in January and so far everything has been very good. The Park Hill school district covers Parkville and certain areas of Kansas City, MO. There might be others but those are the 2 I know of. Not sure if Gladstone is in the Park Hill District.

Gladstone is in the NKC school district.

I grew up in Gladstone and feel it is one of the best places to raise a family in the KC area. I live in KC about a mile outside of Gladstone and couldnt imagine living in any other area of KC.

[sailinghome]

We just moved here last year from Texas and my husband is also in the military. We did a lot of research and decided to buy in North Kansas City just off of 152 and Shoal Creek Parkway. It is a great area with Liberty schools and I love, love, love my new neighbors! I think this area is beautiful and offers easy access to many of the highways, great shopping with large clean stores, and very friendly caring people. Once you move here you will never want to leave.

[famusdarlin]

I also agree with suggestions of North of the River. It will be convenient for your husbands job, plus you get more for your money than in most areas. I suggest you look in Liberty and Parkhill school district. They are the top districts in the area on the MO side and you will be pleased with the education.