Relocating to KC? (living in, dangerous, centers)

[Will]

Excellent information Thrillcekr.

I would only dispute one thing:

Originally Posted by Thrillcekr

Taxes there [Blue Springs] aren't as high as those of their neighbors in Lee's Summit...

I have heard this from other people as well (a realtor in Blue Springs, some residents of Blue Springs), but when I have compared a few comparable (in size) house listings between the two areas I haven't seen a significant difference in listed property taxes between Blue Springs and Lee's Summit, so it would be interesting to do a little more investigation into taxes in various counties to see if things have changed.

Of course, the one thing I won't dispute is that they are steep in both! (At least for someone coming from Southern Indiana)

[Lolls]

I'd like to bolster the statements about the dangerous areas of Kansas City being specific pockets. We live in Brookside, which is within a 2-5 minute drive directly south of the Plaza. Very nice. Mission hills is right next to us - Ward Parkway, some of the mansions - blah blah blah.

It would take me the same amount of time, 2-5 minutes, to drive over to Troost, head north on it and run into some sketchy areas. But that is there and we are here.

Aside from a random night when we see Ghetto Bird (a/k/a KCPD 'copter) hovering over our neighborhood, we really don't experience anything but our very pleaseant neighborhood. Our crime is not statistically significant here, but because areas of the metro that are dangerous are part of the same metro stats- the Kansas City crime rate seems more significant than it is.

Don't get me wrong - there are some VERY dangerous areas in Kansas City. You simply do not go there. There isn't any reason to. And everyone in this city has a good idea where to avoid. Just ask. You'll get specific parameters. And so you don't go there. No big deal.

[SwissOz]

Here I am, an Australian currently living in Switzerland, trying to work out a bit about KS as there is a strong chance my husband will geta job there. So I am looking to move there with my husband and 3 children (7, 10 & 12yo) this summer. I am planning to visit there in a couple of weeks to look at schools and areas and I have been reading lots of postings here to try and get some picture. We are looking at living North of KS, in MO, in Clay or Platte county areas. My biggest question is to know what are the good schools (private or public) out this way for Middle School and Elementary level. And what are the top 5 areas to live on the North side of city. Any ideas from some locals?

[TomNM0N]

Originally Posted by SwissOz

Here I am, an Australian currently living in Switzerland, trying to work out a bit about KS as there is a strong chance my husband will geta job there. So I am looking to move there with my husband and 3 children (7, 10 & 12yo) this summer. I am planning to visit there in a couple of weeks to look at schools and areas and I have been reading lots of postings here to try and get some picture. We are looking at living North of KS, in MO, in Clay or Platte county areas. My biggest question is to know what are the good schools (private or public) out this way for Middle School and Elementary level. And what are the top 5 areas to live on the North side of city. Any ideas from some locals?

I currently live in Blue Springs, but spent a good amount of my life living in the Northland (KC North) area. I actually went to elementary school in Liberty at a private (Catholic) school and high school at a private KC North high school. My mother and stepfather currently live in Liberty, MO, which is one area that I recommend. It is convenient to downtown KC, Kansas City International Airport, and other conveniences. The Liberty school district is one of the top rated districts in the Kansas City Metropolitan area. Liberty would be my first choice if I were to move back to the Northland. Another good area would be Parkville, which also has very good schools. My grandparents live in the Kearney area, which is about 7 miles north of Liberty. It is a small town and the schools are good. It's also a fast-growing outer rural suburb of the KC metro area. Housing is quite affordable there and is still not too bad of a drive to KC and surrounding areas. Gladstone, MO, which is just north of North Kansas City, is a good area, too. I'm not sure of the schools, though. I think they're fair. Platte City is another consideration, but I know nothing of the schools there. It is a semi-rural, but growing outer suburb of KC. Hope that helps in your decision. Good luck to you and your husband in your move to the US. If you have any other questions, I'd be glad to help.

[TomNM0N]

Originally Posted by christina0001

Can anyone comment on Blue Springs, MO? Housing seems very affordable, but it has 13 - 14 elementary schools so I am wondering just how built up it is. My husband and I drove through it but it was the last day of our week out there, and I don't really remember it now.

I live in Blue Springs and am quite familiar with the area and schools here. Housing is indeed affordable compared to surrounding 'burbs in Jackson County, particularly when compared to Lee's Summit. The Blue Springs School district has been one of the, if not THE, most top-rated school district in the metro area for many years and continues to excel in that area. Lee's Summit school district is very comparable as it is quite good, too. Blue Springs continues to grow as many people are moving to this area because of the good quality schools and lower cost of living when compared to surrounding 'burbs. Don't be scared by the amount of elementary schools. The student to teacher ratios are very good, so kids get plenty of one on one attention in classrooms. You wouldn't be disappointed living here.

[Thrillcekr]

Originally Posted by SwissOz

Here I am, an Australian currently living in Switzerland, trying to work out a bit about KS as there is a strong chance my husband will geta job there. So I am looking to move there with my husband and 3 children (7, 10 & 12yo) this summer. I am planning to visit there in a couple of weeks to look at schools and areas and I have been reading lots of postings here to try and get some picture. We are looking at living North of KS, in MO, in Clay or Platte county areas. My biggest question is to know what are the good schools (private or public) out this way for Middle School and Elementary level. And what are the top 5 areas to live on the North side of city. Any ideas from some locals?

Pretty much all school districts north of the river are some of the better ones in the area. However, if you want the best public schools for your kid then you need to be within the Park Hill school district which is located in Platte County. For the last three years in a row they've been ranked in the top 3 districts in the KC metro wide. For two of those years they've been number one out of all KC metro schools at least as far as standardized test scores go. The Liberty school district (Clay County) is also outstanding. When searching real estate listings you should see which district the home you are interested in lies within on the listing itself. Any school that lies within those districts will be fine.

If small schools is what appeals to you then Platte County and Smithville school districts would probably suit your tastes. Both offer a good education as well.

As far as private schools go, there aren't many of those north of the river yet since it didn't really start booming until the last decade. The only ones I do know of are parochial. I don't know the names of all the catholic schools on the elementary level but I do know that St. Pius X is a private catholic high school. You can call them if you like and I'm sure they would be able to supply you with a list of catholic elementary and middle schools.

In my opinion, the northland is still small and any area is really pretty good. I don't know if I could give you top 5 in any order but I'll try.

I've lived all over the Kansas City area and my personal favorite of all the places I've lived is in Platte County north of 152 and west of I-29. The main thing that makes it appealing to me is that it has everything you could ever want as far as shopping, dining, and entertainment. In fact, amenity wise it has some of the best in the whole metro. There's nothing you can find in the rest of the metro of any significance that you can't find in this area but it's much quieter, more convenient, and safer.

Yet, it's the least crowded area of the whole city. Platte County has only about 85,000 people. The closest county size wise to Platte would be Cass with about 95,000. After that, Clay has about 220,000 and Wyandotte is about the same. The really crowded counties are Johnson County, KS with about a half mill and Jackson with around 650,000. Traffic is, of course, much worse in the last two. You'll never find yourself stuck in much heavy traffic in Platte but you can get to downtown, midtown, or any other place in the city worth visiting really in a matter of minutes. There's about a two block stretch in the I-29 and Barry area that gets a little congested but even those are mostly non-locals. People who reside in the area know the back ways around the area and don't get stuck in it.

Top 5? Hmm. How about I just give you something easier. Any place north of Highway 152 in either Platte or Clay are the most popular areas for those that can afford it. Liberty and Kansas City around the east end of 152 is growing like mad and the same can be said of Platte County on the west end of 152. Also, the far west end of Barry Road is still secluded and very nice. There are some places like Highlands of Weatherby that sort of feel like you're out in the country if that's your thing.

There's also lake homes on Weatherby Lake which is quite nice. I don't know what sort of money you and your husband have but The Nationals is a very exclusive neighborhood built on a golf course designed by Tom Watson. It's in Parkville (Platte) off of 64th Street. However, it's out of reach for anyone that doesn't have between about 1 and 5 million to spend. Tiffany Greens is a similar type of neighborhood but a little more affordable. In Clay County there's another neighborhood somewhat like those two called Staley Farms which is quite nice.

Hope that helped you out a bit. Let me know if there's anything else I can do to assist you.

[Liberty53000]

Wow, it's been forever since someone has posted in this forum, but I'm also moving to KCMO sometime in the near future, and I was reading in an earlier post by Lolls that there are specific parts of KC that people usually avoid - could anyone clue me in on where these "bad areas" are? I have a bad habit of ending up in bad parts of new towns that I'm in, and I wanted to get a head start on figuring out where NOT to go, lol.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Liberty53000

Wow, it's been forever since someone has posted in this forum, but I'm also moving to KCMO sometime in the near future, and I was reading in an earlier post by Lolls that there are specific parts of KC that people usually avoid - could anyone clue me in on where these "bad areas" are? I have a bad habit of ending up in bad parts of new towns that I'm in, and I wanted to get a head start on figuring out where NOT to go, lol.

Avoid east and northeast areas of Kansas City, MO. Avoid KCK for the most part.

[legallyblonde]

I see it has been awhile since any posts, but I wonder if someone might give me some insight into moving to KCMO. My partner and I (both of us are women) are considering a move there from the NYC metro/North Jersey area. We are both lawyers. We are in the process of starting a family here but will not be needing a school for a few years. From my only visit there it seems that the Brookside/Waldo area is the place where we would feel most comfortable in terms of living. I'm concerned about the public schools, though, in terms of the climate there for my kids. I do not want my children or my family to feel like lone outposts, so to speak. so am looking to private schools. Does anyone have any recommendations on private schools in the KCMO area that value diversity and would be openly welcoming of a child with same sex parents?

[cyclonejen]

I'm considering the KC area and would love to have any input