a few questions about relocating to northland area of KC

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Gibby3000

rjrobb - I guess your perception of traffic and congestion are relative to your experiences. We were driving in the area between 4-6pm on various days and though there was some back up of cars at the lights at places like 35 and 152 it was practically nothing compared to what I'm used to - a 23 mile trip that would be various levels of stop and go for 45-60 minutes at rush hour - which lasts from about 3:30-6:30 in the evening. When the weather is bad my current commute can be two hours. A 5-6 mile drive to work through a few stop lights would be heaven. In any case, since potential job is in Liberty driving through the area at rush hour will be a requirement - just need to decide how far away we might want to live - all things considered. I really liked the more rural areas farther north.

kcmo - I was wondering how the current housing and economic slowdown will impact the growth there. More concerned about whether housing prices are at or near the bottom or if the downward spiral will continue. There sure are a lot of houses in distressed sale situations around that area.

I would definitely consider all areas of Liberty and KC, MO in Clay County if your job is IN Liberty. Liberty has a wider range of housing stock to choose from compared with the further flung exurbs like Smithville. Smithville will have a lot of newer housing stock which is really generic and cookie cutter. Suburban vinyl box-like houses have been popular in the KC metro area for awhile, but I guess that is the case for many metro areas these days. Liberty has less than 30,000 people, but has more traffic, etc in certain areas especially the I-35 corridor. The areas in the north are growing faster, but I think growth will slow due to much higher fuel costs.

[skrazzle]

Originally Posted by ijitterbug

Hi Gibby 3000:

I'll try to answer some of your questions. We live in Weatherby Lake, Mo (adjoins Parkville on the North) and our city is a Class C city. Strictly residential....bedroom community of approximately 1600 residents.

Your questions..
1. Parkville to Liberty 20 miles (center to center of cities) 20 miles, 27 - 40 minutes depending on weather and traffic conditions.
2. I am not certain that all areas have HOA requirements.
3. I cannot definitely say flood insurance is or is not a requirement. In Weatherby Lake it certainly is not. The last instance where a flood occurred was in 1991 (Missouri river "great flood" which affected the city of Riverside, but not Parkville or Liberty.
4. Taxes vary by city, county and school districts. (Parkville is in Platte County and Liberty is in Clay County.
5. Real estate market in the two counties remains reasonably strong. Platte County seems to have a slight positive edge over Clay County. Generally speaking, Liberty and Parkville each are "desirable" areas. Parkville school district is one of the highest rated in the country. Riss Lake subdivision (Parkville) is a fairly new area with homes ranging from low 300's to 2.5 M. Weatherby Lake has a 400 acre lake, restricted to property owners and guests, great fishing, and wonderful "pontoon cruising" (9.9 HP max.) residential area with homes from mid 200's to over 7M.
6. Each of the mentioned communities are within an easy 30 minute or less commute to the airport (Kansas City International) and generally the same commute time to downtown Kansas City, MO.
7. Great highway system for "getting around" the metropolitan area. For all practical purposes, you can travel diagonally (the longest distance) across the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area in 45 minutes to 1 hour at the most (excluding major traffic tie ups and/or significant weather concerns.)

All in all, the specific areas you mention (Liberty and Parkville) as well as what we refer to as the "northland" truly is a convenient and good place to live.

Any other specific questions you may have, you can email me (Jerry) jwilson75@kc.rr.com

27-40 mins from Parkville to Liberty? What are you driving 20 mph? If you are going slow, it may take 20 mins. I used to live in Liberty and made it to the Plaza in 15, so Parkville taking that long is completely nuts.

No not all areas have HOA requirements, most don't.

Flood insurance isn't needed unless your in an area that has a high likely hood of flooding, and most places in KC are not in this area.

I can't get over the time you say it takes to get to places. Downtown or airport taking 30 mins? Thats just crazy....

[RjRobb2]

Originally Posted by skrazzle

27-40 mins from Parkville to Liberty? What are you driving 20 mph? If you are going slow, it may take 20 mins. I used to live in Liberty and made it to the Plaza in 15, so Parkville taking that long is completely nuts.

No not all areas have HOA requirements, most don't.

Flood insurance isn't needed unless your in an area that has a high likely hood of flooding, and most places in KC are not in this area.

I can't get over the time you say it takes to get to places. Downtown or airport taking 30 mins? Thats just crazy....

I agree. I can get from Legends in Wyandotte to Liberty in 25 minutes. I know because I did it this last weekend. Parkville to Liberty will likely never take more than 15 minutes. 20 on a bad day. Now once you get to Liberty, it could take time getting through there.

I can get to the downtown airport in 5 minutes from my house and I can get to Crown Center in 12 minutes with no traffic. I live at 169 and 68th street.

[Gibby3000]

kcmo - by Shoal Creek do you mean that development with the golf course? That didn't seem modest to me. Maybe you mean other surrounding Shoal Creek areas? Of course we have a house to sell in MN but at least no big mortgage that we have to deal with. I wouldn't want to sell that at a depressed price and then rent until the market bounced back and pay a rebounded price for next house. I don't think there's any danger of home prices rebounding any time soon though. I'm more concerned I'd buy while still declining. In any case we'd do some kind of telecommute/temporary arrangement with DH going there for the job and me staying behind in current job and house until house sells. So we'd have some more time to get to know the area including what's selling and where and for how much. We'll see what happens with the current financial and economic crisis.....