Looking For Insight About Independence (Kansas City, Lee's Summit: violent crime, houses, neighborhood)

[northbound74]

Originally Posted by Crosstimbers Okie

It's not life like that everywhere. In some places people are civilized.

Here's some of those places for your enlightenment. The prices of all the homes may not rise to the $300,000 level, but most are well over $200,000.

from: 39.088235,-94.344406 to: Independence, MO - Google Maps


from: 39.11914,-94.360714 to: Independence, MO - Google Maps

from: 39.126198,-94.36552 to: Independence, MO - Google Maps

from: 39.134721,-94.351959 to: Independence, MO - Google Maps

Northeast Independence has some okay homes, but it's far from being in the best part of town. It's actually my least favorite area of Independence. I consider most anything south of 23rd to be in the better part of town. The square and parts of Winner Road are the exceptions.

[kcmo]

Northbound, I agree, that's why I posted this...

Those are ok areas, but they are far from the upscale areas of Independence.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...cl=1&encType=1

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[smellykat]

Hey KCMO - your break from the boards didn't dampen your style! At it again with the dreaded Johnson Countians! Well, we did win a round of the border wars last Saturday! On a serious note, I am totally unfamiliar with Independence and these postings have intrigued me. Would you post google map links to the town square, amazing churches and older homes you mentioned in your post? I'm thinking of a road trip. Independence is a very historical city, and I'm not afraid to cross the border!

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by kcmo

First off, I don't believe that you know a thing about Indep. You drove though it so you know a city of 115,000 residents enough to tell others about it?

Second, that's not what you said. You didn't just say you didn't care for it. You called it the meth capital of the world. Which is something I hear all the time from Johnson County people who couldn’t find Independence on a map.

Third, you mentioned you live in Northern JoCo. I guarantee you that southeast Independence is just as nice, if not much nicer than the area you live in, unless you live in Mission Hills.

I am in Indep almost daily. There are some nice areas. The parts that touch Blue Springs and Lee's Summit are very upscale. Eastern Indy is much nicer and more upscale than western Blue Springs.

If somebody asks about Overland Park, go ahead and tell them all about it, but why are you always on the MO forums trying to get people to move to the Kansas suburbs?

I don't post on the Kansas forums and if people ask about JoCo, I will give them the best un-biased opinion that I can to help somebody find the right home that fits them.

I will not jump into a "I want to find a home in Lenexa" thread and tell somebody that Lenexa is a ****hole, you should move to Blue Springs.

But if I think the MO side is a better fit, and most of the time it is, I will tell them.

I like people moving to the MO side where they can help pay for our stadiums, arenas, transit system, zoos, theaters, museums etc. People are more likely to become Kansas Citians (even though they might be in Liberty, Gladstone or Indep) than just Kansans that pretty much hate everything about the MO side till it benefits them (like going to the Nelson, Sprint Center or Kauffman Stadium or claming the KCMO skyline as their own so people don’t think they live on a farm.

One more thing.

When are you JoCo people going to start claiming KCK as part of the KS side? You act like the KS side is some oasis all while you have KCK that just sits there and rots away, regardless of what is happening clear out by the speedways near Bonner Springs.

AHEM. I didn't call it the meth capital of the world. I said that's what it was called a few years ago by whoever determines those things. People say it for a reason; they don't just pull it out of thin air.

About Independence being just as nice as my neighborhood. WRONG.

I have a right to post on any forum I like. I have lived in both Kansas and Missouri and I live in the Kansas City area. If someone posts asking what a certain area of the metro is like, and I see the post, I am going to respond. Maybe to YOU Independence is a fine place to live. Other people may have different standards. If I posted saying I was thinking about moving to a city I had never been to, I would appreciate ALL opinions because that way I could make a better informed decision. Some people would think Independence was just fine. Others would not. I'm sure they want to hear from all sides. There is a reason I DON'T live in Independence and maybe the OP is interested in that kind of input.

Sounds like you have a problem with Johnson County. Sorry, that's about you - not about me or other Johnson Countians. We live here because we choose to, because we think life is better here. If life is better for you in Independence/KCMO, then no one is stopping you from living there. I grew up in Johnson County, moved away, and came back because I felt this was the best place to raise my kids. I've lived in Kansas City, Missouri, I have lived in NE Kansas City, I have lived in Kansas City, Kansas, I have lived in rural Missouri, I have lived in rural Kansas. I have lived near Smithville - oh wait, I was born in Smithville, and Platte City and Stet if you've ever heard of that. I've lived south of Springfield very briefly, and spent a lot of times down there because my parents were there. And I have lived in Johnson County. I like it best in Johnson County.

One more thing: ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by smellykat

Hey KCMO - your break from the boards didn't dampen your style! At it again with the dreaded Johnson Countians! Well, we did win a round of the border wars last Saturday! On a serious note, I am totally unfamiliar with Independence and these postings have intrigued me. Would you post google map links to the town square, amazing churches and older homes you mentioned in your post? I'm thinking of a road trip. Independence is a very historical city, and I'm not afraid to cross the border!

haha, yea, some things never change.

Not really into college sports, although I do pull for MU to beat KU. Seemed like a good game though a nice thing to have in KC.

I'm mostly a Royals fan (season ticket holder) and there is nothing you can say that hasn't already been said. The pro sports teams in KC are at an all time low point.

Originally Posted by luzianne

About Independence being just as nice as my neighborhood. WRONG.

Other people may have different standards.

We live here because we choose to, because we think life is better here.

Pretty much sums up why "a LOT" of Missourians resent JoCo.

I said "parts" of Indep "might" be better than where you live, but I don't know where you live because "I" know "parts" of NE JoCo are better than even the nicest parts of Indep.

But you seem 100% confident that there is no way possible that Independence could possibly have as nice of an area that you live in. So, from that, I would have to assume that you live just west of State Line Road in Mission Hills, Fairway or the better parts of Prairie Village. I guess I should base my view of NE JoCo on the more run down and modest areas of Roeland Park, Merriam, north OP and Mission?

"different standards"?, try different "tastes" in that response, It wouldn't be taken quite as harsh. I’m sure you didn’t click on those links I posted because if you did, you wouldn’t have said that.

"life is better here".

OK, again, typical, condescending Johnson County attitude.

Originally Posted by luzianne

One more thing: ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!

Again, don't really care about college sports. Seems to be mostly a Johnson County thing .

MU fans seem to go on with their lives after games though. They go back to KC or StLouis and don’t think about MU till the next big game. They have much more going on than college sports.

KU fans seem to live and breathe college sports and act like nothing else goes on in their lives. That's why nearly every single car in JoCo has some sort of KU logo on it. Odd if you ask me.


I guess if I lived in Kansas and had to go to the state I hate for everything and anything outside of suburban shopping, I would probably live and die by a college team at age 35 too.

Take care .

PS, Go Royals!

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by kcmo

haha, yea, some things never change.

Not really into college sports, although I do pull for MU to beat KU. Seemed like a good game though a nice thing to have in KC.

I'm mostly a Royals fan (season ticket holder) and there is nothing you can say that hasn't already been said. The pro sports teams in KC are at an all time low point.





Pretty much sums up why "a LOT" of Missourians resent JoCo.

I said "parts" of Indep "might" be better than where you live, but I don't know where you live because "I" know "parts" of NE JoCo are better than even the nicest parts of Indep.

But you seem 100% confident that there is no way possible that Independence could possibly have as nice of an area that you live in. So, from that, I would have to assume that you live just west of State Line Road in Mission Hills, Fairway or the better parts of Prairie Village. I guess I should base my view of NE JoCo on the more run down and modest areas of Roeland Park, Merriam, north OP and Mission?

"different standards"?, try different "tastes" in that response, It wouldn't be taken quite as harsh. I’m sure you didn’t click on those links I posted because if you did, you wouldn’t have said that.

"life is better here".

OK, again, typical, condescending Johnson County attitude.



Again, don't really care about college sports. Seems to be mostly a Johnson County thing .

MU fans seem to go on with their lives after games though. They go back to KC or StLouis and don’t think about MU till the next big game. They have much more going on than college sports.

KU fans seem to live and breathe college sports and act like nothing else goes on in their lives. That's why nearly every single car in JoCo has some sort of KU logo on it. Odd if you ask me.


I guess if I lived in Kansas and had to go to the state I hate for everything and anything outside of suburban shopping, I would probably live and die by a college team at age 35 too.

Take care .

PS, Go Royals!

You really have a chip on your shoulder and frankly, you sound jealous. Again, about you - not me. And you also obviously don't know anything about sports fans. MU fans are every much as intense as Jayhawk fans. And guess what? Lots of Johnson Countians are Mizzou fans. So much for your stereotype!

Have you lived in Kansas/Johnson County? I'd say probably not. I HAVE lived in Kansas City, Missouri/Jackson County. And many other places. So whatever with your comment about "typical, condescending Johnson County attitude." I live in Johnson County because I like it here, period. I like nice neighborhoods and neighbors who care about their property and tax money spent appropriately so that our city is taken care of and the low crime rate. I like the reputation of the school district. If it's condescending to prefer to live someplace that has those things, then whatever. And for the record, I said we live here because WE THINK LIFE IS BETTER HERE. I didn't say "life is better here." To me, this is the best place to live. So how is that condescending?

[kcmo]

you just don't get it do you.

Let me try one more time to explain this to you.

You posted a response trying to defend your condescending attitude, yet with more condescending remarks.

I like nice neighborhoods and neighbors who care about their property and tax money spent appropriately so that our city is taken care of and the low crime rate.

OK, now read that and think about what you just typed.

What I am saying is that there are many many many many neighborhoods on the MO side that offer this EXACT same thing. They are in central KCMO, they are in the Northland, they are in Independence, they are in Lee's Summit, they are in Blue Springs, they are in Liberty, they are in Parkville, they are in Raymore, etc.

Get what I'm trying to say here?

Johnson County is not the only place in town that offers this.

I don't tell people to move to Gladstone, NKC, Lee's Summit or Brookside because people take care of their homes.

I think that is pretty much assumed. So I point out other reasons to live in Gladstone. Close to KCI, Downtown etc.

Why would I be jealous of JoCo? It's the same thing as eastern Jackson County or the Northland.

It's the same thing.

Do I think JoCo is overrated? You bet I do.

I don’t' really have a problem with JoCo other than the condescending attitudes of "I'm better than you because I live in JoCo".

But as you have proven, most people don’t even know or want to admit they are like that. So I don't hold it against them.

But if you ask 100 people that live in nice areas of the MO side, not Northeast KCMO, but areas comparable to JoCo, 99 of them will tell you the same thing about JoCo people. It's a well known thing on the MO side that JoCo people tend to look down on the MO side. Most may not outright say it, but they will off the record or when around non-joco people.

And a lot of people, like myself, take that as an insult considering we probably get a little less quality roads so we can pay for all the entertainment in KCMO that JoCo people come over and use for free all while having nothing good to say about our city while here.

Think about it...

And sorry, I have lived in Denver and StLouis as well as metro KC and the KS side is freaking crazy into college sports while the MO side is more passive about it. There are a lot of MU fans on the MO side, but they don't wear MU clothing 5 days a week and have MU paraphernalia on 3 out of every five cars etc.

KS is more like Nebraska or something. It's just a different deal. It's all they got and from what I can tell, you have some good teams.

But they are far more into college sports than the MO side is.

And I have lived in JoCo. Olathe to be precise. Olathe is a lot like Indep. You can live in a 75k home in a run down area off Santa Fe or a 500k home in Cedar Creek.

It would be difficult to base an opinion of the entire city by either one of those areas though.

There is nearly twice as many people on the MO side as the KS side. There is a LOT more city out there than JoCo. I'm in JOCO all the time as well as just about every other part of town. You should try it, you might be shocked though that other areas of the city have people that like to take care of their property too.

No hard feelings, maybe we can get this thread back on topic and talk about Independence.

I just think that if you don't have anything constructive to offer about an area you really know nothing about. Why say anything???


Back to Independence...

[smellykat]

Independence, Missouri - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Very Cool! Shame on me for not taking the time to explore Independence!

[kcmo]

I will reiterate, Independence has some rough areas. The northern parts of the city have some of the lowest demographics in the entire metro area, comparable to the east side of KCMO or KCK east of 635, only with far less crime than those areas. It’s basically poor people, not thugs, although meth is a problem in some of these areas, just like it’s a problem in parts of KCMO and KCK, but the more urban drugs like crack are not as common in Indep as in KCMO.

Now that we have established that, let’s move on with more constructive information on the nicer parts of Independence and what the city has to offer….

I have already posted about the rather upscale southeast part of the city. These are very nice areas that are in the Blue Springs School district and they are growing. New homes in this part of Independence easily top 300k, but you can get a very nice home in well kept, middle class area of SE Indep for 225-250k. A new arena is under construction that will bring all kinds of entertainment events to the area such as family shows etc as well as a minor league hockey team and a community ice rink. This will be the only venue in the metro offering shows like this and will be similar to venues in suburban Denver and StLouis. The arena should draw well from Johnson County and it might, just might get some people to notice that this area of Independence is quite nice.

The little blue valley is being developed with master planned, new urbanism communities similar to Arbor Walk and Longview Farms in Lee’s Summit or Shoal Creek and Northgate in the Northland. Basically building “Brookside” in the suburbs. Detached garages, 220k homes near 350k homes, walkable neighborhoods with local retail etc.

The Independence Center is always near 100% occupied with class A tenants, the Bass Pro shop in Independence is second only to the main store in Springfield, (I think it’s better) and it blows away the one in Olathe. SE Indep is home to the new Centerpoint Medial Center, one of the most state of the art hospitals in the region.

So suburban Independence is doing quite well for a city that has such a bad rap.

Independence has some very charming, well kept historic areas as well.

The Downtown Square is a neat area that has a lot of stores of restaurants, a theater and bowling alley.

This part of Indep really offers a “sense of community” a “sense of place”.

This is one of the main actual tourist destinations in the metro. Drive by the Truman home, RLDS auditorium, the Temple, the Truman Library etc and you will see license plates from all over the country every day of the week.

Independence has Amtrak service as ATA bus service as well. If you live in the downtown area of Independence, you can actually get around the area via transit or by walking.

A lot of people like Independence because it has so much history and has some very historic, and interesting areas that are simply not found in most suburbs, yet has a suburban side to it for all of those needs.

Again, I understand that the city has its share of problems, but it also has a lot of great things going on and if you live in KC and have not toured the historic sites and attractions of Independence or have not even set foot in Independence Center, than I think you are really short changing yourself. The city offers a lot to the metro.

[smellykat]

Thanks for posting an informative, positive picture of Independence, Missouri. I read these boards to glean more information about my city, Kansas City, so I truly appreciate good posts regarding the history of our city and surrounding cities, neighborhoods, places to visit, good restaurants, etc. I am sooo proud of my town, even our pitiful Royals and Chiefs, and want others to visit, to relocate, and to just think of Kansas City in a positive light! Now, if we can just all get along Oh, I forgot, the border wars!