What do you think is the Best Area/Suburb (Lee's Summit: apartment complexes, how much)

[PapasInTheHouse]

I live in western Olathe near K-10/Woodland and love it. I felt we got much more house/space for our money and I am so close to restaurants, shopping and grocery stores. It is quite a drive to P&L or the Plaza area, I think a cab is around $50. It really all depends on what you are looking for.

[ronstevens]

Any input on the area west of CC plaza, north and south off the Ward pkway...heading west to the state line.....looks like older homes, tree line streets, some beautiful majestic old neighborhoods. Westwood Park, Westwood, WW Hills. Jacob Loose Park area, and west to the Kan State line...

Thanks for any help...

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by ronstevens

Any input on the area west of CC plaza, north and south off the Ward pkway...heading west to the state line.....looks like older homes, tree line streets, some beautiful majestic old neighborhoods. Westwood Park, Westwood, WW Hills. Jacob Loose Park area, and west to the Kan State line...

Thanks for any help...

All those areas are great, especially if you can afford the higher home prices.

[OneKC]

Just my personal preference.

Where I would live if money were not an object:
1. Brookside
2. South Plaza
3. Waldo
4. Union Hill
5. Prairie Village
6. Parkville
7. Coleman Heights
8. Westwood/Mission Hills
9. Old Leawood
10.Hyde Park

I don't know the northland well at all so there may be some nice neighborhoods up that way that I have no idea about.

I would not want to live:
1. East KCMO
2. Gladstone
3. Raytown
4. Gardner
5. Oak Grove/Grain Valley
6. Olathe
7. South Overland Park
8. KCK
9. Blue Springs
10.Independence

Some of those areas are quite nice, they're just not for me.

[sparksharp]

After looking at homes and areas for a little while now, I'm surprising myself that I seem to be leaning towards the Northland over Johnson County. The Platte County area around Zona Rosa is awfully convenient to shopping and the hubby's work. It also just seems newer up there than in most parts of Johnson County. Also, traffic doesn't seem so congested up that way.

I'm almost ready to rule out Johnson County completely and just focus on Platte County.

[kcmo]

Sounds like you have been trying to convince yourself that you belong in JoCo yet it really doesn't make a lot of sense in your situation (commuting, personal tastes etc). At least you are looking at both now.

If I had a dollar for every northlander I know that originally settled in JoCo because that's where everybody told them to go....

JoCo fits a lot of people, but if you work downtown or in KCK or if you fly a lot or if you simply like a bit more diversity and topography and better access to the city and other attractions, the Northland is going to win every time.

If you want to be close to your job on College Blvd and be surrounded by a hundred square miles of upscale subdivisions in an area that is far removed from the "city", than JoCo fits you...

Different people have different taste.

BTW, my favorite suburb is Lee's Summit. It has to be one of the nicest suburbs in the country. Nice historic downtown, vibrant and active population that seem to really have a lot of civic pride, the lakes, the forests. Not too snobby, yet not too blue collar either. Just about as normal as you can get. I like Lee’s Summit.

If LS ever gets Commuter rail, that town would become quite a neat place.

[Okey Dokie]

Originally Posted by kcmo

If I had a dollar for every northlander I know that originally settled in JoCo because that's where everybody told them to go....

{waving hand wildly} I grew up in Prairie Village area, went to KU, came back and settled in Overland Park. Got divorced and needed a cheaper place.....I was working in Missouri so moved to Blue Springs. Got married again and #2 worked at KCI which was a pretty long haul from BS, so we moved up north. I loved it there and as soon as I can sell my house down here in Oklahoma I'll be back. Of course to make the circle complete maybe I should move to KCK.

[sparksharp]

Sounds like you have been trying to convince yourself that you belong in JoCo yet it really doesn't make a lot of sense in your situation (commuting, personal tastes etc). At least you are looking at both now.

I've been looking in both areas all along...but more and more it seems like I'm drawn to the Northland. Like I said...good shopping, less traffic and more convenient for the hubby's work. There are also lots of restaurants and so forth. We've been looking at houses about 5 minutes from Zona Rosa...talk about convenience! It's convenient to the city, yet it's not too far to drive if ya wanna get out of the city congestion and take a drive in the country either. (Think motorcycle).

From everything I read about JOCO, it did sound as if that was the place for me in the beginning, but "SURPRISE"!!!

[Okey Dokie]

When I was living in KC our office had a mixture of "long time locals" and people who transferred in from other cities. None of the locals lived in JoCo, but all the transferee's did.

Johnson County has its good points but the Northland is quickly catching up.

[sparksharp]

Originally Posted by Okey Dokie

When I was living in KC our office had a mixture of "long time locals" and people who transferred in from other cities. None of the locals lived in JoCo, but all the transferee's did.

Johnson County has its good points but the Northland is quickly catching up.

It seems like that area is really booming to me! An up and coming area as opposed to a came and went area. LOLOLOL! I know...I'm a goofball!