Relocating to KC - KS or MO (Kansas City, St. Louis: live, to move)

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Go grab 100 random people from the MO side. From Liberty to Belton and Midtown to Blue Springs.

Put them in a room and ask them what they think about JoCo and tell them that what they say will remain confidential and is simply for an internal study.

I think the vast majority of the comments from such a pool of people would mirror much of what I (and others) on this thread have said.

I don't doubt that for a second. But then can I also ask them how many people from JoCo they have actually taken the time to get to know???

We don't mean to take it out on people and I don't either, but it's so easy to do.

Like I said, I like JoCo, I just wish more of the people that lived there had the same respect for the MO side, especially since the MO side is probably the only reason JoCo is not just a farm field.

When you have already decided that the respect is not there, it can make it very difficult to see.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by northbound74

I apologize.
It is easy to make assumptions, and I'll consider that in the future.

Thank you! I appreciate that!

I'll still need more convincing for my overall opinion of JoCo to change drastically, because there are sooooo many people in JoCo that fit the mold of what we who live on the Missouri side complain about.

It's okay. There are sooooo many people on the MO side who fit the mold of what we in JoCo complain about too.

Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. No reason to not be honest about that. I'm willing if you are! But we must also be willing to look past them. And I'm willing to do that as well, and ask only the same in return.

[Gibby3000]

As an outsider - who doesn't even live in KC yet - I just have to comment on this KS vs. MO feud. When I first started reading here I didn't think much of it. I thought it was just a few people who got into a "forum war". In the meantime I've been to KC a few times - met a few people from all parts of the city. I have no bias one way or another since I don't live there and have never lived there. I'm just evaluating the entire area trying to decide where I want to live. I have to say I'm truly amazed at what has unfolded as I've met people. I'm finding that the kind of attitude depicted here isn't just here - several people I've met share it!! People I've met from MO are very down to earth and very friendly. A number of the Johnson County people I've met, though they seem nice enough, do tend to go out of their way to degrade MO - things like the bad roads and a couple comments about something being in the sticks and something else being shanty town - the latter two being areas where I'd looked at homes in the neighborhood of $500,000. It's like a textbook case of what I've read here!! Overall I've found people to be very friendly but this interstate feud is weird - like people feed off of each other and it just grows and grows. Something like "herd mentality" - everyone feels the need to do it because others do it. It's a bit strange....and really doesn't reflect very positively on the area.....kind of shallow and petty in my opinion. I suspect the farther I am from "the border" the less of this I might be exposed to.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by Gibby3000

I suspect the farther I am from "the border" the less of this I might be exposed to.

Maybe. The feud between KS and MO goes back to pre-civil war. Actually the history behind it is rather interesting. And shreds of it continue today. Mo people dislike KS and vice versa and yet the reasons people on either side articulate for their disdain they are very often guilty of themselves!

The truth is that people are most comfortable on the side that they consider "home" and the underlying current - of suspecting that the other side has "somethin' again' 'em" - fuels the ongoing distrust and misperceptions.

People perceive slights against them. They think they know how all those folks over there are. They pay no attention to evidence of the contrary - especially when they have a willing audience and are surrounded by those who share the same perceptions.

It's quite comical really. But it's very real. And so if you are unfamiliar with the area and want to live here, it's best to do as you've done and get to know people from both sides before deciding where to settle.

[kcmo]

Cival war? Come on.

I grew up in urban KCMO. Never even thought about the Kansas side. Never even went there. It was just suburban KC to me, like Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Liberty etc. Even though I grew up less than 2 miles from the KS border, I simply never went over there. It was only houses, there was no reason to.

But as got older, worked out there, interacted with many from there etc, things began to change.

I had absolutely nothing against Kansas or Johnson County growing up in KC.

35 years and 152,965 insults later…..

JoCo residents have a problem with KCMO and MO in general, I honest to go think that far too many (not all, but an amazing percentage) residents look down on the MO side and I resent that and look down right back.

I’m not alone.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Cival war? Come on.

I grew up in urban KCMO. Never even thought about the Kansas side. Never even went there. It was just suburban KC to me, like Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Liberty etc. Even though I grew up less than 2 miles from the KS border, I simply never went over there. It was only houses, there was no reason to.

But as got older, worked out there, interacted with many from there etc, things began to change.

I had absolutely nothing against Kansas or Johnson County growing up in KC.

35 years and 152,965 insults later…..

JoCo residents have a problem with KCMO and MO in general, I honest to go think that far too many (not all, but an amazing percentage) residents look down on the MO side and I resent that and look down right back.

I’m not alone.

I respectfully disagree. You have shown the same propensity for preconceived notions that you accuse JoCo residents of having.

Often we take on these notions from past generations without realizing it. That's what I was referring to. (And yes, many underlying currents of attitude date back to the MO Compromise and the civil war. Look it up, it's pretty interesting if you're into that stuff.)

Anyway. I also think part of the problem comes from the fact that when people in JoCo think of "Kansas City, MO" they think of the "city" part of it. Downtown, Plaza, Crown Center, and "inner city". They think of it as someplace to go and "do stuff" or work - they (obviously) think of the suburbs as a place to live and so when they talk about KCMO, that's where they are coming from. They think of what they hear about in the news about the "city" -- and so their perspective can get skewed if they are not careful to remember the bigger picture.

Likewise, when people in KCMO think of JoCo, (I think) they also think of it more in terms of suburbia. JoCo is a wealthier area (which again doesn't mean that everyone who lives there is wealthy - but people forget that) and people do often make an assumption that they are being looked down upon by JoCo and so will see that, regardless of whether it's true or not. Their perspective can also get skewed.

These things then snowball and attitudes perpetuate themselves and get passed along.

Are there people in JoCo who are snobs? You bet. And we have our share of rednecks too. Are there people in KCMO who are rednecks? Yep, and you have your share of snobs as well.

It takes some effort to drop the assumptions and judge people for themselves - and not by where they live.

[luzianne]

YouTube - Missouri at Kansas football, 2003

[Johnny Bananas]

Originally Posted by luzianne

YouTube - Missouri at Kansas football, 2003

Oh, yes I remember that game. KU is notorious or was for taking down goal posts.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Baby!

P.S. I think this was meant to show how far people go to insult each others schools/states perhaps?

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by Johnny Bananas

Oh, yes I remember that game. KU is notorious or was for taking down goal posts.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk Baby!

P.S. I think this was meant to show how far people go to insult each others schools/states perhaps?

No, it was just meant to show the rivalry. I like the opener where it says "I've never heard of good things coming from Missouri. Anything from Missouri has a taint about it."

It's really fascinating if you study the history of Kansas and Missouri back before the Civil War -Jayhawkers, Bushwhackers, etc. Actually I guess I'd be a traitor because my ancestors have Missouri roots and I was born in Missouri. But once I made it to Kansas I loved it and never looked back.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by luzianne

No, it was just meant to show the rivalry. I like the opener where it says "I've never heard of good things coming from Missouri. Anything from Missouri has a taint about it."

It's really fascinating if you study the history of Kansas and Missouri back before the Civil War -Jayhawkers, Bushwhackers, etc. Actually I guess I'd be a traitor because my ancestors have Missouri roots and I was born in Missouri. But once I made it to Kansas I loved it and never looked back.

You're a traitor and a snob!