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I'd say "ideal" if you're conservative, religious, and think Applebees and Jack Stack are fine dining. Or if you enjoy mowing an acre of grass in intense heat and humidity. Or if your idea of urban development is when they build a new Fazzoli's in the mall parking lot.
So much fail in such a short post. shoo fly, shoo.
I am curious if you are still moving. We are contemplating a move to Overland Park for work - are from San Francisco and currently live in Chicago. Would love to find out if you decided to move/or not and why.
This is my 10th year here having moved from Downers Grove (Chicago burb).
Here are my comments:
1) Commutes are short here so consider Lenexa and Shawnee Mission too if you don't like the feel of OP or Olathe. My commute is <15minutes.
2) Housing is about 1/2 the cost of Chicago...property taxes are 4k for me on a <300k house with 3700sq ft. + another 1700sqft of finished basement.
3) All the public schools in Johnson County are very good. The reining national spelling bee champ is out of Olathe.
4) Within 35minutes I can be at a waterpark, zoo, symphony, rock concert, jazz club, hiking in the woods, airport, pro football or baseball game...tons to do in the greater metro area.
5) Mild winters compared to Chicago...summer gets a little nastier but just for about 3 weeks or so. All in all better weather.
6) It's not that conservative here. Our former governor is in Obama's cabinet and especially in the KC burbs it's around 50/50 politically.
We lived in OP for about 3 years, and now we live in Connecticut. I LOVED southern OP (south of 119th) and deeply regret moving back to the east coast (where we are from.) The cost of your home will be much lower in OP, and it is an ideal place to raise a family. Great shopping, great restaurants, great schools, and all close and convenient to get to. We are considering moving ourselves back there since my husband works from home and we can live anywhere. Compared to the east coast (I've never been to CA) it is much more friendly, and although it is an expensive area compared to other midwest towns, I don't think people are as materialistic as they are on the east coast. Hope this helps and good luck!
"Cost of your home will be much lower in OP"
Prices are MUCH higher than most areas of the Midwest. You very rarely get any privacy or away from neighbors for paying such high real estate prices.
"ideal place to raise a family." Just as good as many other high end suburban areas of the country, but a more natalistic culture is also present resulting in early marriage. I advise most single people to move to KC, MO if they can or join meet up groups.
"it is much more friendly"
That has not been my experience at all- particularly JOCO. People from MO are middle of the road in terms of friendliness. Maybe you prefer a populace that is more "openly friendly," but also more likely to talk behind your back compared to the more reserved populace of New England?
"We are considering moving ourselves back there since my husband works from home and we can live anywhere."
If you can move anywhere why not try the Midwest like: Iowa City, Minneapolis, Chicago, etc.
"I don't think people are as materialistic as they are on the east coast."
That depends on what suburban area of KC you are talking about. JOCO is quite materialistic overall, but it is mostly pretentious new money snobbery. The inner ring suburbs are generally quite a bit more balanced in terms of materialism vs fiscal conservatism. Overall, KC is more fiscally conservative than average. I have always been very fiscally conservative, and I am from the KC metro.
"it is much more friendly"
That has not been my experience at all- particularly JOCO.
Quote:
"I don't think people are as materialistic as they are on the east coast."
That depends on what suburban area of KC you are talking about. JOCO is quite materialistic overall, but it is mostly pretentious new money snobbery.
Ya know...I've heard this sorta stuff over and over again on this board, but that hasn't been my experience with JOCO at all! People here have been nothing but friendly and helpful to me and my husband since we moved here from Tennessee! People have smiles on their faces when I see them and they appear to be very down to earth, open, helpful and accepting.
I'm sorry...but I really don't see what I've read about on this board played out here in JOCO at all. I've not met anyone yet who I would consider snobbish.
Quote:
"Cost of your home will be much lower in OP"
Prices are MUCH higher than most areas of the Midwest. You very rarely get any privacy or away from neighbors for paying such high real estate prices.
And I think housing prices here in OP are very reasonable!
"Cost of your home will be much lower in OP"
Prices are MUCH higher than most areas of the Midwest. You very rarely get any privacy or away from neighbors for paying such high real estate prices.
"ideal place to raise a family." Just as good as many other high end suburban areas of the country, but a more natalistic culture is also present resulting in early marriage. I advise most single people to move to KC, MO if they can or join meet up groups.
"it is much more friendly"
That has not been my experience at all- particularly JOCO. People from MO are middle of the road in terms of friendliness. Maybe you prefer a populace that is more "openly friendly," but also more likely to talk behind your back compared to the more reserved populace of New England?
"We are considering moving ourselves back there since my husband works from home and we can live anywhere."
If you can move anywhere why not try the Midwest like: Iowa City, Minneapolis, Chicago, etc.
"I don't think people are as materialistic as they are on the east coast."
That depends on what suburban area of KC you are talking about. JOCO is quite materialistic overall, but it is mostly pretentious new money snobbery. The inner ring suburbs are generally quite a bit more balanced in terms of materialism vs fiscal conservatism. Overall, KC is more fiscally conservative than average. I have always been very fiscally conservative, and I am from the KC metro.
Huh? Housing in JOCO is about 1/2 that of Chicago and fairly comparable to Minneapolis. This isn't really up for dispute, we can just wander over to realtor.com and voila.
I know you don't like JOCO but lets not give the people coming here looking for information on which to make an informed decision bad info because you didn't like it.
I wouldn't move back to Chicago from here unless I had no other choice. Not a dig on Chicago, it's a great city....I just like having my nice inexpensive home and short commute while still having access to most of the advantages of a large city that places like Iowa City don't have.
These blanket statements about OP and JOCO I've shot down repeatedly yet they keep turning up over and over like a bad penny.
^
JOCO is fine for those that generally prefer an extremely suburban enviornment with a more of a rat race culture to go along with lots of traffic. The one word advantage JOCO has over other places right now: JOBS! JOCO is single handidly propping up the entire economy of the KC metro area while many of the other metro counties have seen little to negative non-farm employment growth since the decade began.
I am just not a big city person most of the time which is why I don't prefer ANY big suburban county. I gravitate toward counties with populations of 150,000 or less which tend to have all of the amenities I need while generating about 1/5 as much stress and drama as a keeping up with the Jones culture entails. I tend to disagree that the majority of the people in JOCO are laid back because that was definitely not my experience living there. Friendliness levels are probably variable. I grew up in a neighborhood that was incredibly insular in JOCO with a lot of out of the mainstream types of people. As a geographer, I noted from a young age the lack of sidewalks, the extreme levels of conformity, and the distance to any amenities. Heck, it took two miles just to drive to the entrance of the subdivision!
I guess I will always gravitate toward smaller towns that are semi-close to metro amenities. Too many years living too close to I-435 was just too much urbanity for me.
^
JOCO is single handidly propping up the entire economy of the KC metro area while many of the other metro counties have seen little to negative non-farm employment growth since the decade began.
JoCo is not propping up the entire economy of metro KC. For the most part, the best the county can do is take jobs FROM Jackson County. What is the actual net gain? It's mostly a migration of jobs from MO to KS. Always has been and now that the county should be able to stand on its own as far as job creation, the leaching seems to have only gotten worse with incentives that are nearly impossible to compete with. If JoCo gains $1 of “new” tax revenue from such moves and KCMO loses $6 from such moves, how is that a net gain for the metro as a whole? It’s not. Has a company from denver or dallas or any other town ever moved 300-600 jobs to joco like the moves that occur regularly from KCMO? Some of the big moves from KCMO to JoCo were originally landed by KCMO from out of town, but it’s like KCMO is the only place JoCo has a serious chance of landing jobs from. Again, nothing to lose for JoCo, but it continues to destroy KCMO and really the entire region is affected negatively by how one side of town grows at the expense of the existing built up and established parts of the city and the parts of the city that have far more issues to deal with then being the best in the world at plowing snow and having extravagant traffic signals or signs/fountains welcoming you to whatever suburb.
But it only makes things worse when the county brags about how well it’s doing when the fact is if they didn’t have KCMO, the county would have a corporate economy about the size of Lee’s Summit’s today.
Having said that, do you have to say "non-farm" every time you mention employment stats? Farm employment seems like such a non-factor and I'm sure it would be a very tiny number anyway in KC's urban counties. Just a pet peeve.
Whatever happened to the orginal poster? Did they come here or not? For anyone contemplating the same move I will throw in my 2cents worth.
Having lived in Orange Co., CA myself I can tell you that there are areas like OP and areas nothing like OP. So, depending on where in Orange Co. the poster was from there could be different expectations. I, for instance, lived in Laguna Niguel right near PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)--which by the way isn't really a highway--at least in that area. That area was made up of single family homes and very few apartments. The zoning was similar to what we have in OP with neighborhoods being nicely separated from retail zones. It is clean and well kept with most of the neighborhoods being gated which you won't find as much in OP. That area of OC had beautiful parks and of course the ocean and boardwalk. You will find beautiful parks here but the lakes and ponds alas, no comparison if you are a beach lover.
As has been mentioned repeatedly, the cost of living is far more affordable here. No need to go into that any further.
You will find the pace of life very slow here as compared to OC. It is definitely a great place to raise a family.
So, if you are looking for a more affordable, slower paced alternative to OC, OP is a great choice. Btw, whenever I have had guests visit from CA they have just loved it here.
----on another subject....
KCMO, I've been wondering about some of the posts you've written. Help me to understand, you are always saying that JoCo is "taking jobs from Jackson Co." yet I'm curious as to how exactly that is done? Is it that JoCo is actively recruiting companies by sending them some sort of incentives or is it that the companies are making their own choice to move to JoCo? If it is the latter, then how can JoCo be blamed?
I was born in LA and last lived in Huntington Beach. I married a Welshman and lived in the UK for several years. We relocated to Kansas 2 years ago. We love the people here. Very friendly and generous. Though we don't live in Overland Park, we frequent the Kansas City area. There is so much to do there and for free! Very family oriented place. If you're not set on the Overland Park area there are fabulous deals in Kansas City, KS between the Shawnee and North Overland Park areas. The houses aren't new, but the lots are huge, many 1/2 acre or bigger and the prices are a steal. We love KC and go at least once a month. Looking for a new venture that will move us closer.
JoCo is not propping up the entire economy of metro KC. For the most part, the best the county can do is take jobs FROM Jackson County. What is the actual net gain? It's mostly a migration of jobs from MO to KS. Always has been and now that the county should be able to stand on its own as far as job creation, the leaching seems to have only gotten worse with incentives that are nearly impossible to compete with. If JoCo gains $1 of “new” tax revenue from such moves and KCMO loses $6 from such moves, how is that a net gain for the metro as a whole? It’s not. Has a company from denver or dallas or any other town ever moved 300-600 jobs to joco like the moves that occur regularly from KCMO? Some of the big moves from KCMO to JoCo were originally landed by KCMO from out of town, but it’s like KCMO is the only place JoCo has a serious chance of landing jobs from. Again, nothing to lose for JoCo, but it continues to destroy KCMO and really the entire region is affected negatively by how one side of town grows at the expense of the existing built up and established parts of the city and the parts of the city that have far more issues to deal with then being the best in the world at plowing snow and having extravagant traffic signals or signs/fountains welcoming you to whatever suburb.
But it only makes things worse when the county brags about how well it’s doing when the fact is if they didn’t have KCMO, the county would have a corporate economy about the size of Lee’s Summit’s today.
Having said that, do you have to say "non-farm" every time you mention employment stats? Farm employment seems like such a non-factor and I'm sure it would be a very tiny number anyway in KC's urban counties. Just a pet peeve.
I work in OP with a whole bunch of people that live in MO etc. I think that we should be happy that at least PART of the metro added some jobs so that everyone in the metro can potentially work there.
KCMO has done incredible damage to its business community so at least if companies move to the burbs at least they aren't going to Denver etc. Otherwise KCMO would look like Detroit.
KCMO's wage tax, schools and lack of transit and other infrastructure....aka....bad planning caused their woes. Point all the fingers you want and maybe buy the city a copy of SimCity so they can perhaps get a clue about things.
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