Our trip to KC and search for a rental... (Kansas City: hotel, townhouse)

[RJDBLues]

Our visit to KC went well last week. We found a house that has a good elementary school and meets all of our other needs. Here are some of my thoughts and views of our visit:
1. Stayed at the La Quinta off of Armour RD (210) and I35 for two nights. Loved it... it was clean, friendly folks, and a central location. They allowed big dogs which was a must and hard to find. The beds were super comfortable. The room was huge. Our third night the hotel was booked so we stayed at the La Quinta in Overland Park. Same quality and comforts.

2. Traffic wasn't bad even though the reporters said that one of the days had been the worst they had ever seen in KC.

3. Loved the hills! I wasn't expecting the landscape to be so hilly. Being able to catch the trees in fall colors was great too.

4. Were lots of areas that were highly industrial with lack of any beauty. Wasn't pretty but those are the areas that are providing the jobs so...

5. Loved Overland Park! After living in a very small Mayberry town for two years now I can't wait to get back to all the great shopping. This area was new and fresh.

6. Raytown was okay. It was older with some nicer areas than others. Good schools and not so nice ones so we'er carefull of the homes we looked at.

7. Avondale was old and a bit run down. We didn't really like it. Very odd that folks just sat their trash bags out on the street no trash cans. Odd how the houses were so mixed up ( 1940's house next to a 1980's house next to a 1960's house) (well kept homes next to trashy homes).

8. The Grandview area was okay.

9. We were shocked by how small the bedrooms were in all the homes we looked at. Most looked like they were made to hold only twin beds.

10. Impressed by all the nice townhouse & single family house mixed neighborhoods in Overland Park. You don't see that here in the south.

In the end we found the right house for us in SW KC, MO. It's near State Line Rd and 99th. The price was right, the house was large, in a nice older sub that's safe for our son and his bike, close to all the great shopping in Overland Park, under 20 min. drive for my husband to work.

We move in five weeks... Excited to start enjoying all the things KC has to offer!

[saxon75]

Where are you moving from

[kcmo]

Avondale? Why would you go to OP and then go to Avondale? There are so many nice areas north of the river and you went to Avondale? OK, I'm done

That area of SKC is a great area. You are so close to everything in the central city and in the Kansas suburbs.

Good luck and have fun in KC.

[famusdarlin]

Thanks for the report. Interesting to see other's perspective of the city I've lived in all my life.

[RJDBLues]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Avondale? Why would you go to OP and then go to Avondale? There are so many nice areas north of the river and you went to Avondale?

LOL, Our hotel was near Avondale. So that is why we drove around there. We looked at a lot of other areas that I'm not sure what their names were. Areas tended to blend from one town to the other. Unless you are from the area you don't know when you leave one town and enter the next one.

[Okey Dokie]

Perhaps the OP means "North Kansas City" or thereabouts rather than Avondale specifically.

Also regarding the trash bags vs. cans: There is a long, long saga of Kansas City and trash bags and earnings taxes and a whole lot more, all of which is ancient history but the bottom line is: In the city of Kansas City, MO you just put your trash out on trash day in bags. No cans. I lived in KCMO for 20 years before moving to Oklahoma City three years ago. Down here we have huge plastic cans on wheels ("Big Blue"). It was strange to come back and see the trash bags just laying out. I guess it's just what you're used to seeing.

[MsDoe]

Hi, a little new here, but I had to put my two cents in - because it's what I'm good at, lol. I'm MsDoe and I'm almost 20, by the way.

I've lived in the Kansas City area for 18 of my nearly 20 years, and honestly, I have ALWAYS used a trash can. The cats would be fat and happy if we didn't, but it would also cause a terrible mess around the neighborhood. Perhaps it's different in the actual city?
I live in Independence, about 10 minutes from downtown East KC, but I have always lived on the outskirts of KC, not in the actual city.

[Okey Dokie]

No it's not any better in the city. I've had to clean up my own and my neighbors' trash after dogs or cats got into it....including my neighbor's poopy diapers all over my yard. Yuck. The big wheeled cans are much better for that, but of course in every neighborhood there's a couple slobs who leave theirs out at the curb long after the trash has been picked up.

[sparksharp]

Also regarding the trash bags vs. cans: There is a long, long saga of Kansas City and trash bags and earnings taxes and a whole lot more, all of which is ancient history

I'm a newcomer...so it's not ancient history to me! It seems unsanitary to me to just set the garbage out in trash bags. That's an open invitation for animals to make a total mess of the neighborhood! So what's the scoop?

[northbound74]

Independence has a very strange situation. There, you actually have to choose your own trash service. To my knowledge, they all have the option of renting a large plastic container that most people take advantage of. It's the only place I've lived where trash pickup wasn't a city-run thing. Yet we have street sweepers, recycling centers, a landfill, and places where you can take large items and tree limbs.