East Suburbs (Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit: city hall, crime rate, credit)

[famusdarlin]

I was in Blue Springs today visiting a freind today and thought about how the east side of the city doesn't get much credit for being a good area to live on the board. I realize in saying this that it is a pretty long commute to downtown and Johnson County were many work, but compared to other, larger cities the commute is probably shorter. Blue Springs schools are usually ranked among some of the highest in the area if I recall correctly and the east side of Independence has some cute 60's, 70's, 80's neighborhoods. I know Lee's Summit often gets rave reviews on here, but what about Blue Springs and Independence. What are your thoughts?

[northbound74]

I like Independence. It's a complex town, certainly not your typical suburb. It isn't over-planned, which is to say it hasn't successfully planned out the poor people like so many 'burbs do. Indy can be bad at being a suburban area, and that's part of it's appeal to me.

Independence is a really old town. Older than Kansas City by a few years, so that adds to the feel of the place. I know that Indy has it's share of problems, but it's not as bad as some try to say.
Some even go so far as to compare it to KCK. Sure....ok. Let's see, Independence has half the crime rate of KCK. KCK has daily shootings and weekly murders, compared to the 5-6 homicides a year that Indy has... most of which are strange domestic stuff, not fear-for-your-life stray-bullet stuff.

Anyway, Independence isn't half bad, and many of the residents there are working to improve it. It is an uphill battle going against regional public perception, lack of money and resources, and even city hall sometimes.

[kcmo]

Blue Springs is your typical outer belt suburb. It has great schools, all your standard retail, nice parks, a fantastic little league system and nice suburban neighborhoods. For the money, it's hard to beat Blue Springs. It's still one of the cheapest nice suburbs in the metro. I think the main reason for that is because people think it's far away, but it's 20-30 minutes from Downtown.

Lee's Summit is what it is. A very large and mostly middle to upper middle class suburb. But it has character that few outer suburbs can match. It's racially divers (for the KC area), it has a really vibrant downtown and a very active community. All the lakes and parkland in Lee's Summit really make it an interesting place.

Cosign with northbound on Independence.

I do not understand why Indy has such a bad image in metro KC. The rolling topography of the southeast side and the uspcale homes built there are amazing. The areas along I-70 are fine modest areas with lots of normal working class people and busineses. While living in the area, I did a great deal of shopping on Noland, Blue Ridge Crossings etc and the areas are just fine areas. I mean most areas are not brand new, but the Kinkos on Noland is the same as the Kinkos in Lee's Summit. The Starbucks on US40 is the same as the one in Blue Springs.

Now you will notice a difference in some of the big box stores like the walmart on 291(which draws from the very poor areas of northern Indy) or the walmart on 40&Blue Ridge (which draws from the eastside of KCMO). So you will encouter social and economic diversity in those areas, but I would never call them unsafe or anything. Oddly, many other places like the Target next to Walmart is just like any other target in the metro (both the store and the customers). Same with the mall. Just an average regional shopping mall. So you will ecounter more diversity in Indy than in places like Overland Park, but there are areas of Indy that rival upscale OP and then there are the historic areas that don't even exist JoCo like around the square. People just need to remember that Indepdence is a large city and it has some very poor areas in it's northwest portions. (poor not crime ridden). But it also has a very large thriving middle class and working class section where you can confortably live on 40k a year and an upscale southeast section that is really one of the main centers of much of the MO side suburbs and the half million people that live in them.

People that compare Independnece to KCK don't have any idea what they are talking about. KCK is all about west of 435, which I don't even really consider KCK (more like Bonner Springs.). And I have always found it odd how Olathe is held so much higher than Indy when they are very similar, only Indy has a much more active and interesting downtown area.

[TabulaRasa]

My only experience with Independence centers around the historical Truman-related stuff. I have no real images of it is a community outside of that, positive or negative. But I haven't lived here all my life, either.