Moving to KC, questions about apartments near Plaza and Cost of Living (Kansas City: rentals)

[Smokescreen01]

According to everything online for cost of living calculations it seems like an income of 50k is enough to be comfortable in Kansas City- is this fairly accurate?

Also, wondering if anyone can tell me what to seek out and what I avoid for apartments on Country Club Plaza. I have appointments to view a bunch but would love to hear some insight or even suggestions for places I may not have on my list yet.

Thanks!

[famusdarlin]

I love the plaza area. As long as you are truely on or near the plaza you are fine, however I found when I was shown "plaza apartments" several years ago they were not always right on the plaza. If you are not used to city living and you see places further away go back to see them at other times of the day. Make sure you are comfortable with the neighborhood. With Kansas City like many other cities things can change from block to block and can be different at different times of the day. I am pretty comfortable in most parts of the city, but that's me.

[Smokescreen01]

Originally Posted by famusdarlin

I love the plaza area. As long as you are truely on or near the plaza you are fine, however I found when I was shown "plaza apartments" several years ago they were not always right on the plaza. If you are not used to city living and you see places further away go back to see them at other times of the day. Make sure you are comfortable with the neighborhood. With Kansas City like many other cities things can change from block to block and can be different at different times of the day. I am pretty comfortable in most parts of the city, but that's me.

Wondering if you are referring to the Roanoke Pkwy area... It seems like those are advertised as "Plaza" but on a street level Google map they look a bit, not sure how to put it, but they look like what you may be referring to.

I like the location and price of Plaza Towers and The Locorno but I know the buildings are old and I have read issues of plumbing problems.

I am leaning towards Montreax on the Plaza, Washington Irving, or if I can afford it Fountain View looks nice. I am looking at a lot of places so I am hoping to have a good amount of choices, I will take a drive through late at night to see how the areas look, that's something I would not have thought of otherwise.

Any advice on CC Plaza apartments in general? How about lofts near the Power and Light district? I don't have a lot of time to figure this out so I am hoping for a quick response, that would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks-

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by Smokescreen01

Wondering if you are referring to the Roanoke Pkwy area... It seems like those are advertised as "Plaza" but on a street level Google map they look a bit, not sure how to put it, but they look like what you may be referring to.

Depends on where on Roanoke you're talking about...Roanoke terminates at Ward Parkway, putting the vintage 1920s "Poet" buildings around 48th as much "on" the Plaza as the Locarno and similar, but I wouldn't consider the complexes that go up the hill to Westport Road to be particularly in keeping with the atmosphere of the Plaza.

I used to live in Washington Irving, and the only thing that was a real negative about it was the then-constant construction at the now-defunct, eyesore West Edge behemoth across the street. Not sure about the other buildings lumped in with the "poets," but Washington Irving is best suited for single dwellers - two of us, even as newly minted lovebirds at the time, made it a bit cramped, and, at least in our unit, the bathroom and kitchen had not been updated in many, many moons, if ever. The functionality of the plumbing was fine (never had a problem with any utilities at all that wasn't caused by the West Edge construction necessitating power shutoffs, etc.) but the aesthetics of the fixtures, shelving, cabinetry, etc. in the bathroom and kitchen could have used some work. Neat, but had its quirks. Lots of beautiful architectural touches in the unit, though, if you're the sort who cares about such things. Plaster crown moldings, glassed-in french door sunporch, lots of natural light, built-ins for storage, etc. All in all, a neat place to live, and great location. Parking sucked, though, due to time-of-day restrictions on Roanoke in the a.m. and Belleview in the p.m. (i.e. if your car's on Roanoke after 7 a.m., you WILL be ticketed, and if it's still there 15 minutes later, you WILL be towed, b/c the meter maids and the tow trucks both sit in waiting at the corner, waiting for their cue, and the same applies on Belleview in the back of the building if you park there before six p.m., and parking during legal hours can be hard to come by on both) You end up parking blocks away just so you don't have to be moving your car back and forth between the two to avoid towing. If bus access is something that matters, the 51 Ward Parkway bus has a stop right across the street at the Mark Twain building, and it's not far to the Max line, either.

Never a single security problem around the apartment building itself, though my car did get broken into parked slightly west on Jarboe. In the neighborhood directly around the building, there's the highly underutilized Bloch Cancer Survivor's Park, which is a pretty, quiet,sunny place to sit and read (I was literally the only person there whenever I used it), and it's really devoid of riffraff. Most of the foot traffic you see is people either walking to the Plaza on weekends, or headed to dine at the upscale-ish J.J.'s, which is a couple of buildings behind the building. The management company that runs Washington Irving has its office in the nearby Winston Churchill Condominiums, and were always accommodating when we needed something.

[Smokescreen01]

Great info to know, thank you so much!

I do have a question about parking...

My fiancee has a truck that her father gave her, she is insisting on having a parking space, do most one bedroom places come with assigned parking? Seems many say "off-street" and "Secured" parking but I assume it's just one spot, not sure if that means assigned or just first come first serve.

For me, while my car is not a crazy hot rod Lamborghini, it is rather nice (for me) and very well-kept, I still am making payments on it and have a while to go before I own it outright. With that said, I cringe at the thought of having to street park it and deal with that because my last car took a major beating from street parking at my prior apartment in Boston, my old car did not age well at all when street parked. If my car were older and paid off I would probably not care but I just hate the idea of sinking money into a car every month that people are going to kick the mirrors off and bump into all the time. Are there garages in the area that will rent monthly spaces for nights and weekends? If so, how much?

[TabulaRasa]

Washington Irving for sure does not have any dedicated parking, it's street parking only (which probably has something to do with its relative affordability for the Plaza), not sure about the other poet buildings. I couldn't speak for the situation at other complexes, or space rental. I do know that there are garages on the Plaza for retail, and that if you attempt to leave your car there overnight, you will be fined. My SO owned a convertible for a while when he first moved to KC, and as a last-ditch effort to save the top in a hailstorm, he parked it in one of the Plaza garages, and was fined. I'm unaware if any of the retail-specific garages do rentals for residents.

While Kansas City, overall, is much better for parking and traffic than other midsize cities I have experience with, if there is a place in town where parking can be something resembling a hassle (and still less of a hassle than most other cities, unless it's Plaza Art Fair time, Plaza Lights time, etc.), it's the Plaza.

[klem11]

Hello
I figured I would ask on this post because you are talking about the area my husband and I are thinking of moving to. We are relocating from Detroit to Kansas City on very short notice and don't have time to come out and search for a place. We found a condo online that is on Roanoke between 41 and 42nd street. Does anyone have any thoughts on this area? Is it safe? He will be working in Olathe, but we didn't really want to live in the 'burbs. Any insight would be helpful! Thanks!

[casualsuede]

Originally Posted by klem11

Hello
I figured I would ask on this post because you are talking about the area my husband and I are thinking of moving to. We are relocating from Detroit to Kansas City on very short notice and don't have time to come out and search for a place. We found a condo online that is on Roanoke between 41 and 42nd street. Does anyone have any thoughts on this area? Is it safe? He will be working in Olathe, but we didn't really want to live in the 'burbs. Any insight would be helpful! Thanks!

Hi Klem,

As a recent transplant from Toronto, I believe the area around the plaza is fine. I used to live on 43rd in Westport.

However, I also work in the Southland (Overland Park) and over the course of a year, I found the commute to be taxing. I moved to OP and go to the plaza every so often. I found that to be much better than trying to recapture an urban Toronto like feel (of which I'd rather be downtown in a loft).

[TabulaRasa]

My SO works in Olathe, and didn't have any real problem making the commute from the Plaza. Of course, he's also not bothered by his current drive there from Lee's Summit. But, then, we're from places where even the "worst" KC commute is a drop in the bucket in comparison.

[famusdarlin]

Sorry for being late on my response. I was specifically refering to some of the older buildings north of the Nelson and in the actual Hyde Park area. I used an apartment search firm, forgot the name of it, but they showed me a rather shady building just Northeast of the Nelson Art museum and a few other properties in Hyde Park. At the time I was just moving from Liberty and would not call myself street smart enough to handle living in that area.

I think the areas you are looking at west of the plaza are just fine. I really love that area, super nice and it seems like really fun place to live.