MA vs Kansas (Overland Park, Kansas City, Olathe: relocation, housing, rent)

[beachlady58]

My family may have to reocte to OP area - I am from a beautiful seacoast community here in MA and can walk to the beach, great schools, culture, shopping, skiing...I am used to a very athletic lifestyle. Do you think that I will fit in? I know the ocean will be missing - is there culture here? Shopping?
Thanks for anything and all you can tell me. What does an nice executive house sell for in OP...are there gated communities?

[Mathguy]

There are gated communities....not that you really need to live in one around here for safety etc. Housing is vastly cheaper than the east coast...your place will be considerably nicer for the same amount of money. Check out realator.com

Overland park and in fact, much of Johnson county has some very nice bike\walking trails....look into perhaps living near these.

Skiing will be mostly a bust but that just means you should take the occasional weekender to Colorado.

You will miss the beach, no help for you there.

There is plenty of shopping. You might have to do some driving...but not more than 20 minutes or so to the plaza etc.

Public schools are excellent so if you are paying for those....you may be able to use that savings as fun trip money to go to the beach with. :-)

There are some pretty good museums etc. around here (Nelson Atkins).

Don't just fixate on living in Overland Park if that's where your hubby will be working. Commutes here are pretty short so Lenexa, Leawood, Shawnee Mission, or living near the plaza might be appealing and all are within 15minutes of most anyplace in OP.

If you like horses, it's not out of the question to buy a place "in the country" and have 40+ acres with horses etc. and still be within a short commute of OP. There are plenty of country clubs to play golf at or tennis clubs etc. too.
In your price range....an indoor pool isn't out of the question either.

Good luck.

[kcmo]

beachlady58,

First off. OP is part of the Kansas City Metro which has over 2 million people. Of course there is plenty of decent shopping, culture etc. KC is basically a less dense and slightly smaller version of Boston. You can do just as much in KC as you can in just about any major city.

But if you are looking for a gated community in the kansas suburbs, you will get exactly what you ask for. Boring, beige sprawl that is far isolated from nearly all the real culture of the city which is on the missouri side.

If you want to live in a area with cool architecture, art galleries, unique dining, night life etc and want to be close to things like museums, urban entertainment districts, even the airport, then you might check out KCMO and do a reverse commute to OP. By the way, the OP area has some of the worst traffic in the midwest. So again, tree lined parkways in KCMO or ten lane suburban freeways and six lane strip mall streets. Either way, you can live any lifestyle you choose in the KC "area".

[nvared]

Having grown up in Kansas. lived in KCMO and having also lived in Western Mass, there's some things to think about. Whereas you are close to places now and can travel to some "cool places" within a few hours, big cities in the midwest area of KC are 4+ hours apart. OP is a pretty bland part of the metro-I would think you might want to look at housing just south of the plaza area of KCMO. You could easily walk, bike, etc. Overall the area is probably more conservative too. Unless it's an "amazing" opportunity, I would think twice. Sounds like you have a nice situation now.

[kansaslady]

Yes, you will definitely miss the coastal positives; but you will also gain a lot as well. Housing is much more affordable in this area, and yet there are very expensive homes as well. Schools have an excellent reputation, there is culture (museums, symphony orchestra, concerts, live theatre). We get snow, but there are no mountains, so you would have to travel to the mountain regions for skiing.

Johnson County, KS (JOCO) is a good place to live and there are many cities to choose from in JOCO. You may hear about Shawnee Mission, but there is no such town....that just refers to the majority of JOCO for postal reasons. Some of the cities in JOCO (besides Overland Park) are Leawood, Olathe (the county seat), Lenexa, Shawnee, Mission, Mission Hills, Merriam, Roeland Park, Fairway, Prairie Village...etc. When we first moved here several people kept referring to their business as being in Shawnee Mission and it was very confusing when you're looking at the street map trying to locate them. All of the cities in JOCO run together and you will be driving around and not know which city you are in if you miss the "welcome" sign.

There are several relocation firms in JOCO; if you do a search on the web you'll be able to pick a few and work with them to help you and your family make a decision.

Whichever city you select, you will find that you will be very welcomed here and there are very few people who are not friendly and courteous.

[beachlady58]

Thank you for your posts - I am very nervous about moving my lifestyle and you made me feel better. THe job that we would be moving for would be a huge promotion for my hubby and alot of $$ which would help us with college. The housing market in MA is a bust and we are losing our shirt in our 800K house so to move to an area that is more stable might be refreshing....

In regards to HS - are they competitive sports wise? Football? Lacrosse? Basketball? thanks for any and all info

[shonner]

You have quite a bit to consider before making the move. I have spent a lot of time in MA and in the KCMO and OP areas and can say they are vastly different from MA. Before you decide, visit the area, and plan especially to check out the criteria you listed: schools, culture, shopping. The political climate is different with a more conservative populace. As has already been noted, skiing would have to be in CO or elsewhere, and of course there is no coastal environment. The museums in the Midwest are not what you'd encounter in MA and are not as numerous. Be aware too that the weather is different. Whereas MA can get hot, KS and MO often experience heat waves that can go on for weeks. I currently live in the Midwest and am eager (desperate!) to move to New England.

That said, the KCMO/OP area is very nice, and overall the people are friendly.
Housing is affordable and there are plenty of places to shop and dine. But again, no advice from any of us here can take the place of visiting the area yourself. Best of luck!

[beachlady58]

Originally Posted by shonner

You have quite a bit to consider before making the move. I have spent a lot of time in MA and in the KCMO and OP areas and can say they are vastly different from MA. Before you decide, visit the area, and plan especially to check out the criteria you listed: schools, culture, shopping. The political climate is different with a more conservative populace. As has already been noted, skiing would have to be in CO or elsewhere, and of course there is no coastal environment. The museums in the Midwest are not what you'd encounter in MA and are not as numerous. Be aware too that the weather is different. Whereas MA can get hot, KS and MO often experience heat waves that can go on for weeks. I currently live in the Midwest and am eager (desperate!) to move to New England.

That said, the KCMO/OP area is very nice, and overall the people are friendly.
Housing is affordable and there are plenty of places to shop and dine. But again, no advice from any of us here can take the place of visiting the area yourself. Best of luck!

Shonner
Thanks for the info - I know that there are alot of negatives to the move! I actually would just consider it a long visit - and plan to expose my kid to a year or so of a different lifestyle. I eventually want to wind up in FLA and this co has many FLA locations so we would just have to "do our time" I am sure that it is a nice lifet style but I know where I want to end up - Naples!

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by beachlady58

Thank you for your posts - I am very nervous about moving my lifestyle and you made me feel better. THe job that we would be moving for would be a huge promotion for my hubby and alot of $$ which would help us with college. The housing market in MA is a bust and we are losing our shirt in our 800K house so to move to an area that is more stable might be refreshing....

In regards to HS - are they competitive sports wise? Football? Lacrosse? Basketball? thanks for any and all info

I would definitely consider Leawood, Kansas if you are looking at the higher end market. This is one of the wealthiest towns in Kansas with a median household income of over $100,000 and median house values of around $530,000. Coming from MA I am sure you will find many larger houses at bargain prices, even in the more exculsive parts of the KC metro.

[beachlady58]

Originally Posted by Plains10

I would definitely consider Leawood, Kansas if you are looking at the higher end market. This is one of the wealthiest towns in Kansas with a median household income of over $100,000 and median house values of around $530,000. Coming from MA I am sure you will find many larger houses at bargain prices, even in the more exculsive parts of the KC metro.

Plains10-thanks for the post. WHy are you moving back to NH? I love Franconia and Waterville - I will miss them!!!