Where to move to.... (Overland Park, Kansas City: real estate, houses, established neighborhood)

[WIFERN]

My husband has a possible job offer in Overland Park, KS. He'll be working from home so he just needs to be in the area, not necessarily have to live in OP. So that leads me to the question of where in that area would you move to.

We're a family of 4 who's big into Little league baseball, competitive swimming, we want to find a small, affordable Christian school for the kids and we can afford a house around $225,000.

What small city would be the best fit?

Thanks

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by WIFERN

My husband has a possible job offer in Overland Park, KS. He'll be working from home so he just needs to be in the area, not necessarily have to live in OP. So that leads me to the question of where in that area would you move to.

We're a family of 4 who's big into Little league baseball, competitive swimming, we want to find a small, affordable Christian school for the kids and we can afford a house around $225,000.

What small city would be the best fit?

Thanks

What exactly do you mean by small city? Their are many different cities and suburban areas in the Kansas City metro that have varying populations. Johnson County has some of the highest real estate values in the KC metro area. However, $225,000 would get you a good house in areas like Prairie Village, Overland Park, Lenexa, or Shawnee. It is a buyers market and their should be quite a bit of selection in your price range. I really hesitate to recommend any of the towns on the edge of the metro area because many of the houses their are cookie cutter and really lack trees.

[WIFERN]

Sorry I guess I should've been more clear about small city, I guess under 150,000. We just definitely dont want a large metro area like KC to live in.

And we've learned our lesson on sudivisions, they are built quickly and cheaply, and you're confined to an association that tells you what kind of shrubs to plant in your front yard to stay uniform and aesthetically pleasing, and when they built the homes they took out every tree around, NO THANKS. We want a well built, quality house in a safe neighborhood. I'll take quality over quanitiy. And my husband would definitely prefer trees in the back yard for some privacy.

I hope that clears things up.
Thanks

[GraniteStater]

Lenexa, Shawnee, and De Soto would be good choices if you want a smaller suburban city. All of these cities are located fairly close to major interstate highways, and all have under 60,000 total population. Overland Park and Olathe are much bigger cities and have more in the way of traffic problems along with higher population densities.

[NancyD]

Our family has lived in Overland Park for 12 years. We moved here from the Los Angeles area. Overland Park is one of the larger suburbs of K.C., but it has some areas that have well established neighborhoods, with lots of trees and more of a small town feel. The Southern part of the city is where the newer subdivsions with lots of rules and no trees are located. You could get a nice house for $225,000 in one of the older neighborhoods. I know of one Lutheran school in Overland Park. There are a few different baseball leagues, and I know the city has a competitive swim team. Kids sports of all types are very popular in this area.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by NancyD

Our family has lived in Overland Park for 12 years. We moved here from the Los Angeles area. Overland Park is one of the larger suburbs of K.C., but it has some areas that have well established neighborhoods, with lots of trees and more of a small town feel. The Southern part of the city is where the newer subdivsions with lots of rules and no trees are located. You could get a nice house for $225,000 in one of the older neighborhoods. I know of one Lutheran school in Overland Park. There are a few different baseball leagues, and I know the city has a competitive swim team. Kids sports of all types are very popular in this area.

What do you know about the restrictions on trees? I find this absolutely ridiculous. This is when you know that the homeowner associations have gone WAY to far. Trees are what make many neighborhoods MORE desirable, especially in areas like Kansas that lack a lot of trees in some areas. I prefer the older established neighborhoods in Overland Park ANY DAY over the cookie cutter plastic siding houses in southern Overland Park. They exterior of many of these houses is stucco, which should stay in Arizona where it belongs. I can not count how many houses I have seen that have cracks in the stucco. The climate of Kansas City should dictate that certain types of housing styles and exterior designs SHOULD NOT be used. If you want that type of house go move to the southwest. (Sorry for the rant)

[NancyD]

I shouldn't have said subdivisions with no trees. These subdivisions were built on farmland, and the developers do plant trees in the common areas. But the new trees are small, so you get the feeling that there are no trees. The subdivisions don't have restrictions on trees. It's up to the individual homeowners to plant them in their yards. Many do, but it takes years for the trees to mature.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by NancyD

I shouldn't have said subdivisions with no trees. These subdivisions were built on farmland, and the developers do plant trees in the common areas. But the new trees are small, so you get the feeling that there are no trees. The subdivisions don't have restrictions on trees. It's up to the individual homeowners to plant them in their yards. Many do, but it takes years for the trees to mature.

Often times, many people do not know the difference between a shade tree and an ornamental tree. One requirement should be that every house have at least one shade tree. Oaks and maples are some of the better trees to plant in the KC metro area because they provide lots of shade compared to smaller ornamental varieties. Almost all of Olathe was built in farm fields and I really do not care for the look of many of the neighborhoods either. Most people want neighborhoods with mature trees, and that is why the "established" neighborhoods in Johnson County maintain fairly high property values because they still remain desirable.