Johnson County, Kansas: The American Dream? (Overland Park, Olathe: buy, good schools, college)

[GraniteStater]

Johnson County is fine if you like bland and suburban. JOCO is the king of chains, conformity, and all streets seem to intersect at right angles. It is definitely not the best place at all for a single person to live. (If you want more excitement and entertainment options KC, MO is better) The overall quality of life in JOCO is not what it was 20-30 years ago because of the constant population growth resulting in an increase in sprawl, traffic, and congestion. Back when I lived there (NORTH OF 1-435) we had pretty much no diversity at all. I think this is rapidly changing, especially as more of the elderly population ages out and the neighborhoods start to gentrify on a larger scale.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by Plains10

Johnson County is fine if you like bland and suburban. JOCO is the king of chains, conformity, and all streets seem to intersect at right angles. It is definitely not the best place at all for a single person to live. (If you want more excitement and entertainment options KC, MO is better) The overall quality of life in JOCO is not what it was 20-30 years ago because of the constant population growth resulting in an increase in sprawl, traffic, and congestion. Back when I lived there (NORTH OF 1-435) we had pretty much no diversity at all. I think this is rapidly changing, especially as more of the elderly population ages out and the neighborhoods start to gentrify on a larger scale.

I live in JOCO and can get pretty much anywhere in the metro area in 40minutes tops (Zoo, airport etc.) and usually in just 15-20minutes. My neighborhood has unique housing of around 25 years old so it isn't the newer crappy construction, mature trees, lots of wildlife (fox, owl etc.) and curvey roads.

Chains? Yes....but we still have Jack Stack, Tanners etc.

Is it a 20-something hangout spot with clubs etc? No.
However, I lived in Chicago and there living in the burbs meant you were >1 hour away from "the city" and it was hard to go out anywhere. Here you could easily live in JOCO and still take advantage of all the other stuff.

I guess it's personal choice but I'd rather live closer to work as I like short commutes.

I just think you keep looking at the South OP and Olathe sprawl and define Johnson county solely on that basis. (And I agree traffic down that way stinks...but I don't have to deal with it. )

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

I live in JOCO and can get pretty much anywhere in the metro area in 40minutes tops (Zoo, airport etc.) and usually in just 15-20minutes. My neighborhood has unique housing of around 25 years old so it isn't the newer crappy construction, mature trees, lots of wildlife (fox, owl etc.) and curvey roads.

Chains? Yes....but we still have Jack Stack, Tanners etc.

Is it a 20-something hangout spot with clubs etc? No.
However, I lived in Chicago and there living in the burbs meant you were >1 hour away from "the city" and it was hard to go out anywhere. Here you could easily live in JOCO and still take advantage of all the other stuff.

I guess it's personal choice but I'd rather live closer to work as I like short commutes.

I just think you keep looking at the South OP and Olathe sprawl and define Johnson county solely on that basis. (And I agree traffic down that way stinks...but I don't have to deal with it. )

Yes, I completely agree that the commute times in the KC metro are much better compared with many other medium to larger sized metros across the country. You must find KC's housing prices a bargain compared to overpriced Chicago! However, I generally feel more comfortable with smaller towns of <100,000 people that are not in a larger metro area. I just do not need high stress levels that go with metro areas at this point in my life. Yes, the newer housing construction is generally shoddy and looks horrible. However, I do not expect that trend to change anytime soon as it is national in scale.
My old neighborhood north of I-435 is now over 40+ years old and has aged quite well. It was generally a very nice place to grow up and the general population was far LESS TRANSIENT than what you find in many neighborhoods today. A diverse range of architectural styles exist within the same neighborhood and it took over 5-6 years (between 1967-1973) to finish the development if memory serves. Also, shade trees were a priority during that era with oaks and maples being the dominant selections. I think most agree that neighborhoods should FEEL like neighborhoods instead of identical houses plopped next to each other on straight tree-less roads.

[tflowers]

Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast

Is Johnson County, Kansas symbolic of the American dream? I recently visited the area, and I must say that I was impressed. The streets were clean, the neighborhoods were beautiful, the people were friendly. Frankly, I felt that the place had a nice and homey feel to it. I could say the same for the Kansas City metro area, as a whole, to an extent.

So tell me whether I was simply seeing the area through, perhaps, a "Grass is Greener on the Other Side" set of lenses.

Johnson County ... symbolic of the American dream? I think that conception is a little extreme. I have lived here for 15 years. There are nice parts of Johnson County, and there are parts that are not so nice. Most of the neighborhoods in my vicinity are nice ... clean streets and reasonably-friendly people. The area though can be rather narrow-minded, ultra-conservative, and homogeneous. Crime is relatively low, especially compared to Kansas City. Taxes are already very high compared to other areas, and they are going up all the time.
I live in Mission and like the small-town feel of our downtown area. Prairie Village or Overland Park would be my second choice.
If you think that the Kansas City Metro, as a whole, has a nice, homey feel to it, I would like to know what your point of comparison is. I would also like to know what areas in particular you are talking about. Kansas City has a very high crime rate and many problems that might not be visible to the naked eye ... I will name just a few: poor race relations, an inability to get over petty bickering at City Hall, an inability to even start a light rail project, poor professional sports teams ... the list could go on. Johnson County (as a whole) has a better quality of life than Kansas City (as a whole). I have lived in both places.
However, in answer to your question: "Is Johnson County, Kansas symbolic of the American dream?" ... I would have to say no, not really.

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast

Is Johnson County, Kansas symbolic of the American dream? I recently visited the area, and I must say that I was impressed. The streets were clean, the neighborhoods were beautiful, the people were friendly. Frankly, I felt that the place had a nice and homey feel to it. I could say the same for the Kansas City metro area, as a whole, to an extent.

So tell me whether I was simply seeing the area through, perhaps, a "Grass is Greener on the Other Side" set of lenses.

Whay you saw was real. I grew up in Johnson County. 20, 30, 40 years ago it was better. Crime was virtually unheard of in Johnson County. Things are changing, but it's still a good place to live. Once I left Johnson County to go to school, etc., my goal was to get back there. Couldn't afford it for a few years and lived for a time in Kansas City, Kansas and in Kansas City, Missouri. Had my first child and knew I wasn't going to raise my kids anywhere but Johnson County, and by the time she was 18 months old were were in Johnson County. I love it here. There are people who hate it. And a whole lot of people who love it.

[Pipermackie]

I find these posts fascinating (and humorous!). Having been a child of the eighties and growing up in Joco's heyday of self-consciousness, I can admit to seeing the snot-factor at times (though it's lessened tremendously in the past fifteen years). But seriously, it's no different than Highland Park in Dallas or where I currently live: Austin, a wealthy mecca of Southern California's plastic and invasive politics and Dallas' glitz and ****-sure, we're god's gift to the world swagger. I would trade Austin's self-appointed and much lauded artificial liberality for my old fiscally conservative stomping grounds in NE JoCo anyday (Note: I'm NOT a Republican). Not only are JoCo residents less likely to show off their money, but they aren't as obsessed with appearing as though they have money when they don't. When was the last time you saw someone in JoCo living in a 500 sq. ft. studio apartment and driving a brand new Mercedes? Come check out my Austin parking lot where people sell their souls to look pricey and twenty-five percent of the homeless wear designer jeans (at least the ones on my corner). Oh yeah, and if you stick around late at night, you might get to see one of those fancy cars getting repossessed.
Seems to me the issue people have isn't with JoCo as a whole but with an old stereotype and a few loud Olatheans who live in cookie-cutter, stapled together homes.
And from a body who has had to drive on those attractive circuitous roads for the past two plus years, Johnson County's road planning is amazing and saves more gas than you realize. Imagine driving an extra half mile just to take a U-turn every time you want to go East on 87th St from I-35. Moderate JoCo treats the environment better than the screaming environmentalists down here.

[TinaMcG]

I like the grid. Before we moved here from Chicago two years ago, I got a Garmin Nuvi. Now, you would think that being just up the road from us, Garmin would be able to create a synthesized voice that could pronounce "Olathe" or "College Blvd", but it can't. My Garmin also doesn't know where our house is, so I had to put in an approximate address. Thanks to the grid, I can navigate quite easily all over the area, and I now only use the Garmin when I go into KC. I lived all my life in Chicago and was always getting lost on the roads. I never get lost here.

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by TinaMcG

I like the grid. Before we moved here from Chicago two years ago, I got a Garmin Nuvi. Now, you would think that being just up the road from us, Garmin would be able to create a synthesized voice that could pronounce "Olathe" or "College Blvd", but it can't. My Garmin also doesn't know where our house is, so I had to put in an approximate address. Thanks to the grid, I can navigate quite easily all over the area, and I now only use the Garmin when I go into KC. I lived all my life in Chicago and was always getting lost on the roads. I never get lost here.

Ha ha! That's funny. Isn't the Garmin headquarters in Olathe? I know there's at least a Garmin factory there. Funny that it can't pronounce Olathe!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by luzianne

Ha ha! That's funny. Isn't the Garmin headquarters in Olathe? I know there's at least a Garmin factory there. Funny that it can't pronounce Olathe!

Ya, Garmin headquarters is in Olathe. I also like the challenge of "being off the grid." Living in JOCO for so many years made me lax to mentally challenging driving conditions The most challenging roads to navigate are close to where I live now where you have many narrow lanes that are Class IV (crushed stone or less) and are hidden by thick woods. Norhing is in a grid, and many roads are unmarked I go by instinct and experience because Garmin doesn't do well with roads in rural areas of the US

[TinaMcG]

Y'know, it's all relative. What some of you consider boring might be just what others want. It all depends on your age, cultural background, hobbies, skills, occupation, personality type, political bent, etc. When I was younger, being in a bustling metropolitan area was attractive to me. Then I went through a "I want to live in the country" phase, and now that we have a place in semi-rural JoCo, I would kill to live in a more lively area. But hey, a lot of people love it down here. I was actually surprised to find that the quiet drove me crazy.