Johnson County, KS vs. St. Louis County

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by Danilo-11

I lived in Overland Park for 2 years and just moved to St. Louis County.

The first thing that you notice is that the streets and roads in St. Louis are narrower and you find more curves.
The buildings look older in St. Louis, but you find a lot more brick houses from the 1900s than in Kansas City.
Highway 270 sucks compared to I-435.
During rush hour I-270 looks like I-35 by Olathe.
It's nice to see some hills in St. Louis, I got a little tired of seeing flatlands in Kansas.
In St. Louis there seems to be a lot more trees than in Overland Park.
In St. Louis the houses seem to have less land than in Overland Park.

In few words,
if you like wide roads, flat land, straight streets, few trees, a whole suburb full of brand new houses, then Overland Park is good for you.
if you like narrow streets, some hills, curvy roads, lots of trees, a suburb mixed with new houses and old brick houses, then St. Louis is good for you.

I don't remember seeing houses like this ones in Overland Park (Southern part)
Urban St. Louis - View topic - Photography > Pasadena Hills & Pasadena Park

Pretty much sums it up.

I would also add that Johnson County is still very much stuck in the 1990's when it comes to suburban planning. Everything is still very zoned, very little mixed use. You have commercial buffered by apartments and then single family.

But the thing that bugs me the most about the built environment of Johnson County is how spread out it is. Much of it so flat and the right of ways of the roads are just massive. Arterials are six-eight lanes wide plus dual turn lanes everywhere and they have massive grass medians and strips along the side of the roads. That puts the buildings way far from the streets. Bottom line is there is lots of space, lots of grass and lots of wide streets.

West County has more traffic delays because of the topography which does not allow for such large public right of ways for streets. More trees etc.

Other than that, they are the same. Upscale, sprawling suburban areas with lots of strict laws on building colors, facades, signs etc. Almost no transit, good schools, nice parks and bike trails, new shopping malls, office parks, white people and lot of "not in my backyard" NIMBYs and soccer moms that have nothing better to do than ***** about something .

I choose neither.

But if I had to choose, I would choose West County. I would rather see all the people wearing Cardinals crap everywhere I go over Jayhawks crap . I like trees and hills. Plus, you are still in St Louis County and get to vote and pay for regional assets. Johnson County acts like it’s not really part of metro KC. Sort of like how St Charles County is labeled the “freeloading” county of the metro StLoius. Big, suburban county that contributes little to nothing to the stadiums, zoo, botanical gardens, science center etc and refuses to cooperate to improve regional transit.

[muman]

Johnson County is definitely more politically conservative than St. Louis County. Overall, I agree with Danilo-11's summation. St. Louis County has areas with an older suburban feel, whereas Johnson County, especially as you head further south and west, very much feels like the typical more recent American suburbs.

[GraniteStater]

I am with kcmo. I would pick established areas of west county anyday over new areas of JOCO. I very much dislike the "sunbelt" style stuccoed mcmansions in southern JOCO. Those type of houses should stay in CA or AZ.

[smellykat]

I reside in both counties at the present time. I much prefer the zoning in Johnson County to St. Louis County. I am most familiar with the western suburbs, known as west county. Johnson Countians seem to take more pride in home ownership than residents of St. Louis County. The heavily wooded areas are very pretty in a four season climate, but the narrow two lane roads can cause long traffic delays and are especially dangerous for cyclists. I just witnessed such an incident Sunday as a struck cyclist, with bleeding head wounds, waited for the EMT's to arrive. St. Louis County is very spread out with much opposition to metrolink expanding into the suburbs.