Johnson County, KS vs. St. Louis County (Kansas City, St. Charles: homes, employment)

[WestCoDude]

Would you say that these two counties are pretty comparable? Politically, culturally, meteorologically, demographically...whatever....where are the most significant differences? How are they most similar?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

Would you say that these two counties are pretty comparable? Politically, culturally, meteorologically, demographically...whatever....where are the most significant differences? How are they most similar?

JOCO VS STL County

Politically: JOCO is more conservative than STL county. Mega churches are common in the suburban areas like Olathe. I am not sure about how this compares in STL County. A centrist to more liberal political view is found in some of the older suburbs and wealthier suburbs. The extreme conservatives tend to stick to the far suburban/exurban areas of JOCO like Olathe and Gardner.
Culturally: They are rather similar, although I would say many areas of JOCO have more of a new money feel with the cookie cutter culture.
Meteorologically: The climate of both areas is fairly similar. Both counties have a slight urban heat island, especially where a dense road infrastructure and high population density exists. Summer humidity is probably worse in STL county, and winter WCs are probably lower in JOCO.
Demographically: These two counties have HUGE differences. STL County has a much older population compared with JOCO. STL County has lost population since 2000 while JOCO has gained 14.5% between 2000 and 2006. JOCO has more Hispanics than African Americans while STL County is almost exclusively White or African American. Pop density is higher in STL County with an average of 2000 people per square mile overall, while JOCO is nearing 1000 people per square mile.
Similarities: Both are urban counties that have a diversified economy and are fairly convenient to International Airports. JOCO has seen a lot more in-migration within the past several years due to the expansion of the economy, as well as many service-sector related jobs.

[GraniteStater]

Does anyone else have comparisons?

[goat314]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

Would you say that these two counties are pretty comparable? Politically, culturally, meteorologically, demographically...whatever....where are the most significant differences? How are they most similar?

Its hard to compare Jackson County to St. Louis County. So how the hell are you gonna compare a suburban Kansas City county to a county that has about 25% of Missouri's jobs. Stop the bull WestCoDude!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by goat314

Its hard to compare Jackson County to St. Louis County. So how the hell are you gonna compare a suburban Kansas City county to a county that has about 25% of Missouri's jobs. Stop the bull WestCoDude!

Actually, JOCO contains about 20% of all non-farm employment for Kansas. As the jobs in the urban areas have moved to the suburbs I tend to refer to it as "the urbanization of suburbia."

[WestCoDude]

Originally Posted by goat314

Its hard to compare Jackson County to St. Louis County. So how the hell are you gonna compare a suburban Kansas City county to a county that has about 25% of Missouri's jobs. Stop the bull WestCoDude!

Wait. What????

[WestCoDude]

Thanks a lot, Plains10. That was very helpful. How would you compare/contrast Overland Park with Olathe? Are they basically the same thing--cookie-cutter suburbia?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

Thanks a lot, Plains10. That was very helpful. How would you compare/contrast Overland Park with Olathe? Are they basically the same thing--cookie-cutter suburbia?

Overland Park and Olathe are very different. Overland Park originally started out as a suburb while Olathe was a farm town along the Santa Fe Trail.

For the most part Overland Park is split in half in terms of older and newer areas. The older areas of the city are generally along and to the north of the I-435 corridor. South of that line most of the housing stock in the developments are less than 30 years old for the most part. Overland Park has many office parks scattered about the city. "Planned development" and organized sprawl seems to be what the city is good at, as well as annexing rural land south of the city. Median household income in Overland Park is quite high compared with state and national averages. Population growth and economic growth within the city limits have slowed some in the past few years compared with the booming years during the 1990s. Traffic issues are starting to become more of a problem, especially along areas of the I-435 corridor and highway 69 areas. The city has a tendency to cater to the newer portions of the city without focusing enough energy on the older more established portions of the city.

Olathe is really completely the opposite in many ways. Its location is right along I-35, and a railroad goes right through the middle of Downtown. In earlier times it was the crossroads for the Santa Fe Trail. For most of the 20th century Olathe was a small farm town. When the Interstate Highways were built the town began to explode in population starting about the 1960s and continuing ever since. The population growth in Olathe has risen at a much faster rate compared with Overland Park due to the pro-growth nature of the city leaders and city commission. Employment growth in Olathe has been booming for the past several years, especially during the housing/commercial construction boom. Other companies, like Garmin, have been doing well. The Downtown area of the city is older, but the city mostly consists of newer neighborhoods that were primarilly built within the past 20 years. The construction is very cookie cutter for the most part, and the lack of trees is quite apparent due to the fact that most neighborhoods were built on corn fields. Politically, Olathe seems to be quite conservative, and I hear homeschooling is not that uncommon there. The city elected a loony far-right representative by the name of Kay O'Connor a few years ago. Olathe also tends to attract more families compared with Overland Park due to the fact that housing prices tend to be quite a bit lower in some of the newer neighborhoods.

[WestCoDude]

So is Overland Park more "new money," while Mission Hills is "old money?"

And would that make Olathe just...solid middle class?

It sounds a lot like OP is like West STL County while Olathe is like St. Charles County.

I like that Olathe is a pretty conservative area...but is it pretty rednecky? What about nearby ammenities like shopping, parks/hiking....that sort of thing?

Which area would be easier to commute to Lawrence from? I know that Highway 10 zips you right into town.....

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by WestCoDude

So is Overland Park more "new money," while Mission Hills is "old money?"

And would that make Olathe just...solid middle class?

It sounds a lot like OP is like West STL County while Olathe is like St. Charles County.

I like that Olathe is a pretty conservative area...but is it pretty rednecky? What about nearby ammenities like shopping, parks/hiking....that sort of thing?

Which area would be easier to commute to Lawrence from? I know that Highway 10 zips you right into town.....

I take it you are interested in relocating to the KC metro area?
Both Olathe and Overland Park are about a 35-40 minute drive to Lawrence via K-10.

The old money areas of JOCO would probably be Mission Hills, portions of Leawood, as well as portions of Overland Park.

The newer money areas tend to be at the edges of the metro area like Olathe, south Overland Park, and the Northland areas of MO in Platte and Clay counties along and outside of the I-435 loop.

Olathe is conservative overall, but has all of the typical ammenities you would expect from a suburban city in terms of shopping/big box stores, and restaurants. Median household income is around 60-65K based on the data from a few years ago.

When examining the average home values in JOCO the higher values are the neighborhoods and cities closer to the Missouri state line. The lower home values are found in the cities in the far SW portion of JOCO as well as some inner ring suburbs like Merriam and Roeland Park.

In terms of parks Overland Park offers the Arboretum was is located at the south end of the city before the city annexed even more land south of that area. It is a decent park. Shawnee Mission Park is a popular park as well and is located just to the west of the I-435 loop at Renner Road in Shawnee.

Avoid buying too close to ANY major interstates due to the noise factor. This can be an issue even in neighborhoods that are 5-10 blocks removed from an interstate such as I-435, especially on the southside of the city.