Young family moving from Chicago to Kansas City (North Kansas City, Denver: cul-de-sac, houses)

[TabulaRasa]

Yep, I posted info about New Longview in Post #8.

[lifelongMOgal]

Another option that hasn't been mentioned is Parkville. Better schools than KCMO and a very short commute to downtown KCMO when compared to Lee's Summit. Cute historic district with shops, etc.... . While not urban in atmosephere itself you can get to the urban center much more quickly.

Park Hill School District

//www.city-data.com/city/Parkville-Missouri.html

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by chicago mama

Or am I best to look at Lee's Summit or Liberty and accept living in the 'burbs???

If you end up looking into suburban living, you should also look at Johnson County on the KS side. Lots of threads here about that.

Best of luck to you! And Welcome!

[TinaMcG]

Originally Posted by Samantha S

If you end up looking into suburban living, you should also look at Johnson County on the KS side. Lots of threads here about that.

Best of luck to you! And Welcome!

Samantha, you know I love living in Johnson County, but believe me, moving from the Albany Park neighborhood (not a suburb, but a neighborhood) in Chicago to Joco, KS would be a huge culture shock! To the original poster, Johnson County would be more like Naperville, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, and Palatine. That didn't sound like something you were looking for.

[aragx6]

Albany Park is actually quite a bit like a higher density version of the 39th St. West area of KC. Walkable but with a touch more rust-belt grit than Brookside.

Feel free to ask any follow-up questions and best of luck in whatever you choose!

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Albany Park is actually quite a bit like a higher density version of the 39th St. West area of KC. Walkable but with a touch more rust-belt grit than Brookside.

Agreed...very similar in feel.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by TinaMcG

Samantha, you know I love living in Johnson County, but believe me, moving from the Albany Park neighborhood (not a suburb, but a neighborhood) in Chicago to Joco, KS would be a huge culture shock! To the original poster, Johnson County would be more like Naperville, Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, and Palatine. That didn't sound like something you were looking for.

I agree! The OP didn't sound too excited about the burbs. But that is where most families end up in the KC area, mainly because the schools are better. And so it was just a suggestion if they start looking at that route. If you head for the burbs, might as well look at all the options!

[aragx6]

^That is true, but the schools are a heckuva lot better in Chicago's suburbs than the city proper too, so they've made the decision to stay in the city before.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, really, I just want the OP to be happy. Hopefully given the lower cost of living, they'll have the bucks to look into all the available options, including private schools.

[ykamom]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Don't forget that Lee's Summit has the largest new urbanism project in the metro (longview farms) and some smaller ones like Arbor Walk. Longview Farms is nice if you want suburban and new, but more walkable. Plus it's near a large recreational lake and the community college.

But Brookside is KC's gem. It just doesn't get much better than Brookside when it comes to family living in a more urban environment. You just have to deal with the schools, but that is something many large cities have to deal with, even in nicer urban core neighborhoods.

We found that the Longview and Arbor Walk areas were a bit abandoned. They seemed like they had gotten started, then the bust came and things never really got rolling. Nice architechture, but the commercial areas haven't really populated and they seem a little "ghosty." Which is a shame, because they are great ideas and could be a real compromise. (Which we, like the OP, were looking for.)

I still am not sure if we just aren't finding the right areas in LS, but it seems there isn't a lot of housing available in the area that we like (Which would be the downtown.)
I totally agree that the downtown is a very nice area. But I've been unable to find a lot of housing with direct accessibility to it.
This was similar in Parkeville. The downtown is cute, but it was hard to see where you would live to be near it.

And I am also not trying to argue...just interested in what the perceptions of others might be.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by ykamom

We found that the Longview and Arbor Walk areas were a bit abandoned. They seemed like they had gotten started, then the bust came and things never really got rolling. Nice architechture, but the commercial areas haven't really populated and they seem a little "ghosty." Which is a shame, because they are great ideas and could be a real compromise. (Which we, like the OP, were looking for.)

I still am not sure if we just aren't finding the right areas in LS, but it seems there isn't a lot of housing available in the area that we like (Which would be the downtown.)
I totally agree that the downtown is a very nice area. But I've been unable to find a lot of housing with direct accessibility to it.
This was similar in Parkeville. The downtown is cute, but it was hard to see where you would live to be near it.

And I am also not trying to argue...just interested in what the perceptions of others might be.

Oh, I agree. But for KC, I think Lee's Summit and a few other suburbs do offer an alternative to what is otherwise extremely bland typical midwestern sprawl.

Longview is actually doing pretty well. But it's still too small to really be a self sustained neighborhood.

I always look at Denver's Stapleton area as something KC should strive for. It's a very large master planned new urbanism community. But one thing that really sets it apart from what KC is trying to do is Stapleton is infill.

It would be like building a brand new and rather large neighborhood to replace the vast bannister mall area.

That is what KCMO should be doing rather than subsidizing soccer stadiums and big box retail. Large scale residential construction in infill locations.

Go to Google earth and use the timeline fuction to see how stapleton has devloped from an abandoned airport and industrial area into a full blown traditional neighborhood with schools, walkable retail etc. It's amazing.