Is Kansas City metro area friendly for retirees?

[aragx6]

Shallow, yes. True, no. Loads of places on both sides of the state line would provide what your parents are looking for, OP!

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by jason87x

To the OP, you will want inner JoCo. Very treelined, close to amenities both in south JoCo and in KCMO if you choose to venture there. Very quiet too (a few areas around SMWest can be sketch, but most everything else is VERY safe). Lots are average sized, you can have a nice flat backyard if you get a 1950s ranch somewhere in north OP. Or depending on budget and desire for newer home, do a teardown/rebuild.

I'm younger, and most younger people in Johnson County fear the police themselves far more than any "crime". It is that safe here.

For your purposes, avoid the Missouri side, and Wyandotte County (which is north of 47th st). It sounds shallow yes, but JoCo is the best part of the metro for lack of crime and quietness.

Do guys really say "sketch" nowadays? It seems feminine. I don't feel that the SM West is unsafe at all. But if we start telling people that and it spreads, we might just make it that way.

Your advice is rancid and shows your lack of knowledge of the rest of the metro.

In my humble opinion, the Missouri-side suburbs are actually the best for quietness, for sure, and probably lack of crime too. That's not to say there aren't areas of Johnson County tucked away that are just as quiet, but overall the Missouri suburbs have a lot less going on, and that is a fact. Johnson County is a major corporate hub with a ton of hotels and highrise office buildings and a couple of the busiest highway corridors in the metro run right through its center. The Missouri-side suburbs are more isolated and disconnected small towns that have grown into suburbs rather than a huge contiguous landscape of 500,000 people like Johnson County. Most in the Missouri-side suburbs commute out of them and into the city or to Johnson County for work. So looking at all I've said, which makes more sense to be quieter and have less crime? The Missouri-side suburbs or Johnson County. Think about what you're saying. Will all the activity, I'd imagine JoCo has more crime. By the way, Wyandotte County also has options - it provides some of the most scenic settings and semi-rural living options in the metro, as well as decent inner areas near the Plaza, Westport, and Midtown KCMO. You should drive through northwest KCK along 435 sometime and see the landscape the highway winds through, even if you're scared to get off. Not to mention, KCK has a solid new area of shopping, dining and entertainment with the Legends and Village West.

[Bealtlebones&smokinstones]

Agreed that Overland Park or the Kansas City area is a great place to retire. I am only 32, but I knew a former co-worker who retired there after working in NYC, but lived in CT and loves it. He hated Florida on the other hand. I have been to KC a few times and it is a cool place to live.

[tzeb]

The advice you are getting on this thread that the Missouri-side suburbs are more this way, that the Kansas-side suburbs are more that way, is simplistic at best. There is quite a bit of variation to be found on both sides of the state line in terms of topography, traffic congestion, presence of trees, blue-collar versus white-collar vibe, and so on. My suggestion for your parents when they come to visit is that they sit down and chat for an hour with a real estate agent or someone else who knows the area well and is able to offer a balanced view of both sides of the state line.

[aragx6]

Why would a real estate agent be expected to offer a more "balanced" view of the state line? Quite the opposite I should think. The motives of some here might be suspect, but we already know the agent's motivation: Sell you the most expensive house they can.

[tzeb]

Precisely for the reason you suggest. The agent's motivation is to understand what the buyer is looking for and to suggest a house and neighborhood that will result in an offer. The agent won't care where that is. Of course the agent wants to make a commission. Don't you think the OP knows that?

I'm not an agent, or connected with the real estate business. I have gotten useful information from agents when I've moved into a city.

What I'm really saying is that the OP's parents should spend time with a person who doesn't have an axe to grind about Missouri versus Kansas. On this forum, especially, many posters harbor a bias against one state or the other.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by tzeb

The advice you are getting on this thread that the Missouri-side suburbs are more this way, that the Kansas-side suburbs are more that way, is simplistic at best.

Agreed. For virtually everything you can find on one side of the state line, you can find an equivalent on the other. It just comes down to the vagaries of personal taste, preferences in architecture, preferences in atmostphere, etc.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Bealtlebones&smokinstones

Agreed that Overland Park or the Kansas City area is a great place to retire. I am only 32, but I knew a former co-worker who retired there after working in NYC, but lived in CT and loves it. He hated Florida on the other hand. I have been to KC a few times and it is a cool place to live.

We get a lot of people from NYC and NY who retire to the Lakes Region of NH. A cost of living that is about 1/2 of the Tri State Region and high caliber quality of life for a wide range of housing types and prices. Access to conservation lands are also invaluable.