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Old 10-09-2013, 06:39 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,715,042 times
Reputation: 6422

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Quote:
Originally Posted by luzianne View Post
Blue Valley School District in south Overland Park is the best school district in the Kansas City area right now. In addition, Overland Park is very safe and you can walk and your kids can ride bikes without fear.

I live in the northern part of Johnson County (Prairie Village) and my kids went to Shawnee Mission schools, and so did I. Shawnee Mission schools are still fine, but these days Blue Valley is the best. You say you can afford to spend money on a house. Housing is going to be more expensive in the Blue Valley district, but worth it IMO. I personally like the area between 135th and 179th on the north and south and Quivira and Mission on the east and west.

To look at houses for sale, go to www.reeceandnichols.com I can spend hours there just looking at what is for sale. You can search by zip code, subdivision, map, and various other ways.

The Kansas side, Johnson County, has very low crime, great schools, rising property values.

I have lived in Kansas and in Missouri, and honestly there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in taxes. But the Kansas side takes MUCH better care of their streets. Our streets are cleaned immediately when it snows. Our potholes are fixed. The street cleaner comes by and cleans the streets and you don't see trash on the streets, sidewalks, or lawns. It's very pleasant here.
Why do you keep saying you have lived in both MO and KS and so you think you can compare them as suburbia vs ghetto? If you are going to compare Overland Park to the MO side, why it is always Overland Park vs Midtown or Old Northeast or rural Smithville (where you say you have lived on the MO side). You obviously know nothing about places like Lee’s Summit, Platte County, Liberty, Shoal Creek, Tiffany Springs, Parkville etc or you wouldn’t constantly label the MO side as trash littered streets full of pot holes, crime, bums and trashed out buildings, things that are not even significant problems in most desirable areas of urban KCMO, let alone the MO side suburbs.

This is exactly the kind attitude that rubs MO side people the wrong way and I honestly don’t even think you know you do it.

Anyway. To the OP, If I could live anywhere in KC, I would live off Ward Parkway or Brookside Blvd or any other street south of the plaza and north of Brookside. That’s where I grew up and that’s still one of the best neighborhoods in all of KC, if not the Midwest. The only problem is you would have to either do private schools or put up with the challenges of the KCMOSD.

I also really like the Old Briarcliff neighborhood. East of 169 near Briarcliff just north of Downtown, amazing neighborhood set in some of the best topography in the city. Mature trees, hills, views of the downtown skyline, close to downtown and KCI, suburban schools. All the suburban retail you ever need up north a few miles, but Briarcliff Village close by and urban KCMO just minutes away. Houses in all prices from modest to millions. Older suburban schools, may not be the newest and most affluent, but I wouldn't think twice about sending my kids there. Diversity is a good thing, still good schools. That’s where I would live in KC if I couldn’t do Brookside.

As far as more outer suburban schools where most things are newer ands schools are new and full of the top demographics to keep average scores higher, I personally like Lee’s Summit. I like the Lakewood area near 470 and Woods Chapel. Lots of lakes and water around, both residential and recreational lakes. Pretty affluent area, bike trails, very safe excellent schools. Downtown Lee’s Summit is very nice and always has something going on, although you would have to drive to it from the Lakewood area.

Other areas of KC I like are southern Platte County around Riss Lake near Parkville, basically the areas west of I-29 and South of Barry Road. Shoal Creek is a very fast growing suburban areas west of Liberty. It’s a nice area with great schools as well. Parts of Blue Springs (far north, south and east parts), parts of Independence (the Southeast part in the Blue Springs school district) other parts of the Northland like northern Gladstone, Tiffany Springs etc. If you want a more country/conservative suburban area, then you might look at Cass County (Raymore etc) and Grain Valley, Platte City and Kearney.

And yes, the Johnson County suburbs are nice as well. I personally like Fairway for central JoCo and western Shawnee and Lenexa for the newer outer suburbs. Overland Park is very nice as well if you want a more traditional suburbia.

Last edited by kcmo; 10-09-2013 at 06:47 PM..
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Old 10-09-2013, 06:47 PM
 
29 posts, read 39,457 times
Reputation: 32
Thanks so much for all the replies. I just got the call tonight that I got the job. I will be working near the airport and a 30 minute commute is fine as long as the schools are really good. We can spend up to $850k if we really need to.

Overland Park may be the best bet for us, because I have a funny feeling that my new employer is cnosidering moving the Office there for budget/tax reasons.

I will look to move the thread to the Kansas City thread as you all suggest
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Old 10-09-2013, 07:03 PM
 
Location: Washington, DC area
11,108 posts, read 23,715,042 times
Reputation: 6422
For 850k, you can do Brookside. I would do Brookside, Briarcliff, Lakewood, Riss Lake (in that order) Good luck!
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Old 10-09-2013, 07:36 PM
 
29 posts, read 39,457 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo View Post
For 850k, you can do Brookside. I would do Brookside, Briarcliff, Lakewood, Riss Lake (in that order) Good luck!

We really are way more suburban than urban...NJ has a way of convincing you of this.
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Old 10-09-2013, 08:31 PM
 
Location: A safe distance from San Francisco
12,350 posts, read 9,638,258 times
Reputation: 13891
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sambamboo1 View Post
We really are way more suburban than urban...NJ has a way of convincing you of this.
I've lived all over the country, including the KC metro, and I've never seen an urban anywhere that didn't have a way of convincing you of this.

JOCO is where you want to be, especially if your job is likely going to be transferred there.
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Old 10-09-2013, 08:47 PM
 
13,721 posts, read 19,135,088 times
Reputation: 16970
Quote:
Originally Posted by kcmo View Post
Why do you keep saying you have lived in both MO and KS and so you think you can compare them as suburbia vs ghetto? If you are going to compare Overland Park to the MO side, why it is always Overland Park vs Midtown or Old Northeast or rural Smithville (where you say you have lived on the MO side). You obviously know nothing about places like Lee’s Summit, Platte County, Liberty, Shoal Creek, Tiffany Springs, Parkville etc or you wouldn’t constantly label the MO side as trash littered streets full of pot holes, crime, bums and trashed out buildings, things that are not even significant problems in most desirable areas of urban KCMO, let alone the MO side suburbs.

This is exactly the kind attitude that rubs MO side people the wrong way and I honestly don’t even think you know you do it.

Um, I lived in Smithville from birth to age 3. Also lived in Platte County when I was young.

As an adult I did live in northeast KC and I did live in midtown. Both are ghetto. Jackson County is Jackson County and there are potholes and the roads are not cleaned fast when it snows. That's a fact. I don't have to live there to see that when I drive from Kansas to Missouri.

I do know about those places you mention. I used to work in Tiffany Springs. I have friends who live in Liberty. I have friends who live in Lee's Summit. I know someone who lives in Parkville. I used to live in Platte City - but I was 5 or 6 years old.

The OP asked where we would raise children, with good schools, where they could walk and their kids could ride bikes. I told him that right now BLUE VALLEY is the best school district in the Kansas City metro area, as backed up by the numbers showing college readiness and scores in reading and math. And Overland Park is safe for walking and kids riding bikes.

The OP didn't ask us to give him YOUR opinion. I gave him MY opinion. I prefer Kansas to the Missouri side. It has a different feel and to me it is more pleasant and a better choice when it comes to raising a family.

My opinion remains the same, and I will tell the OP again: To me, the Kansas side, specifically Johnson County, even more specifically southern Overland Park, is the best place in the Kansas City metro area to raise a family at this time.
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Old 10-09-2013, 09:25 PM
 
Location: KCMO
638 posts, read 617,805 times
Reputation: 532
Why does every "Where to live in Kansas City thread" become a p*ssing match between the Missouri side and Kansas? Its ridiculous.

BTW, KCMO's roads are actually getting better. I normally can't tell the difference anymore. Stuff has changed
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Old 10-09-2013, 09:31 PM
 
991 posts, read 1,103,595 times
Reputation: 843
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moboy32 View Post
Why does every "Where to live in Kansas City thread" become a p*ssing match between the Missouri side and Kansas? Its ridiculous.

BTW, KCMO's roads are actually getting better. I normally can't tell the difference anymore. Stuff has changed
These threads just end up being pissing contests...I live in Southern OP now and frankly it ain't much better than a lot of other places in the metro. It's okay but it's nothing special. The houses are really new and most of them lack any architectural character or history. It basically looks like any suburb in any other city.

People love to think that the Blue Valley School district is amazing. Again, it's a fine school district but nothing special. Where I am from, people fight tooth and nail to get their kids into the private elementary school they think is the next feeder to the Ivy League. In suburban KC, people fight over school districts that basically serve as feeders to the local state universities...as if their (more than likely) average kid wouldn't fit in at most of the districts in the metro...

Blue Valley, Shawnee Mission, Lee's Summit, Liberty, Parkville, and Gladstone school districts are probably all pretty close for 95% of the student population (don't let the test scores and arbitrary "college readiness" assessments fool you). If you are trying to fast-track your kid into a top-notch college, try Barstow or Pembroke Hill...they make the rest of the districts look like also-rans.

Last edited by KC_Sleuth; 10-09-2013 at 09:43 PM..
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Old 10-09-2013, 10:37 PM
 
Location: Middle America
37,409 posts, read 53,284,073 times
Reputation: 53066
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sambamboo1 View Post
Thanks so much for all the replies. I just got the call tonight that I got the job. I will be working near the airport and a 30 minute commute is fine as long as the schools are really good. We can spend up to $850k if we really need to.

Overland Park may be the best bet for us, because I have a funny feeling that my new employer is cnosidering moving the Office there for budget/tax reasons.

I will look to move the thread to the Kansas City thread as you all suggest
Here is my reply that got posted to the duplicate thread earlier today, since nobody's merged them...

Anywhere in KCMO School District will not give you the best public schools, not by a long shot (that doesn't let out the entire city, though...only a portion of the core is served by that district). I'm a big fan of the city itself, but the truth is that the center-most urban school district is very, very troubled, and these troubles are well-documented (I'm a teacher, I'm not talking out of my a$$ when it comes to the standard school district blather you'll see trumpeted on here by people who don't actually know what they're talking about and have absolutely no expertise or real background knowledge as relates to the schooling situation in the metro).

Were I a parent moving to the KC metro and a person of sufficient means to do so, my first choice would be to live in the city and send my kids to one of quite a few private schools. There are family friendly urban neighborhoods, but you would most likely want to go the private school route. I would likely choose the streets off Brookside Boulevard, or Wornall Road in Brookside, or further south in Waldo. Again, this is assuming that I'd make the investment in private education.

That said, since you want public, you're probably going to gravitate to the suburbs. I have lived in both MO-side and KS-side suburbs, as well as in the urban core. I am intimately familiar with most of the districts in the metro due to some specific functions of my job. I don't have kids yet, but working in education, I'm pretty familiar with their needs. My choices for family-friendly suburbia with solid schools, if I were working near the airport, would be Parkville or Liberty, both Missouri-side. There are great schools in the JoCo suburbs and in Lee's Summit on the MO side, but if you're working near the airport, going with the Park Hill School District (in Parkville) or Liberty would be the obvious choice (also, FWIW, there is no Gladstone school district...Gladstone residents typically go to North Kansas City Schools, which is a separate-and quite solid-district from KCMO District). I personally love Lee's Summit, and lived there for several years. They have great schools that I work with often, but no way in HECK would I live there and work near the airport. That would be the most ridiculous commute ever.
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Old 10-09-2013, 10:44 PM
 
Location: Middle America
37,409 posts, read 53,284,073 times
Reputation: 53066
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moboy32 View Post
Why does every "Where to live in Kansas City thread" become a p*ssing match between the Missouri side and Kansas? Its ridiculous.

BTW, KCMO's roads are actually getting better. I normally can't tell the difference anymore. Stuff has changed
Hah, whereas Johnson Drive has been paved with steel plates for stretches for forever, now. So much for the fabulous JoCo road mythology.
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