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Old 04-09-2015, 02:15 AM
 
Location: Greetings from the butt of California!
27 posts, read 30,355 times
Reputation: 24

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Moving from San Diego to OP for a great job opportunity. You might think SD is paradise, but you'd be wrong. I've lived here for 45 years and it's been on the downhill slide for 20 of those years. Been looking to get out for a long time and have my chance. Crime and overcrowding are the main reasons we're leaving SD...it's like a war-zone here if you have to live in the burbs!

OP looked to me like a good place to spend my non-retirement ..and a place my kids can spend their last years of childhood in a clean and peaceful environment. What concerns me is the proximity of Overland Park to Kansas City, KS. I see they have a crime-rate double that of the national average. I may not want to move to a town where the troubles of KC, KS will soon "creep" in. I'd be going from the frying pan into the fire!

Any advice from you fine folk would be much appreciated!

 
Old 04-09-2015, 04:53 AM
 
Location: Connecticut is my adopted home.
2,398 posts, read 3,817,618 times
Reputation: 7774
KCKS is a long way from OP. If not in miles, in culture. Those folks tend to stay put rather than create havoc on in JOCO burbs. i'd be more concerned about KCMO bad element frankly. The access is better. If you are worried, live further south like in Louisburg and commute. Johnson County is ranked one of the top areas of the nation for quality of life right now. Best of luck to you.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Greetings from the butt of California!
27 posts, read 30,355 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by AK-Cathy View Post
KCKS is a long way from OP. If not in miles, in culture. Those folks tend to stay put rather than create havoc on in JOCO burbs. i'd be more concerned about KCMO bad element frankly. The access is better. If you are worried, live further south like in Louisburg and commute. Johnson County is ranked one of the top areas of the nation for quality of life right now. Best of luck to you.
Thanks for your input, AK-Cathy. I've heard the same from others I've talked to about my concerns. I thought for sure KC would be more of a problem than what would come from the MO side, but guess I'm wrong. Johnson County ranking high is one of the reasons I'm considering moving there. I didn't find out about the crime-rates in the surrounding area until just last week. In your opinion, has Johnson County been on a downward slide? Is the area trending down instead of holding steady?

Never heard of Louisburg, I'll check it out. I've also been told I should consider Olathe.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 10:50 AM
 
Location: Tippecanoe County, Indiana
26,374 posts, read 46,217,550 times
Reputation: 19454
Quote:
Originally Posted by eastward_ho View Post

Never heard of Louisburg, I'll check it out. I've also been told I should consider Olathe.
If you are dead set in going after Johnson County alone I would recommend Leawood, housing values are a bit higher but you get what you pay for there. Olathe is mostly completely beige and generic with poorer quality housing stock. Louisburg? No. Way too much driving to get places and that would get old fast.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 11:33 AM
 
Location: USA
1,818 posts, read 2,674,823 times
Reputation: 4172
Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater View Post
If you are dead set in going after Johnson County alone I would recommend Leawood, housing values are a bit higher but you get what you pay for there. Olathe is mostly completely beige and generic with poorer quality housing stock. Louisburg? No. Way too much driving to get places and that would get old fast.

I lived in the KC metro area several years ago and always considered Olathe to be very blue collar, some almost ghetto looking areas.

As far as pristine Johnson County -- be aware of all the apartment complexes. I was told they now have to allow so many Section 8 renters in almost every complex. I believe that's where a lot of the drama and crime in Johnson County is stemming from.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 11:34 AM
 
Location: Greetings from the butt of California!
27 posts, read 30,355 times
Reputation: 24
Thanks GrantieStater, I was seriously considering Louisburg just now. Johnson county is where the job is and I hear the schools are good, so "dead set" is an apt description at least until the kids are done with high school in 4 years. Still looking at surrounding towns with an easy commute and not too near KC, KS. Here in San Diego, we are a mixed-bag family. I'm half white and to describe the rest of my nationalities would take an hour. My wife is white, my kids look half Asian, half white...crazy, I know. The reason I mention it is that, in spite of our mixed race appearance, there's what I'd call "reverse-discrimination" going on here in the last, oh, 3 years. It is next to impossible to land a decent job in either the public or private sectors unless you are totally fluent in Spanish...oh and it helps if you're NOT white at all. In the last 2 years, my wife has lost 4 positions in the local school district because her poor Spanish skills and...sorry to say in this day and age...her whiteness. Obviously, the fact we have been over-run with folks from the adjoining country just south of us is the precipitating factor in all this.

Thus, I landed a job in Overland Park, KS where an old buddy of mine has been prodding me to come live and work with him. Like I said, still open to any and all suggestions not too near the metro areas. Just plain sick of life near the big, bad city...and San Diego ain't that big!
 
Old 04-09-2015, 11:40 AM
 
Location: Greetings from the butt of California!
27 posts, read 30,355 times
Reputation: 24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red On The Noodle View Post
I lived in the KC metro area several years ago and always considered Olathe to be very blue collar, some almost ghetto looking areas.

As far as pristine Johnson County -- be aware of all the apartment complexes. I was told they now have to allow so many Section 8 renters in almost every complex. I believe that's where a lot of the drama and crime in Johnson County is stemming from.
Thanks, Red On The Noodle. Yeah, we have that section 8 stuff going on here in the San Diego "bedroom communities" also. It's so bad here where I live, we travel about 30 minutes east to do our shopping and restaurants. However, my car was stolen in the east-county some years back, it's one of the nicest areas of San Diego. When the kids who jacked my car where caught, they were indeed "section 8" babies living in the area .

I realize I can't get away from all crime, but I'm gonna do my best to do better than where I am now.

Thanks again.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 11:51 AM
 
Location: Connecticut is my adopted home.
2,398 posts, read 3,817,618 times
Reputation: 7774
I haven't been here in this area long enough to note long term trends. My business takes me to all areas of the KC metro area and surrounding areas though I live in the Lawrence, KS area. I work roughly 6-8 days a month in a downtown area at all times of the day that is considered sketchy but I haven't had any problems at all. I just stay aware of my surroundings, lock my vehicle leaving those "steal me" items well out of sight or take them with me and I go on about my business. There are areas of town that are not as "happy" as others. I'd rent in a "happy" area and investigate the wider communities within a reasonable distance of your job.

I understand Granite's concerns about commuting but lots of people commute to KC from all over including Lawrence to get away from the population density and problems that go with it. For income tax purposes, I'd locate in the same state that you will be employed in if at all possible to avoid the double hit. Again, good luck on your prospective move.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 11:58 AM
 
Location: Middle America
37,409 posts, read 53,263,329 times
Reputation: 53065
If you choose to live in an urban metro, there is a risk of being affected by that metro's crime, period. If you have two million people sharing a community at large, it's a given that crime presents a certain level of risk. Just how it is.

Overland Park is a nice, reasonably safe suburb...but it's not a magic bubble of no crime, whether that crime is perpetrated by evil residents of KCK, or wherever.

I live in a neighboring suburb, and crime is not a big concern of mine. I have my community's police station directly at the foot of my driveway, my neighborhood is quiet, and I have no real concerns that I wouldn't have, well, anywhere.
 
Old 04-09-2015, 12:05 PM
 
377 posts, read 564,127 times
Reputation: 358
Quote:
Originally Posted by eastward_ho View Post
Thanks for your input, AK-Cathy. I've heard the same from others I've talked to about my concerns. I thought for sure KC would be more of a problem than what would come from the MO side, but guess I'm wrong. Johnson County ranking high is one of the reasons I'm considering moving there. I didn't find out about the crime-rates in the surrounding area until just last week. In your opinion, has Johnson County been on a downward slide? Is the area trending down instead of holding steady?

Never heard of Louisburg, I'll check it out. I've also been told I should consider Olathe.
The main reason to be concerned about JoCo is actually what's happening to Kansas under Brownback and the Republicans. School budgets are being slashed to the point where several districts will end the school year early because they're running out of money. College funding is being cut. Highway budgets are being cut. Mental health budgets are being cut. The state has reinstated its laws making it legal to discriminate against LGBT citizens. Now it's legal to carry a concealed firearm with no permit or training. Kansas seems to be riding a greased rail on the way to becoming the Mississippi of the Plains.

Depending on the location of your job and your taste for urban/suburban, I would suggest you consider Parkville, MO, Lee's Summit, MO, Liberty, MO or even Kansas City, MO itself. Crime in KC is typically limited to the area east of a very clear racial dividing line, and as in most places, unless you're part of a bad element already (such as, you're a drug dealer) or very dumb, you're probably safe. Plus, this is a vibrant, growing, thriving city with a world of great things going on—and I speak as someone whose last 3 homes were Seattle, Santa Barbara and Laguna Beach.

Don't let the spectre of crime intimidate you. It's nowhere near as bad as the stats can make it seem.
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