Moving (back) to area; where would you put us? what should we prepare for?

[MrIndependent]

Originally Posted by PKPD

I grew up in Lee's Summit (Lakewood) but left at 18 for college (Des Moines, IA) and never looked back. I've been bouncing around the east-coast (NY, NJ, MD) since but recent events have us considering a move back 'home'. We currently live in Silver Spring, MD (outside of DC) our current neighborhood is very family friendly and has tons of kids and little community activities that make you feel cozy and connected (Christmas tree lighting, Santa visits, Octoberfest, Garden Walks, book clubs, dinner clubs, poker nights etc). We have access to playgrounds, basketball courts and open fields within walking distance thanks to the local park, elementary school and catholic church/school which are all located in the neighborhood. We have the ability to walk to a little shopping plaza (bakery, starbucks, bodega, subway, UPS store). However, houses are old, expensive, small and have no driveways (lots of cars on the street). Since we also have no sidewalks our girls can't ride bikes or run around and experience the independence both my husband and I had growing up. Our schools are so-so considering 50% of the students in any given class do not speak english; my girls are thriving but I'd like to do better.

Also our grocery stores suck.
And the traffic here is a nightmare.

So... with that we are looking for a few key things in our next move which hopefully will carry us until the girls graduate HS (they will be going into 2nd and 4th grades):

- good schools; this seems to be a non-issue in most areas but are there certain districts that we should avoid?
- neighborhood with lots of kids; preferably younger but a mix of old (babysitters!) is fine too.
- neighborhood pool with swim team (ideally one we can bike or walk to).
- neighborhood park with open space and playground or even a near-by school with access to basketball courts or fields/playgrounds.
- at least 0.4 acre lot where I can have a vegetable garden and compost without pissing off my neighbors.
- sidewalks (or at a minimum = driveways which get the majority of cars off the street so we can actually walk in the road without getting mowed over by cars.)
- walkable or bikable to a coffee shop/store (huge ask, I know we won't get it...)
- decent driving distance from airport. Now MCI is in the middle of no-mans-land so I realize this is a strange ask but I'd like to get to the airport in <40 mins. I travel a fair amount for work.

So where would you put professional dual-income 40-something's with kids that leans liberal and prefers spending time going on hikes or playing games on Sunday vs sitting in a pew?

Our house budget is large (600-999k) so I don't feel we are limited there. Right now we are leaning towards KS side vs MO since we have a few friends in OP and some family there too. My parents still live in Lakewood (but desperately need to move into a retirement community or something). KC is so spread out; I get hives just thinking of how much time I'll spend in the car but I guess at least I'll be going somewhere vs. taking 30 mins to drive 4 miles where I currently live.

Also I read a thread on taxes and that they are high but it wasn't clear what I should prepare for...right now we pay state income tax (5.75%) and we have county property taxes on our home (~4k for an assessed value of 470k home). Our county does amazing things with the $$ and we don't pay extra for garbage/recycling and every fall they even come vacuum up all our leaves! Seems like the taxes in MO/KS won't get me nearly as much...

We will be working with a realtor but I'm interested to hear where you all would put us!

I have lived in both DC and KC, so I can appreciate some of the items you're looking for.

Prairie Village and Roeland Park would make the most sense for you in Johnson County.
Parkville, City of North KC, and the stuff around Briarcliff make the most sense on the MO side.

The actual city of KCMO has a struggling school system, but the areas by Loose Park like Brookside and South Plaza are among my favorite neighborhoods in the Kansas City metro.

Good luck in your move.

[Traveling Mike]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I don't think the OP ever said DC "sucks". And I certainly never said KC sucks.

DC is far from perfect, but it's a thriving city with a ton to offer for people that like bigger cities that actually have people on the sidewalks, parks that actually get used, a real transit system, three major airports etc. I can go on and on. But yeah, it has traffic lol.

Seriously. I just said the OP sounds like they would fit in better in DC with their lifestyle and they agreed. I didn't say KC was a bad place, it's just very different than DC culturally.

But KC is cheap, it's easy and there is no traffic and apparently the OP's spouse, who is the primary demographic that moves to KC, (surrounding rural states) does culturally fit in.

The problem is dude that almost everyone of your posts is comparing KC to this city that city. You say the same things in almost every thread. Everything is always about how KC lacks this lacks that. It isn't DC it isn't Denver. Of course it isn't. It's a smaller Midwest city. Stop trying to compare cities that are much larger to it. I'm not trying to be blunt but as someone who watches from afar it's literally the same thing in every freakin thread.

[jason87x]

Fun fact, the HyVees in twin cities suburbia are dramatically larger and nicer than the ones down here. So at least up there, HyVee counts as an HEB/Wegmans/Publix amazing chain. The other TC grocery store chains (Cub, Lunds&Byerlys) were (before HyVee forced them to improve or die) essentially a worse Price Chopper & Hen House respectively.