Overland Park is one of America's Best Places to Grow Up (Washington: houses, neighborhood)

[sparksharp]

I won't live anywhere else until my kids are grown.

So...once your kids are grown, what would your first choice be then? Where would you wanna live if you didn't have children to consider? Just curious.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by sparksharp

So...once your kids are grown, what would your first choice be then? Where would you wanna live if you didn't have children to consider? Just curious.

Eventually I will probably move to a warmer climate. But I'll be looking for a place much like JoCo. The lifestyle here really can't be beat (in my humble, suburban opinion! )

[sparksharp]

Originally Posted by Samantha S

Eventually I will probably move to a warmer climate. But I'll be looking for a place much like JoCo. The lifestyle here really can't be beat (in my humble, suburban opinion! )

Cool! Thanks!

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

I grew up in Overland Park and let me tell you...it is a lot of fun drinking and smoking pot in your friend's basement everyday after spending hours at the movies and the mall. [/sarcasm]

Seriously though, the place is really a cultural wasteland. I don't ever want to live there again and I don't ever want to raise my kids there.

Of course, I am a bit biased as I am one of those new heathen type people who are disgusted by most all suburbs. I need life in the places I frequent, not endless parking lots, cold winding strip malls, roads you can't see all the way across, boring chain food at every corner or buildings designed by five year olds. I like seeing places worth being in with vibrant walkways, ornate storefronts and with the smells of family owned restaurants wafting down the street.

I agree completely.

I want to raise my kids in a place where they can experience people of a variety of culture, class, creed, and color. I think that form of rearing will provide a better real world education than the supposedly top notch schools of Suburbia, USA.

If you don't like burbs in general, why even weigh in?

The topic is the best place to grow up - not the best suburb. Boston and Denver are on the list. I would take those (especially Boston) over OP.

[famusdarlin]

Originally Posted by WiseOwlSaysHoot

I agree completely.

I want to raise my kids in a place where they can experience people of a variety of culture, class, creed, and color. I think that form of rearing will provide a better real world education than the supposedly top notch schools of Suburbia, USA.

I am so glad someone else brought up diversity in this forum. Diversity is very important to me and my family and I completely agree that it is one of the key important factors I consider in the education of my children.

[OneKC]

I think Overland Park is getting a bit more racially diverse than people are giving it credit for. Thanks to Sprint and other technology companies, there is a large Indian-American population starting to emerge. Asian-Americans are becoming much more prevalent. And you are beginning to see much more affluent African-American families move in as well.

But if you're talking about diversity of socioeconomic class, yea, you're still not getting that. Overland Park is still exclusively upper middle class to upper class incomes.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by OneKC

I think Overland Park is getting a bit more racially diverse than people are giving it credit for. Thanks to Sprint and other technology companies, there is a large Indian-American population starting to emerge. Asian-Americans are becoming much more prevalent. And you are beginning to see much more affluent African-American families move in as well.

But if you're talking about diversity of socioeconomic class, yea, you're still not getting that. Overland Park is still exclusively upper middle class to upper class incomes.

Agreed. I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of cultures and people after we moved.

[ryanswindle]

How does it compare in diversity to Denver and Pittsburgh?

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by ryanswindle

How does it compare in diversity to Denver and Pittsburgh?

Are we comparing the urban areas of cities? Or the suburban areas?

I can't compare it to Pittsburgh, but the comparison to Denver is probably pretty close.

There are areas with more and with less, just as there is in Denver. And the percentages of specific cultures is different. For example, a Denver sub probably has a higher Native American population, a JoCo sub might have a higher Middle Eastern population.

I don't honestly know many specifics about the demographics even in most parts of JoCo. I just know that the area we moved to was more diverse than I expected it to be, which I was glad to see.

[JoCo freak]

I grew up there, and still go there everyday.