Overland Park is one of America's Best Places to Grow Up (Kansas City: buying a home, neighborhoods)

[kcmo]

The suburbs of DC are so amazing compared to a place like Overland Park.

KC has a few small areas where there is mixed use like Longview.

But DC's newer suburbs are almost entirely mixed use. Million dollar homes next to town houses. Pocket Parks, front porches, detached garages, neotraditional housing, small neighborhood shopping centers in every neighborhood, transit nearby, extensive bike trails and parkland and extremely diverse racially all with some of the best schools in the nation. Growth is also limited to control sprawl which causes housing prices to go up, but keeps blight in check.

Great suburban areas all 30 minutes from a vibrant urban core of major city.

It reminds me of Denver which is also like this now only everything is a bit more intense than Denver. But Denver is light years ahead of KC when it comes to this.

KC is stuck in the 80's. It’s still 99% 3/4 acre lots, tall fences, super zoned out by class (apartments, single family, condos retail) no transit at all, very limited parks and bike trails (even in JoCo), and just flat out boring. It’s almost all white people with giant homes on huge lots in the suburbs that surrounds a city and even many older suburbs that are in various stages of decline.

So far, I don’t miss KC in that respect.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by kcmo

The suburbs of DC are so amazing compared to a place like Overland Park.

KC has a few small areas where there is mixed use like Longview.

But DC's newer suburbs are almost entirely mixed use. Million dollar homes next to town houses. Pocket Parks, front porches, detached garages, neotraditional housing, small neighborhood shopping centers in every neighborhood, transit nearby, extensive bike trails and parkland and extremely diverse racially all with some of the best schools in the nation. Growth is also limited to control sprawl which causes housing prices to go up, but keeps blight in check.

Great suburban areas all 30 minutes from a vibrant urban core of major city.

I'll agree with that...I spent a summer in Falls Church, VA. I'm the typical suburb-despising mid-twenties ubranite, but I thought the inner ring DC suburbs were pretty cool. I lived a mile and a half from work (5 minute drive), about 1 mile from the nearest metro station for heading into the city, and had a few neighborhood corner stores within walking distance of the townhouse I lived in. The neighborhood was also super-diverse in terms of age, race, occupation, everything. The B&O rail-to-trail bike/running trail was also super-close.

I would have preferred living in the actual District for the true vibrancy and nightlife, but the close proximity to work was very nice...especially in the DC metro area, which has horrible traffic (many people commute 1-2 hours every day).

Although...the DC metro area is probably one of the most antisocial and cold metros in the United States...people there rarely make eye contact with strangers, talk to those they don't know, and tend to walk around like the rest of the world just dosen't exist.

FWIW, the rent for my apartment in an urban St. Louis neighborhood is about half of what it was in suburban DC, and even much less than it would be in the actual District. DC is a fun city, but you really have to pay for it. Houses in any of those inner-ring suburbs will run you at least half a million dollars.

[Samantha S]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

Although...the DC metro area is probably one of the most antisocial and cold metros in the United States...people there rarely make eye contact with strangers, talk to those they don't know, and tend to walk around like the rest of the world just dosen't exist.

I get that feeling in DC too, but I just always attributed it to my being from the midwest. It's interesting to hear someone else say that.

I love DC. I'm most familar with the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan area. I love to just wander around there. I love it, but I couldn't live there. It's too crowded for me.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by Samantha S

I get that feeling in DC too, but I just always attributed it to my being from the midwest. It's interesting to hear someone else say that.

I love DC. I'm most familar with the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan area. I love to just wander around there. I love it, but I couldn't live there. It's too crowded for me.

I spent a fair amount of time in the Adams Morgan area as well...mainly for the nightlife

DC is a very fun city...an endless amount of things to do. I had a blast for the 3 months I spent there. I could probably live there again, but not for more than a few years...for the long term I prefer the more laid-back and friendly nature of Missouri and the rest of the states in the middle of America. Plus, as you said...it is very crowded...which can make life very stressful at times.

I've also spent most of my life in the Midwest, besides a few years in Texas. Both places are worlds warmer than DC...I never once talked to my neighbors in DC, but talk to them all the time here. The people I worked with were all very cool, but breaking the ice with a stranger there was a very hard thing to do.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

Although...the DC metro area is probably one of the most antisocial and cold metros in the United States...people there rarely make eye contact with strangers, talk to those they don't know, and tend to walk around like the rest of the world just dosen't exist.

I don't see this in the least. I have found that the people are just as friendly as they are any place. I would even argue they are even more friendly then they are in KC or at least it's a more "real" friendly.

It might have to do with the fact that everybody in DC is from all over the country and the world.

Sure, busy streets of downtown or crowded transit trains can be cold as people are just on a mission to get some place, but as an outgoing person, if you strike up a conversation with somebody, they are just as nice as anyplace. I think the people are great myself. But who knows, I feel the same about NYC .

I have spent a great deal of time looking for homes in new and existing suburban areas and I'm so refreshed to see the amount of interaction between people in residential areas. It's also very cool to see so many different races of people from so many different parts of the world get along so well. I love it.

We looked at some far out rural areas and they immediately brought back memories of what it's like to live in rural or suburban Midwest. It's very similar. Whites that want to be around white people or simply all white areas for whatever reason, lots more space and more of a blue collar/redneck/country culture. The "townies" don't even like all the city commuters that are flocking to their towns. We have to be careful to look at commuter neighborhoods. I was told this by local DC people and they were right. Interesting.

[OA 5599]

Originally Posted by kcmo

I don't see this in the least. I have found that the people are just as friendly as they are any place. I would even argue they are even more friendly then they are in KC or at least it's a more "real" friendly.

It might have to do with the fact that everybody in DC is from all over the country and the world.

Sure, busy streets of downtown can be cold as people are just on a missin to get some place, but as an outgoing person, if you strike up a conversation with somebody, they are just as nice as anyplace. I think the people are great myself. But who knows, I feel the same about NYC .

I actually thought NYC seemed warmer than DC. Then again, I've only spent a weekend in NYC...I'd like to go back and spend some more time there.

The people I worked with in DC were all very genuinely friendly, and the other people I met through friends were as well. However, the general feeling in public was pretty cold...people avoided making eye contact with each other and didn't seem to want to be bothered. My neighbors there would usually ignore me when I walked out the front door, compared to here where we will usually at least say hello or have a short conversation.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

FWIW, the rent for my apartment in an urban St. Louis neighborhood is about half of what it was in suburban DC, and even much less than it would be in the actual District. DC is a fun city, but you really have to pay for it. Houses in any of those inner-ring suburbs will run you at least half a million dollars.

Yea, that's the downside. Even outer ring suburbs (which are like living on the plaza in the KC area) single family homes start at 400k. The cost of living pushes DC commuters into rural areas and smaller towns 30-90 minutes out.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by OA 5599

I actually thought NYC seemed warmer than DC. Then again, I've only spent a weekend in NYC...I'd like to go back and spend some more time there.

The people I worked with in DC were all very genuinely friendly, and the other people I met through friends were as well. However, the general feeling in public was pretty cold...people avoided making eye contact with each other and didn't seem to want to be bothered. My neighbors there would usually ignore me when I walked out the front door, compared to here where we will usually at least say hello or have a short conversation.

It sort of depends on how public you are. I would say in places in very dense areas like near the metro lines etc, that's the case. I think that's just a side effect of living in a very large city. It's not that people are not nice, it's just people tend to keep to themselves. Once you get into quieter areas, people are very nice and kind. Having said that, the same people on the metro lines that won't look at you are the same people that live next door in the suburbs.

I kind of like the more short and quicker pace of being "nice". When I go to the post office, I don't want to talk about the weather for 10 minutes and I don't want to wait for the person in front of me to do so either. Just quickly make a nice conversation while making a transaction and move on. That's more my style.

NYC is one of the warmest big cities there is. They have nothing to prove. Some towns try to be a bit hard. StLouis is known for that. So is Chicago. Those towns try to be a big hard city at times. Although it's not overwhelming by any stretch. NYC has nothing to prove. So they don't do that and the people there tend to be very nice, especially in Manhattan.

[OneKC]

DC has a high "striped shirt douchebag" quotient. Their burbs are pretty diverse. There are a lot of snobs, but there are a lot of friendly people too. Tons of immigrants too, so there are some great ethnic restaurants in the burbs.

[CrownVic95]

Originally Posted by OPguy

I have a bit of a contrarian view of the suburbs and "Edge Cities". I like them.

I know it is not a urbane and sophisticated view. To put on that face you must ***** and **** on just about everything except the cluster f*k of a concrete canyon you wallow in.

I grew up in a supposedly idyllic small town in southwestern Missouri and it is not all that you would imagine. Very limited opportunities for growth, education and recreation.

I don't regret growing up there (very much), but I am very glad my son has had the opportunities available to him growing up in Overland Park and would do it all again here in OP if I was starting over.

I'm with you and I don't consider yours to be the contrarian view at all.

I continue to read these posts by people who think it is so cool to bash suburbs and "sprawl" (my favorite) and each time I just grin, shake my head, and wonder why it is that people feel the need to concoct problems out of thin air. As if we don't have enough real challenges facing us.

I left the area in 1990 to appease my California raised ex-wife, but my kids also spent 11 years in Overland Park and it was a heck of a lot better environment for them than this Bay Area.