Ot: Moving to the Kansas City area!

Hey Sue54!
We live in the KC area. Been here for 16 years! I'd be glad to share info with you. Unfortunately, I'm not able to share our email with anyone, so I can't PM (long story, recent internet issues resulting in a new approach to the web! Don't you love kids and computers?).

If you have any generic questions, I'd be glad to reply. We have kids in college, HS and middle school...two boys and lots of baseball!

Also, there's an article that started recently in the KC Star regarding rating neighborhoods.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/special_packages/hood/

I don't always agree with the newspaper's ideas. They really push the older neighborhoods and have a grudge against the new growth down south. I guess it depends on what you value. We are willing to sacrifice the charm of older neighborhoods and gain the excellent schools and lower crime rates of the southern Johnson County area. But this series would be very helpful to someone moving to KC.

Let me know what I can do to help.
KCBaseball

KCBaseball,

I have read that series. It does have alot of info there. The interesting thing is to read the opinions that people have on the article. It seems to have started alot of arguements.

My DH is going to be working in the Northeast corner of Kansas City. So that will put us close to Liberty,MO and Parkville,MO. They would be the same commute time for him. Do you know of them at all?

We will also consider the Kansas side but it would mean more travel for him. he is willing to travel up to 45 minutes each way. YOu mention Southern Johnson County. Are there any communites in particular you would recommend we should check out?

I haven't actually gone there yet. I will go next month and am trying to pick the areas to concentrate on.

Spent the last 55+ years here. Liberty and Parkville are both nice areas. May want to avoid the city and east of the city as far as residence. Lots of good BB here. Couldn't really tell what your questions are about. JoCo Kansas is where you want to be if you're rich and stuck up. Good BB out there as well though. I live about 35 miles north of KC and traveled all the way to JoCo though for my son's team which was really a good one. Liberty HS consistently has one of the best BB teams in the city.

baseballregie ,

If I tell DH about the baseball at Liberty he will be sold!! Of course our little guy isn't even 3 yet. LOL.

Do you know anything of the local Colleges in the area. Our one Son is majoring in Criminal Justice. WOuld like to work with Homeland Security and things similar to that.

Are you farther north that Smithville?

Park University is a nice private college north of the river. Don't know what they offer in the line of criminal justice. Maple Woods is a good JC just a few miles east of Liberty and UMKC (University of MO at KC) is a good 4 year state school which also has a law school. I assume UMKC would have a good criminal justice program for the pre-law students there. Also a good Catholic University (Rockhurst) near UMKC which is in midtown. I live about 12 miles straight east of Smithville (Kearney) which is a rapidly growing area but still sort of in the country.

quote:

JoCo Kansas is where you want to be if you're rich and stuck up

baseballregie.... I really have to take offense at your comment since I live in the heart of JOCO. Nothing like judging about a million people based on your narrow-minded assumption.

Sue54... I'm glad someone can give you firsthand info regarding Liberty and Parkville. We've played a lot of baseball in the Liberty complex and I wouldn't dream of bashing an entire city. We went to a lovely wedding in Parkville and saw the college. Very picturesque.

My husband works in downtown KC, MO. The commute is long (about 35 minutes each way), but we wouldn't change where we live for anything. The schools are EXCELLENT. Check out the test scores for Shawnee Mission Schools and Blue Valley Schools. You'll be impressed. Most of our friends who live in MO either live in small towns and send their kids to school there (like Liberty, Lee's Summit, Kearney, etc), or if they live in KC, MO, they send their kids to private schools.

This is a great place to raise a family. KU is only 25 minutes away, Johnson County Community College is about 10 minutes away and is very good. The Chiefs and Royals are about 20 minutes away (and aren't very good!). The Plaza is 15 minutes away. The Zoo is 20 minutes away. Worlds of Fun is 25 minutes away. There is so much to do in this city for families with parks, trails, lakes, etc. We live 5 minutes from the border of of KS and MO, getting the best of both worlds!

The baseball in KC is lacking, in general. The HS season is only 20 games on the Kansas side and this really limits kids. Summer ball is good. My kids play two leagues at (1)Blue Valley rec and (2)Johnson County 3&2, a baseball facility which has been around forever. I would have to say that 3&2 is the best facility in the city. All levels from rec to highly competetive with great fields.

My kids take winter baseball instruction from Urquhart School of Baseball for pitching (near 75th St. and 69 highway) and from Mac 'n Seitz Baseball (in Martin City, MO, just across state line from us) for hitting and catching. M 'n S is a great indoor facility with a full infield, batting cages, tunnels, track, weight room, etc. Its a bit expensive if you buy the full membership.

As far as moving here...just pick an area and dive in! You need to decide what is most important to you. The people here are very friendly and you'll enjoy the atmosphere. You get a lot of house here for your money.

Welcome to the midwest!

Sue

You can't go wrong north of the river in KC. Several great communities in the northland. If you like expensive housing and lots of traffic, Johnson County, KS is where you want to be. Don't get me wrong, I like JoCo just wouldn't want to live there. North of the river, Liberty, Kearney and Smithville are gems.

JoCo does have great baseball I have to admit. We play tournaments there quite a bit at some pretty nice complexes. Liberty does have a baseball league but the NKCA Baseball League is the best north of the river. It has been around for 60 years and generally has about 180 - 200 teams playing in 6 or 7 age brackets starting with machine pitch for the little tikes up to 18U.

Looks like you'll get lots of good information here. Don't hesitiate to PM if you have any questions.

Good luck and welcome.

Sorry I offended you KCBaseball. I shouldn't have said "stuck up". Having said that, I wouldn't live in Johnson County if you GAVE me a house. Way too crowded.

It really sounds like we can't go wrong no matter where we pick. We need to get out there and see what the commute times will be for him and then decide. Schools are very important to us. Crime also. Those are the 2 most important factors to us. JoCo sounds similar to where we live now. We need to decide if we want a smaller town. I think I do but I really need to check it all out first. It would take some getting use to not having everything so close like we have now.
Thank you all for your help.

WELCOME to Kansas Sue54!!

Wow,...lots of good info being sent your way. I concur that Kansas is a great place for families. We have just about everything you need here in all kinds of varieties!

If you have an additional questions or if I can be of help in any way, please feel free to pm me!

Again,...welcome!

quote:

SHOPPING - a couple of newer shopping/entertainment areas for you to check out on your visit are: The Legends at Village West at 1-435 and 1-70 (in KC, KS)...........and also Zona Rosa, I-29 and Barry Rd. (in KC, MO).

Ohhh and the list goes on and on. Lots of new restaraunts too, some with fun themes!! Just about everything one can think of.
Bon-apetite & welcome again!!

Well my Husband went and checked out Parkville and Liberty. He fell in love with Liberty and thinks I will too. He also said that the commute for him will be easy from there. So I don't think we will be going to the Kansas side to live. But I still need to check it out for myself. Hopefully sometime in January I can get out there.

Thank you all for your welcome and your help!