Where to live near Kansas City?

Midwest_Girl · January 2011

My husband is considering a job in Kansas City. I have never been there. We live in NY, but we are from the Midwest and want to get closer to home. I have young kids and would want a good neighborhood, close to conveniences, and above all, great schools. Any advice if we start to search for homes? Which neighborhoods/suburbs should we look in? Any advice is appreciated!

mechanicsgirl · January 2011

I have friends who live in Shawnee, which is one of the suburbs. I live about an hour away. I'm not sure if that's the kind of commute you're willing to take, but my town is pretty safe and has great neighborhoods. I'm not sure where actually in KC, though.

lj smith · January 2011

The Lenexa/Overland Park area is nice. It's got the convenience of the bigger city but is actually a suburb. It's a relatively safe area as well. Really anywhere in Johnson County is nice.

blueii108 · January 2011

In kansas I would say Johnson County is the best but if you are looking in Missouri I'd look at the Lee Summit/Indpendence area. Both have good schools it really just depends on which side of the city you guys will be working and how long you want to drive. Also would look at the plaza area it's more in the city but I'm not sure how or what school your children would be going to.

mm&mm · January 2011

I would recommend the Northland area of KC....specifically looking within the Liberty or Park Hill School Districts.

Here is a great realtor who is very knowledgeable of the KC area and could direct you to great school districts. Really, I am sure any realtor could help to guide you to areas that meet your needs, this just happens to be the one we used and we loved her! https://kathysoldit.reeceandnichols.com/

Midwest_Girl · January 2011

Thank you so much, I will check those places out! My kids are young, but the older one is 3, so will be starting school soon enough and finding good schools is my top priority. Also, being in a location with conveniences, I mean, that there are things like dance classes, gymnastics, shopping, restaurants, etc. close. We currently live in a town outside of a big city and we weren't given enough time to look for houses and after living here for awhile, we learned just how far it is to get to anything. I'm not interested in going through that again. I make my kids ride in the car for way too long to go do anything "fun" for them. So I just want to do much more research this time and find out where I would want to live. Thank you so much for the feedback!

lauralew · January 2011

If you are concerned about the safety of the area, you can always call the city's police department and ask for statistics on how often they respond to calls in that neighborhood and what the calls are for. Something to consider if you're thinking of public schools is that Kansas City, Mo School District is NOT accredited. That means if your child graduates from a KCMO SD high school they will have to take additional tests to go to college/university. A lot of KCMO SD kids go to private schools, many of the Catholic but there are a few non-religious and different Christian denomination private schools. On the Missouri side, Blue Springs would be my only other suggestion. In Johnson County, KS, most of the school districts are great and you really wouldn't have to worry about them. Wyandotte County, KS, school districts are actually pretty good, too. WyCo just gets a bad rap sometimes... There are so many beautiful areas in KC. KC is an amazing city with a lot going for it...I kind of think it's the best kept secret of the Midwest.

brookeniki · January 2011

Northland is a GREAT area...Park Hill or Liberty School district. Many conveniences around and overall a great area...close to the airport and many other amenities!

MelZull · January 2011

Welcome. My husband and I moved to the KC area almost 6 years ago. We live in Lees Summit, MO and love it. We are so close to so many different choices for shopping, restaurants, activities and so much more. LS has a great school district, which is one of the reasons we decided to live here. It is a very safe part of the KC area (my husband is a police officer in LS) and just a wonderful place to live. We are only about a 20 minute drive from downtown KC and you can get almost anywhere in the metro area within 30 minutes.

When we moved down here from MN we were also unfamiliar with the area. Sure some of dh family is down here, but they are also fairly new to the city as well. When we visited LS and drove around the area, it just felt right and like home to us.

Good luck with your search. There really are so many great communities within the KC metro area.

Midwest_Girl · January 2011

MelZull:
Welcome. My husband and I moved to the KC area almost 6 years ago. We live in Lees Summit, MO and love it. We are so close to so many different choices for shopping, restaurants, activities and so much more. LS has a great school district, which is one of the reasons we decided to live here. It is a very safe part of the KC area (my husband is a police officer in LS) and just a wonderful place to live. We are only about a 20 minute drive from downtown KC and you can get almost anywhere in the metro area within 30 minutes.
When we moved down here from MN we were also unfamiliar with the area. Sure some of dh family is down here, but they are also fairly new to the city as well. When we visited LS and drove around the area, it just felt right and like home to us.
Good luck with your search. There really are so many great communities within the KC metro area.

I'm so interested in more about how you like it! We are from MN and I was hoping we would get to move back to the Mpls area. But, moving to KS will actually give our family some other things that will benefit our family as well - like my husband being home almost every night. He travels at least 3-4 nights per week right now. So, although KS isn't "home" for us, I'm trying to embrace the possibility of moving there. Is is similar to living in MN? Like I said before, we are on the East Coast now, and I really want to get back to the Midwest somewhere to raise my kids.

Midwest_Girl · January 2011

We are Catholic and I have considered sending my kids to Catholic school, but I don't want to feel forced to do so because the schools aren't up to par. I don't think living right in the city was really a necessity for us and definitely not if the schools aren't accredited. I'm just hoping for a suburb that has good amenities as well as good schools, and safety. I want my girls to take swimming lessons, gymnastics, soccer, etc (or whatever they want to be in), and to to have it close to our house.

Thank you so much everyone!

PrincessFiona9 · January 2011

I don't know why that person said KCMO schools aren't accredited...I graduated from Park Hill which is a high school in Kansas City, MO and it definitely is accredited.

With that being said, I live in the Northland (KCMO) and I wouldn't have it any other way. Like a PP said, though, it really depends on where you/your DH is going to be working. Kansas City is in both MO and KS and there are a lot of surrounding suburbs too so you could end up with an hour commute each way.

mm&mm · January 2011

AshleyMichelle06:

I don't know why that person said KCMO schools aren't accredited...I graduated from Park Hill which is a high school in Kansas City, MO and it definitely is accredited.

The actual Kansas City, MO School District is not accredited. Park Hill is it's own school district which is accredited. There are several districts within KC city limits that are accredited, just not KCMO itself. Hope that clarifies things!

MelZull · January 2011

Well, I actually grew up in the Milwaukee area and then moved to MN for college. After I graduated college dh and I moved down here because there were/are so many more opprotunities with the metro area growing so fast.

We moved down here not knowing anyone but my ILs and SIL. It was very difficult starting over and building a new life down here. However, it was the best decision we could have made.

Here is the Lee's Summit city website https://cityofls.net/City-of-Lees-Summit.aspx . LS is located on eastern side of the metro in MO. The part of the LS we live is 10 minutes from a large(ish) mall, a handful of grocery stores, Target, several other growing shopping areas, Walmart, craft stores, restaurants and just about anything else you might need.

Our first trip to LS was when Dh applied for their police dept and was going in for his first interview. I walked around the shopping area and it just felt right. When we visited other parts of the metro area it just seemed too big to busy, to spread out, or just didn't feel like home to us.

My words of advice... once you know what part of the city you both will be working in, decide how long of a commute you are willing to do. Look around at the different suburbs and visit them. See what feels right and where you feel the most comfortable.

Army vs Navy · January 2011

Platte City, Parkville, Kansas City (North) would be good locations to start your search on the MO side if you want to stay north of the river on the MO side.

Platte City School District, Park Hill School District, and North Kansas City School District are good.

katelauderdale06 · January 2011

Lee's Summit has the best school district in the area. Period. I've lived here my entire life. Lee's Summit is safe and is almost always on the "Best places to raise a family" type lists. I went to school here and the teachers are fantastic. The extra-curriculars and afterschool activities are great as well.

girltakescharge · January 2011

We live in Parkville, Missouri and absolutely love living here. It is a very quaint town next to the Missouri river, tucked away in a corner of Platte County, but very close to downtown KC, maybe 10-15 minutes away. It is very close to Zona Rosa and shopping and very safe. They are part of the Park Hill School District which is one of the best in Missouri, this was all the most important since my son has an IEP and needs specialized instruction and his school Graden Elementary has been great. I also have younger siblings enrolled in Park Hill South High School and one of the middle schools and they love it and the teachers are great.

dgeorge22 · January 2011

If your looking for a good school district I would highly recommend Blue Valley schools in South Overland Park. The best in the Kansas City area. As long as your willing to spend $350,000+ on a house, that's where to be.

jivastudio · January 2011

I teach in Olathe, KS. Not far from Overland Park. The schools in Overland Park and Olathe are really good, and there are tons of things for kids to do. I nanny in the summers (although this will be my last summer, since I will have my own little one soon). Anyways, I always take the girls out to do kid friendly stuff and it is all relatively close.

mvhyde · January 2011

We moved to Platte City from Georgia last year. I love it here. We don't have kids (expecting in July).

The homes are really affordable (compared to Atlanta, but also to Kansas city), we got a 3br townhome for ~128K but there were lots of single family homes for ~150K.

I hear that the school district is good from people all the time, but since we don't have kids I can't attest to that.

I love our public library and the Y here is really good. There are so many parks and walking trails nearby and we are < 15 mins away from the airport and only 15 mins from shops and restaurants.

twocents6708 · February 2011

It obviously depends on where your DH will be working but I would highly recommend the Northland area as well. We live near Liberty MO, a suburb of KC. The schools are great and everything is close by. Park Hill and Platte County area and schools are also a good area in the Northland.

Swanny2 · February 2011

Hi -- I know that you posted this a couple weeks ago now, but I don't get on to check things everyday and when I saw that you're from the MN area, I thought I'd post a reply!

DH and I moved here directly from his college graduation and I'd been out 2 years, 8 years ago. We absolutly love it in KC, as DH grew up an hour west of the Twin Cities and I grew up on a farm in IN. We moved here with NO family and NO friends, as DH was reassigned to move here for his job. (We were initially told we could live anywhere with a major metro area and were gonna live in Chicago or Mlps.)

But, that asside, we live in the Northland b/c we found it to be very welcoming and on the less-expensive side for taxes and housing -- both the actual apartment/homes pricing and property taxes. Everything is within a 15-minute drive in the Northland and we can make it from our door step to the airport in 20 minutes and we usually only leave 30 minutes before we need to be there, even to park!

I agree with the previous posters who said that the Northland schools are some of the best in the region with Park Hill, Platte County, Liberty and North KC being your main choices ... although I can say that I now have friends with kids in some of the "more country" districts like Smithville and Kearney too and their commute is only 15-20 minutes for their jobs. It does really depend on where DH's job would be as to how far you would want to commute!

Hope that info helps! We really miss MN a lot and we go home frequently ... at least every other month and it takes us 8 hrs. flat from our door to my MIL's in Litchfield. We can make it in 7.5 to my SIL's in St. Cloud!

sarainkansascity · February 2011

mm&mm:
I would recommend the Northland area of KC....specifically looking within the Liberty or Park Hill School Districts.
Here is a great realtor who is very knowledgeable of the KC area and could direct you to great school districts. Really, I am sure any realtor could help to guide you to areas that meet your needs, this just happens to be the one we used and we loved her! https://kathysoldit.reeceandnichols.com/

I also live in the Northland (Parkville, MO) and really like it! Great shopping, restaurants, parks & schools. And only a 15 minute commute to downtown Kansas City (don't know WHERE in KC your hubby's job will be). Liberty is great too, and only another 10 min. commute... however, it's a VERY busy & growing area.

I agree with the other posters regarding Johnson County, if you're considering Kansas. Schools, restaurants, family activities & great areas with new and used homes.

Before my daughter was born, I worked for 4 years at an EXCELLENT Kansas City real estate office, Prudential Kansas City. They have multiple offices in Johnson County & the Northland & I'd be happy to recommend a realtor. Or, please check out their website for great home searches that you can save & get email alerts based on your interests: www.PruKC.com.

AllIn · March 2011

Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village & Shawnee Mission (Shawnee Mission & Olathe School Districts) If you look in Olathe, stay away from schools that feed into Olathe North. I went there and it was a great school, but since I graduated they have put low income housing in that area, and the schools there have been abused by the students and they have had discipline issues. All the other high schools, there are 3 others, are in newer areas and have great reputations.

Shawnee Mission North is also considered a rougher school, but otherwise Shawnee Mission is a wonderful district, I student taught at one of the middle schools and have substitute taught throughout the district. I would love to have a full time job there.

Stay away from KCK, it is not a very safe part of town and the schools are rough.

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