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best/favorite area of KC?
Hi there ladies!
My husband and I are likely moving to Kansas City this fall and I'm starting to think ahead a little bit.
I've spent a lot of time in the area, but I can't tell which part we'd like.
The church I absolutely adore is in OP, but I've spent a LOT of time in Lee's Summit and love it. But the truth is, we're young, just graduating from college and I don't know if we really will be able to afford living in those areas at first.
My BFF is from LS but wants to move to north KC this fall. I know we'll find the perfect spot but I'd love to hear a little description of the different parts of the KC metro area if you don't mind.
Some background - we'll be 23 & 25 at the time, looking for our first jobs. DH will have his Master's in mechanical engineering and I'll have my bachelor's in communication studies/PR. We have a labrador retriever. We'll need to rent an apartment for 6months to a year as we scout for houses and do some saving.
What do you think, natives? Thanks for your insight!
Re: best/favorite area of KC?
Well, I may be a bit biased, but I would venture to guess that everyone loves the area they are in!
We live in the Northland and would recommend it to anyone. I like it because it is suburbia, but a quick drive to downtown, the Plaza, KS Speedway, the airport, etc. You can find a wide variety of houses here, from older fixer-uppers to brand new, build to suit. I feel safe here and think that the northland has great schools from Park Hill to Liberty.
As a sidenote, my favorite place to take my dog (also a lab) up north is English Landing Park in Parkville. I love walking along the river; it is so peaceful!
Good luck and welcome to KC!
There are pros/cons to every area in KC, so my suggestion is to look at several areas before making your decision.
I grew up in Gladstone (North of the River). The Northland is growing and as pp stated, you can get to downtown (Power Light District) and the Plaza pretty easily. To get to the Kansas areas, it does take a bit more time.
My first house was in the Waldo/Brookside area. LOVED it!!!! The Brookside area is one of the favorite places to live in KC - very urban. It is just south of the Plaza and is really central to everything. Lots of electic stores around, but a drive to a shopping mall (if that is what you want).
When I was first married, I lived in Olathe. It was a good suburb, but honestly, I felt so far away from everyone and everything. To get to the Plaza and downtown, plan on 30-40 minutes.
Now we live in South Overland Park, almost Leawood. We love our house and neighborhood - but it is also a little further "out" than we would like. The area is growing, but we have to drive for most shopping and restaurants.
Good luck in your search!
Honestly, I would just suggest living near wherever your jobs are. That said, Lenexa is probably my preferred area of town.
Currently my husband works in Lenexa, I work in Overland Park and we live in Overland Park. We like it very much.
We live in Lees Summit. It sounds like you are already a little familiar with the area. We have an excellent school system, almost anything you can think if can be found in town (movie theater, shopping, resturants, great parks, ect) We both also work in town. There are many different apt complexes available, some are good and others are not so good. Houses can also be found at a variety of price ranges.
I would suggest like other, find jobs and then move closer to where you work. This will have time with a commute and money on gas.
If we lived in KC (for me, again), we would live west. My dad lives outside of Bonner Springs in Leavenworth County and my grandparents live in Lenexa. They're both more expensive areas, but they're nice.
Overland Park has a LOT of nice areas, apartment complexes and subdivisions. It's hard to find one place I would live there, there are pros and cons to every part of town. I've never lived on the Missouri side, but there's lots of good places to shop and eat.?
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Thank you, thank you for all of the input. Keep it coming!
Does anyone have experience renting with a large dog? It's proving to be pretty frustrating as I start my search.
Any specific apartment complexes or anything?
I'd love to rent a townhouse or duplex, but it's a little early to start looking for that, as we'd be moving this September/October.
This migth be a little late post but we have also just moved to KC and live in Lees Summit. I am not sure about apts but we live in a townhome and there are alot of affordable ones for sale. It is a drive to the city but we like living outside the city. There are so many different areas to look at, it just depends on your preference.
I would also suggest living near where you get jobs, but in the meantime, I have a few suggestions for renting with dogs. We have rented with our 2 dogs who are each about 60lbs for many years.
I think some of the best, pet-friendly, rentals are Amli. We have rented at Amli at Cambridge Square for 2 years. It is a good, central to everything, location at I-435 and Nall. You would be about 35 minutes to LS, 20-30 min to downtown or the Plaza. It is right up the street from walking trails that extend all through Johnson County. We really love it there. Amli also has a new complex in LS which looks really nice and one in Olathe that has small fenced yards, good for late night potty breaks with dogs.
I also have a friend who lived with her dog in Olathe at the Marquis at Lakeside. Her apartment was really nice and they had a 1 acre, fenced dog park which is great.
Good luck!
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We are renting in Overland Park. We also have a large dog (a 125-lb. Newfoundland). I agree - it's frustrating looking for a place that takes big dogs. (We found one complex that advertised that they "loved big dogs" but their weight limit was 60 lbs.) We ended up going with the Four Winds apartment complex. We had to pay a non-refundable pet deposit and $20/mo pet rent, but they don't have a weight limit and it has been a pretty good place to live.
Here's their website:
http://www.fourwindsapartments.com/1/Overland-Park-Kansas-Apartments/
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I also live in the Northland love it. I live in Liberty and like most of the girls have already said, it is super easy to get to all of the places you might want to go for shopping and entertainment.
Are you thinking about having kids soon? If so, you might want to think about the school districts as well. Liberty and Park Hill school districts are the top rated in the Northland area. Lee's Summit is probably the highest rated if you go South. I teach in Blue Springs which is right "next door" to Lee's Summit. To be honest, I'd choose to live in Lee's Summit over Blue Springs if I had to pick one.
I work in real estate as a side job, so let me know if you need any help finding a house! Just page me on this board and we can chat or you can email me at beth.m.freeman at gmail.
I don't know a ton about places to rent, but I do know there are some brand new, nice apartments being finished up right by the Target in Liberty (actually a Kansas City address). Those would have very quick access to I-35, I-435, and Hwy 152. Those are all within a mile of those apartments. And it does say that pets are subject to approval.
http://www.wildoakapartments.com/1/Kansas-City-Missouri-Apartments/