relocating to kc need a locals advice pls (Kansas City, St. Louis: section 8, apartment complexes)

[aharris1]

hello all,
I am looking to narrow my apartment search and gain a locals perspective on the city. Employed at local non-profit downtown I would like to live as close to the community i serve as is safe. Here is an idea of what im looking for:

safe: as a registered foster parent in MO, i will be parenting again as soon as im settled, ability to safley walk the neighboorhood with my new family is a must. and..
i am occasionally on-call for work so i need to feel comfortable at all hours of the day.

quality: as a foster parent the property must pass a home study must be 2bdr and must be in MO

price: employed at a non-profit i can not afford more than 600$ 2bdr is a must

areas ive looked at:
hyde park- advice needed : im not sure what i think
south of 435: found one place
price quality and safety is most important so i would go farther south, east if needed
thankyou!

[WiseOwlSaysHoot]

I live in Hyde Park and I love it. Here is a thread with some photos I took, if you want to see more: https://www.city-data.com/forum/kansa...od-kansas.html

I think Hyde Park is perfectly safe. I walk around the neighborhood all the time - and you'll see a good amount of families around walking, biking, in front yards, etc. The neighborhood can vary block-to-block in some areas - with some troublesome apartments making certain areas not as nice. Yes, Hyde Park will have a higher crime rate than some areas - but much of the crime (especially the more serious stuff) is centered in these Section 8 apartments.

Hyde Park will obviously be much closer to Downtown than south of 435. It will also have a much different vibe - city vs suburb.

A 2 bedroom for $600 is a pretty low budget. You can definitely find apartments in that range, but there probably will have to be some sort of compromise on quality, or the location of the apartment.

You may want to look into some income restricted/ affordable housing.

I know that westsidehousing.org has some affordable housing options. Check out this 2 bedroom duplex for $540! WestSide Housing Organization

The Westside is a great neighborhood just west of Downtown/Crossroads. The North of the Westside -north of W. Pennway, centered around 17th and Summit - is definitely nicer than the southern parts (it's been undergoing a lot of gentrification in the past decade or so).

[MOKAN]

Originally Posted by aharris1

hello all,
I am looking to narrow my apartment search and gain a locals perspective on the city. Employed at local non-profit downtown I would like to live as close to the community i serve as is safe. Here is an idea of what im looking for:

safe: as a registered foster parent in MO, i will be parenting again as soon as im settled, ability to safley walk the neighboorhood with my new family is a must. and..
i am occasionally on-call for work so i need to feel comfortable at all hours of the day.

quality: as a foster parent the property must pass a home study must be 2bdr and must be in MO

price: employed at a non-profit i can not afford more than 600$ 2bdr is a must

areas ive looked at:
hyde park- advice needed : im not sure what i think
south of 435: found one place
price quality and safety is most important so i would go farther south, east if needed
thankyou!

North Kansas City might be a perfect fit for what you seek.

It's a small, safe, small-townish suburb of about 5,000 just north of the Missouri River from downtown. It has a great community center, parks, and even has a small-town downtown along Armour BLVD that is family-friendly. I wouldn't rule out suburban areas of KCMO that are just north of NKC either. There are lots of apartment complexes up that way.

[Louwho22]

I live in Hyde park and enjoy it as well. However, $600 is somewhat low for the area. It could be found but not sure within the criteria you seek. My two bedroom apartment is 870/month to give you an idea. I agree with the previous post about looking in north Kansas city especially if you will have children.

[nicola.kirwan]

Hi, I'm also looking at the Hyde Park area. I'm a young professional, and basically like a lot of greenery and a general feeling of safety. I'm not really into the bar/club scene, and don't need a bunch of shops right outside my window, but I do like things to be nearby. In you all's opinion, what is South Hyde Park's "walkability" like? Walkscore has it as "somewhat walkable" (with places like the Plaza as "very walkable"), and I was curious how that translates practically. Like, how far do you generally go to run errands. Do you actually walk to different places?

Any other insights into this area would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

[aragx6]

Hyde Park is a short drive to everything, but it's not really walkable to much of anything. The people I know who live in Hyde Park will walk the dog around the neighborhood, but get in the car for all their errands.

[xenokc]

The housing stock in Hyde Park is great but if safety is your number one concern, it's not exactly the best part of midtown/downtown, though improving. There are a few amenities along Troost but if safety is first concern, that's not the better of places to be. If coming from N STL or S Philly, S Hyde Park might be a cakewalk... depends on what you're accustomed to.

Check out the western side of Midtown too - Volker/Roanoke and W Plaza.

Are you looking for house or apt?

[nicola.kirwan]

Originally Posted by xenokc

The housing stock in Hyde Park is great but if safety is your number one concern, it's not exactly the best part of midtown/downtown, though improving. There are a few amenities along Troost but if safety is first concern, that's not the better of places to be. If coming from N STL or S Philly, S Hyde Park might be a cakewalk... depends on what you're accustomed to.

Check out the western side of Midtown too - Volker/Roanoke and W Plaza.

Are you looking for house or apt?

I'm looking for an apartment, but am finding that small houses can be rented for the same amount. It's just me, though, so I'm not sure I want to pay utilities for more space than is necessary. Interestingly enough, I've lived in both StL and Philly, though not in North St. Louis or South Philadelphia. Nevertheless in Philly I lived in kind of a block by block area near Germantown. My block was nice enough, but the next one over was not. I've heard that Hyde Park can be the same way.

I'm also interested in the Volker/Roanoke area. How is downtown? I wanted to live closer to the Plaza and UMKC, but there seem to be some good deals on lofts in the downtown area.

[aragx6]

I live in Volker and I love it. The housing stock isn't as architecturally significant, but the neighborhood more than makes up for that with 39th Street West, which is a great little strip of restaurants, shops and bars. Laid back, a little hipster-y and still very family friendly as well. Plus it's walking distance to Westport.

After moving here from Chicago we knew we wouldn't be able to really rweplicate what we'd come from, but we've found Volker to be about as close as we can get.

Frankly, downtown bores me to pieces, but it's great for some people!

Where'd you live in St. Louis?

[xenokc]

If you want to be near UMKC, also check S Plaza, especially around the Plaza Library - very safe. Downtown is doable for many and has 'real' lofts but doesn't have as much daily (well evening) energy as Midtown/Westport/Plaza. You said you aren't into bars/clubs so River Market or Crossroads or Union Hill might be your pace - but downtown rentals are 98% occupied.

Here's a city guide to give you some reference..
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1238514/pics/bus/maxmwk.gif

Here's a downtown housing guide in case you want to check it out...
http://www.downtownkc.org/wp-content...ing-Report.pdf

If you can handle iffy areas, Hyde Park and Armour Blvd are still doable. I have friends in those areas and they are OK with it but W Side of Midtown to Plaza area does have less issues.