Guess what? It's OK to like the Suburbs! (Kansas City, Columbia: crime, how much)

[rwiksell]

I can't believe I actually have to say this. (The thread I was going to say it in was just closed.) But here it is: I don't know a single participant of the Kansas City forum who begrudges people who live in the suburbs because they like it there. Name any "city-booster" you want who frequents these threads. EVERY SINGLE ONE will say "Hey, if you like Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, etc, more power to you."

But there's always a rub isn't there? And it lies herein: That so often (SO OFTEN!) the people who seem to just be trying to say how much they love Johnson County, also make sure to throw in something about how some other place sucks. Or they construct careless stereotypes, or make presumptuous and baseless arguments about urban dwellers or their environments.

Don't take my word for it. Go start a thread called "I like Johnson County". Say things like "It's nice here. The schools are good. Crime is low. The streets are clean. Other places are good too, but I like living here. The end." I guarantee you will get ZERO blowback from city-boosters. But if you watch carefully, and you see a flame war erupt, it will begin at precisely the moment that somebody jumps in and makes one of the inflammatory errors I listed above.

Granted, the city-boosters all wish that Johnson Countians would show a little more team-spirit. But notice the difference: They don't want you to move to Missouri. They just want you to do your part (and maybe stop bad-mouthing the city.) That's it.

Thank you all for your time and consideration.

[LittleJon]

One of the beautiful things about KC and the surrounding areas is access. You can enjoy both the burbs & the urban scene quite easily. When I lived in Orange County, going on a day trip to LA or SD was a nightmare, you were exhausted by the time you reached your destination hours later.

Both urban & suburban living have their good & bad points, depending on your lifestyle.

I still don't understand the flaming between the two factions on this forum, I've never encountered
it anywhere else. Must be a mid west "Ford vs. Chevy" type thing.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by LittleJon

One of the beautiful things about KC and the surrounding areas is access. You can enjoy both the burbs & the urban scene quite easily. When I lived in Orange County, going on a day trip to LA or SD was a nightmare, you were exhausted by the time you reached your destination hours later.

Both urban & suburban living have their good & bad points, depending on your lifestyle.

I still don't understand the flaming between the two factions on this forum, I've never encountered
it anywhere else. Must be a mid west "Ford vs. Chevy" type thing.

Thank you, yes.

My understanding of the animosity is partly historical and partly demographic in nature. Historically, Kansas and Missouri were (literally) violently at odds because of their respective roles in the Civil War. Fast forward 150 years, and the Kansas City metro area is now the most evenly divided between states of all major US metros. This has given Johnson County just enough fuel to believe that it is becoming a metropolitan juggernaut in its own right, and that it has to fend of KCMO's attempts at economic development in order to achieve its true destiny.

Again! This is not a value judgment about individuals who happen to live in Johnson County. Some there think this way, and some don't. But the attitude is prevailing enough to steer major policy decisions, and to kill any referendums that might be bold enough to suggest that Johnson County has a responsibility to participate in metro-wide progress.

[LittleJon]

lol, people REALLY need to let that kind of garbage go. I mean it's DONE! LET IT GO! MOVE FORWARD!

Both sides have too much to offer & need to come together & talk progress.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by LittleJon

lol, people REALLY need to let that kind of garbage go. I mean it's DONE! LET IT GO! MOVE FORWARD!

Both sides have too much to offer & need to come together & talk progress.

Which people? What kind of garbage?

[LittleJon]

Originally Posted by rwiksell

Which people? What kind of garbage?

Still carrying a torch for the civil war? Come on. If the politicians can't get along it doesn't make
sense for the locals to come on here & bash each other IMHO.

What does JoCo have to gain by isolating itself from KC?

Oh & by people I mean politicians, city leaders.

[rwiksell]

Originally Posted by LittleJon

Still carrying a torch for the civil war? Come on. If the politicians can't get along it doesn't make
sense for the locals to come on here & bash each other IMHO.

What does JoCo have to gain by isolating itself from KC?

Oh & by people I mean politicians, city leaders.

Agreed. Although I'll point out that nobody (except historians, maybe) is actually conscious of the ongoing impact of the old Civil War rivalry. It's just a back story.

[empires228]

I don't think the majority of people in JoCo hate KCMO or Missouri. The people who do just make sure to voice their opinion every chance they get, and if they can't find a chance to voice it they create one. If I ever had to move to KC the location would depend on what I was looking for. If I were going for schools I would try to live in the Blue Valley or Olathe districts because dealing with parents, teachers, and students in the Shawnee Mission and Lee's Summit schools have left an overall bad taste in my mouth for those areas. If I were to work for a business that had me traveling a lot I would want to live in the norther suburban areas to be close to the airport. I have nothing against the schools in the north land. I Just don't know anything about them and I know the Olathe and Blue Valley districts (as well as Lee's Summit and Shawnee Mission) have the support for the arts I require in a district...

[kcmo]

How much did the civil ware actually effect "Kansas City" metro residents? KCMO back then actually wanted to secede into Kansas to get out from under the confederate states. I think most of the battles that occurred around the KC area were from outsiders (out state Missour etc) coming into the area. KCK back then didn't seem to be too actively involved in civil war battles and JoCo was a farm field. Now I get the civil war thing between Lawrence and Columbia, which carries on today and comes up in KU/MU smack talk, but the KC area? Not really.

KC metro is just your typical urban vs suburban friction that almost every metro area deals with. The state line just takes it to another level because many of the suburbs of the KCMO are the primary economic engine of a different state. The suburban KS side of KC is basically the economy of Kansas and they are doing everything they can to try to make it a stand alone metro and grow the only real economy they have and so far the only way they have managed to do that is at the expense of KCMO and even Kansas' own KCK.

But yes, of course. Suburbs are fine. I have never any any animosity toward suburban development in its own right and I actually totally respect suburban areas that co-exist well with their urban counterparts and it does happen. Nowhere is perfect, but there are places that do a pretty good job with regional cooperation and respect.

[brooksider2brooklyn]

So I asked a question about how suburbanites view Pittsburgh city and guess what happened? Ten pages of bickering!

https://www.city-data.com/forum/pitts...urgh-city.html