KC Metro vs the 'Burbs (Kansas City, Republic: renting, houses, neighborhood)

[brooksider2brooklyn]

Originally Posted by katie45

Wow! The epitome of cynical! And the entire description of residents of JOCO is very untrue.

Does not seem too far off to me. JOCounty is not a good place for young singles unless you are in the KU Jayhwks community.

[GraniteStater]

JOCO is not very walkable at all overall, and the zoning is very antiquated pertaining to single family residential, multi-family residential, and commercial. There are many suburban areas around the country that have dense areas that are pedestrian and transit friendly that have higher percentages of single people and professionals that makes it easier to meet people. The built environment of JOCO will have to change some and adapt to changing demographic trends and preferences of younger generations that might weight different attributes differently than prior generations.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by katie45

Wow! The epitome of cynical! And the entire description of residents of JOCO is very untrue.

There's an element of truth to what he says. I actually AM a gay male in my 30s and it came up that I was gay (I'm not in the closet but I'm not really someone most assume is gay and I don't normally go out of my way to tell people I am unless asked) and a co-worker from Leawood said that he figured I was, ONLY because I was 30 and not married. Ironically, he was right, but I was still somewhat offended by his assumption, on behalf of similarly-situated straight males in their 30s. Keep in mind I work in a professional, white collar position where most people have advanced degrees.

At any rate.... the suburbs are very, very Republican with very traditional old fashioned values. That is true in both JoCo and the Missouri side. Do not expect liberal suburbs like you see on the coasts. They do not exist in this metro area. You are solidly in red country, with the exception of the city proper, and even that is limited really to a select few neighborhoods stretching from downtown to Waldo. I technically live in KC proper but it's just as bad as JoCo.

It's actually the reason why I'm moving back to the West Coast. I don't have any interest in moving back to SoCal so I'm heading to Seattle. While there are a lot of things I like about KC, I really don't like the politics here and the judgmental mentalities. Even the "liberal" neighborhoods are just mostly 20 somethings that live there for a few years, get married, and move to suburbia where they become Republicans. It's actually also true for a lot of gay guys as well. I'm totally a fish out of water.

I also truly disdain the new governor of Missouri almost as much as Brownback and I'm sick of seeing KC stymied of its potential due to its unfortunate location.

[PA650]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

There's an element of truth to what he says. I actually AM a gay male in my 30s and it came up that I was gay (I'm not in the closet but I'm not really someone most assume is gay and I don't normally go out of my way people I am unless asked) and a co-worker from Leawood said that he figured I was, ONLY because I was 30 and not married. Ironically, he was right, but I was still somewhat offended by his assumption, on behalf of similarly-situated straight males in their 30s. Keep in mind I work in a professional, white collar position.

At any rate.... the suburbs are very, very Republican with very traditional old fashioned values. That is true in both JoCo and the Missouri side. Do not expect liberal suburbs like you see on the coasts. They do not exist in this metro area. You are solidly in red country, with the exception of the city proper, and even that is limited really to a select few neighborhoods stretching from downtown to Waldo. I technically live in KC proper but it's just as bad as JoCo.

It's actually the reason why I'm moving back to the West Coast. I don't have any interest in moving back to SoCal so I'm heading to Seattle. While there are a lot of things I like about KC, I really don't like the politics here and the judgmental mentalities. Even the "liberal" neighborhoods are just mostly 20 somethings that live there for a few years, get married, and move to suburbia where they become Republicans. It's actually also true for a lot of gay guys as well. I'm totally a fish out of water.

I also truly disdain the new governor of Missouri almost as much as Brownback and I'm sick of seeing KC stymied of its potential due to its unfortunate location.

Well, if it hasn't been obvious before I do work in Johnson County (Northeast) and I understand where you're coming from. Interesting observation on the move to the suburbs and adopting a more conservative mindset among some people. Regarding the politics of the state government, I still think KC and St. Louis can overcome the stupidity of the new governor and rural legislators of Jeff City. In the end, I'm from the Bay Area and went to school in Oregon, so I do hear you on going back West. I haven't given up on KC and so far many of my suburban coworkers are pretty good, but I do crack up on ones that never go to the city. Those Joco strip malls must be hella tight...

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by PA650

Well, if it hasn't been obvious before I do work in Johnson County (Northeast) and I understand where you're coming from. Interesting observation on the move to the suburbs and adopting a more conservative mindset among some people. Regarding the politics of the state government, I still think KC and St. Louis can overcome the stupidity of the new governor and rural legislators of Jeff City. In the end, I'm from the Bay Area and went to school in Oregon, so I do hear you on going back West. I haven't given up on KC and so far many of my suburban coworkers are pretty good, but I do crack up on ones that never go to the city. Those Joco strip malls must be hella tight...

Oh yeah, my old neighbor in Westport was a huge party girl, had lavender hair and piercings all over 3 years ago. I recently saw her and she's back to blonde hair, no visible piercings, living in Olathe, married with a kid on the way. Which is totally fine and I'm extremely happy for her, but it's just an example of how things go here. The liberal neighborhoods tend to be much younger as a general rule, and when they get older they move (usually back) to the burbs they came from. Hell, I moved from Westport to the Plaza to suburban KC proper myself to be closer to work and because I have early work hours and the noise level in the neighborhoods I was living in Westport were just too much.

I have high hopes for KC, and I truly want it to succeed. It could rival the likes of Denver and Minneapolis if there was a will to make it happen. But I only have 1 life and I can't waste it waiting for the city, Kansas, Missouri, JoCo, etc. to get their **** together.

[lovekcmo]

The suburbs are wonderful if one values safety, cleanliness, traditional values, etc. Plenty of shopping, restaurants, medical care, churches, schools, etc. all the suburbs in Johnson County KS are safe bet, along with Lee's Summit, parts of Independence, Blue Springs, Grain Valley in Jackson County and Kansas City north of the river is basically a suburb like Johnson County. If one wants to live in Kansas City MO, but has family and doesn't want the tilt to the left of the urban core, one can be a KC resident north of the river and have both city address and suburban values and all that comes with it.

[TabulaRasa]

Originally Posted by brooksider2brooklyn

Does not seem too far off to me. JOCounty is not a good place for young singles unless you are in the KU Jayhwks community.

I don't think Johnson County is the most young-adult oriented part of the metro, either, and though living here as a married parent is perfectly fine, I wouldn't have chosen (and didn't choose) to live here as a young single.

That said, the poster who was quoted appears, from a variety of his posts, to have a lot of petty axes to grind, and I doubt very much that his personal issues either center around Johnson County residents, or that they will be resolved by moving elsewhere.

[PA650]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

Oh yeah, my old neighbor in Westport was a huge party girl, had lavender hair and piercings all over 3 years ago. I recently saw her and she's back to blonde hair, no visible piercings, living in Olathe, married with a kid on the way. Which is totally fine and I'm extremely happy for her, but it's just an example of how things go here. The liberal neighborhoods tend to be much younger as a general rule, and when they get older they move (usually back) to the burbs they came from. Hell, I moved from Westport to the Plaza to suburban KC proper myself to be closer to work and because I have early work hours and the noise level in the neighborhoods I was living in Westport were just too much.

I have high hopes for KC, and I truly want it to succeed. It could rival the likes of Denver and Minneapolis if there was a will to make it happen. But I only have 1 life and I can't waste it waiting for the city, Kansas, Missouri, JoCo, etc. to get their **** together.

I certainly get your point of view. I think downtown KC will be very different in the next 5 years. In my profession, there are a handful of firms that are in the urban core from the Plaza to the River Market, so that opportunity is always there for me if I want to change companies. By the way, as a Californian, the Northwest winters killed me, but I have a feeling you will bear it much better than I did.

[lovekcmo]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

There's an element of truth to what he says. I actually AM a gay male in my 30s and it came up that I was gay (I'm not in the closet but I'm not really someone most assume is gay and I don't normally go out of my way to tell people I am unless asked) and a co-worker from Leawood said that he figured I was, ONLY because I was 30 and not married. Ironically, he was right, but I was still somewhat offended by his assumption, on behalf of similarly-situated straight males in their 30s. Keep in mind I work in a professional, white collar position where most people have advanced degrees.

At any rate.... the suburbs are very, very Republican with very traditional old fashioned values. That is true in both JoCo and the Missouri side. Do not expect liberal suburbs like you see on the coasts. They do not exist in this metro area. You are solidly in red country, with the exception of the city proper, and even that is limited really to a select few neighborhoods stretching from downtown to Waldo. I technically live in KC proper but it's just as bad as JoCo.

It's actually the reason why I'm moving back to the West Coast. I don't have any interest in moving back to SoCal so I'm heading to Seattle. While there are a lot of things I like about KC, I really don't like the politics here and the judgmental mentalities. Even the "liberal" neighborhoods are just mostly 20 somethings that live there for a few years, get married, and move to suburbia where they become Republicans. It's actually also true for a lot of gay guys as well. I'm totally a fish out of water.

I also truly disdain the new governor of Missouri almost as much as Brownback and I'm sick of seeing KC stymied of its potential due to its unfortunate location.

It sounds like you really aren't a good fit for KC and should look to move to a more liberal enclave, maybe Chicago or the west coast.

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

At any rate.... the suburbs are very, very Republican with very traditional old fashioned values. That is true in both JoCo and the Missouri side. Do not expect liberal suburbs like you see on the coasts. They do not exist in this metro area. You are solidly in red country, with the exception of the city proper, and even that is limited really to a select few neighborhoods stretching from downtown to Waldo. I technically live in KC proper but it's just as bad as JoCo.

.

I was going to say in my earlier post that there's not really a lot of difference between the Kansas and Missouri side of the metro. Glad you said it.


That said, though, I have found a lot of Johnson County to be pretty liberal. I think in part that is due to the large Jewish population in Johnson County, and they tend to be liberal. Which doesn't bother me in the least; just an observation I have made.