Moving to KC area....need HELP!!!! (Kansas City, Lee's Summit: apartments, house, school districts) - Missouri (MO) - City-Data Forum

madcam · 08-13-2009, 10:05 AM

Hi! We are getting ready to move to the Kansas City area. I have begun to look at the areas we may like to live in and was wondering if someone....anyone.....could give me info on the areas of Liberty, Blue Springs and Lee's Summit. I am looking for a comparison of those school districts, communities, etc. Also if I am overlooking an area that you feel is worth checking out, let me know. I am going in blind so I have no idea what any of these places look or "feel" like. I do not want to live in a really rural area....like to be close to shopping, restaurants, activities and need easy access to KC and relativly easy access to the airport. Thanks for any info you can help me with. (Schools are KEY!!!!)

kcmo · 08-13-2009, 12:26 PM

All three are good and depending on what actual schools you live by, can be some of the best in the state. Like any district, even the suburbs have some schools that may not do quite as well as others, basically schools in slightly lower income areas, where there are a lot of apartments etc. But even those schools tend to be far better than many other metro area districts.

You really can't go wrong with the overall quality of the districts though.

Of the three, I would choose Lee's Summit personally. That's just a personal preference though.

All three areas offer a wide range of suburban housing from 160k to the millions. All three have all your typical suburban shopping and restaurants nearby and all three are about the same distance from regional attractions, downtown etc. All three are growing fast and adding more retail and housing every year.

Samantha S · 08-13-2009, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madcam

Hi! We are getting ready to move to the Kansas City area. I have begun to look at the areas we may like to live in and was wondering if someone....anyone.....could give me info on the areas of Liberty, Blue Springs and Lee's Summit. I am looking for a comparison of those school districts, communities, etc. Also if I am overlooking an area that you feel is worth checking out, let me know. I am going in blind so I have no idea what any of these places look or "feel" like. I do not want to live in a really rural area....like to be close to shopping, restaurants, activities and need easy access to KC and relativly easy access to the airport. Thanks for any info you can help me with. (Schools are KEY!!!!)

Of the three areas you listed, I would choose Lee's Summit first, then Liberty an Blue Springs.

I live on the KS side though and so am more familiar with that area.

If schools are the top priority, I would recommend also checking out Johnson County (JoCo) on the Kansas side. Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission districts are especially top notch. DeSoto and Olathe districts are also very good. (That is not a put-down of MO schools) Much of JoCo also offers just as easy access to shopping, activities, restaurants etc. as the burbs on the MO side.

I prefer the KS side over the MO burbs, but everyone has their own opinions on that. Since you asked what other areas you might want to check out, JoCo would definitely be an area to consider.

Best of luck to you and Welcome!!

madcam · 08-13-2009, 01:44 PM

Thanks for the information.....I guess I will have to wait and see what it is like when we get there to house hunt next month. I am pretty excited to move there. We visited northern Arkansas and parts of Missouri this summer and I thought what little I saw of Missouri was absolutely beautiful!! I was born and raised in the south so I am ready for a little bit of a change and very excited to move my kids into significantly better schools. And while I don't want to live in a city that large, I love the cultural benefits that being so close to one provides. kcmo, i read some of your posts about some of the attractions in KC and I am even more excited to move now!!

famusdarlin · 08-16-2009, 08:04 PM

I think if schools are key each of the areas you listed are great. If you are looking for a larger community go with Lee's Summit. If you are looking for small town pick Liberty. Blue Springs is a great place as well. I actually have lived in all three. I first grew up in Lakewood which used to be part of Blue Springs SD and went to Blue Springs schools. They were fantastic. Then we moved to Liberty and I loved it there as well.