Lansing/Basehor/...MO? (Kansas City, Parkville, Platte City: apartments, HOA fees, low crime)

[AF_Dude]

Greetings all,

My family and I just heard we'll be moving to to Ft Leavenworth. There's a couple posts already on Leavenworth, so I'll try to ask some different questions.

We plan on buying a newer home in the 200's, in a kid friendly neighborhood (parks/playgrounds a plus), in an area that is growing (you know, that part of town where the new shops/restaurants are going in).

We've looked at some of the newer subdivisions in Lansing (Ridges, Maples,...) and Mapquest is guestimating a 25 minute drive to post. Does that sound about right? Also, are there any of these newer subdivisions which have proven to be a bust? With the housing slump, sometimes builders/developers abandon neighborhoods and the HOA fees skyrocket.

We also found a home that we really like in....south Basehor....but MQ is predicting a 40-minute drive. I've read almost nothing about Basehor, so any opinions would be appreciated.

Last question. Are there any strong opinions about living across the river? Any major differences in taxes, services, shopping, QoL, etc ?

Sorry for the long post, but we live overseas and for our initial research need to rely on the folks that live there. Thanks again.

[IHT]

Originally Posted by AF_Dude

Greetings all,

My family and I just heard we'll be moving to to Ft Leavenworth. There's a couple posts already on Leavenworth, so I'll try to ask some different questions.

We plan on buying a newer home in the 200's, in a kid friendly neighborhood (parks/playgrounds a plus), in an area that is growing (you know, that part of town where the new shops/restaurants are going in).

We've looked at some of the newer subdivisions in Lansing (Ridges, Maples,...) and Mapquest is guestimating a 25 minute drive to post. Does that sound about right? Also, are there any of these newer subdivisions which have proven to be a bust? With the housing slump, sometimes builders/developers abandon neighborhoods and the HOA fees skyrocket.

We also found a home that we really like in....south Basehor....but MQ is predicting a 40-minute drive. I've read almost nothing about Basehor, so any opinions would be appreciated.

Last question. Are there any strong opinions about living across the river? Any major differences in taxes, services, shopping, QoL, etc ?

Sorry for the long post, but we live overseas and for our initial research need to rely on the folks that live there. Thanks again.

I live in Lansing, have since 2000. was stationed here twice before (91-92 and 94-96), got out in '96 and have been working as a civ on post ever since.

the Maples is a nice neighborhood, very new, some of the houses are around 300k, some as low as 230k, they have a HOA. i actually live in the subdivision that it's built behind and drive through it every day.
there was no "housing slump" here.

your guess on the drive time is correct, anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on lights, construction into the back gate (although it's only 12 miles from my house to where i work on post). right now, they have construction down the main street of leavenworth (4th Street or HWY 7). also have construction that is nearly done that will allow those that like to drive in the back gate to get there faster (less lights/traffic). these should both be done soon.
there are no "parks" or "shops/restaurants" being made that are within walking distance (or for the neighborhood for kids). if you're looking for that, you're in for a long drive from KC. there are a few very small parks sprinkled throughout Leavenworth/Lansing area.
Lansing has great schools, fairly low crime... not much shopping, if any at all. we do have a mega Wal-Mart. it's a small community. very quiet.

they recently built a "nascar' track about 15 minutes away, and a large outdoor shopping center, with tons of nice places to eat. next to the race track is also a minor league baseball park. down the road is a gigantic water park. just a 15 minute drive from lansing.
30-45 minutes puts you in the heart of downtown KC, about an hour or so will get you to the other side of KC where the Royals and Chiefs stadiums are located.
right down the highway is Lawrence, KS, where KU is located.
really not a bad location.

I would NOT recommend living in leavenworth (they should bulldoze half the city and start over). the schools are dumps, the subdivisions can be fairly unsafe... there are some spots that are nice, but the majority of it is not. it's old and run down.

Basehor is down HWY 7 from Lansing/Leavenworth. it's mostly a farming community. there isn't a shopping area to be found out there. there's a baseball field complex. it is closer to the shopping area than Lansing, but by minutes only.

on the missouri side, like Platte City, you'll have lower taxes, making gas about 10 cents cheaper a gallon. the size of the city is larger, and it's started to expand a good deal. the older part of Platte City doesn't get much attention, as the sprawl has been in a different direction and the stores are closer to Missouri Hwy 29, which leads right into KC and right by the airport. drive time will be about 30 minutes or more, depending on where you lived. also, during the spring, the Platte River can cause the road to be closed for days at a time, this will increase your drive time by an hour as you'd have to drive south and zig zag your way over and come up north on the KS side the same way you'd come in if you lived in Basehor/Lansing. They do have a lot of newer houses going up, but i don't know about parks. right down Hwy 29, just south of the KC airport, they have ample shopping and dinning choices.
there is also Parkville, MO. it has a mix of lower income housing and upper income housing (like a few Mil each house). it is basically a part of KC, just the urban sprawl of it. shopping is all over, as is the traffic.

Atchison KS is up north of Leavenworth by a nice drive, it's been a decade since I've been up there, haven't missed it.

If you don't get any of the new on-post housing, then the city to live in would be Lansing, IMO. it is close enough to downtown KC for what it offers, close enough to a shopping area and great dinning options, close enough to get to sporting events (NASCAR, MLB, NFL, plus a hockey team and semi-pro baseball, and a soccer team someplace), close enough to the same shopping/dinning on the north KC side that i mentioned prior...
all wrapped up in nice, quiet neighborhoods with really good grade schools that are within walking distance (if you live in the Maples) and a nice high school. there are a # of banks to choose from, grocery stores other than Wal-Mart, a few dinning places (some hidden gems in Leavenworth as well).

hope this helps.

[dennismertz]

Basehor is more than a farm town.

[url=http://www.homebasehor.org]Basehor Kansas[/url]

We have an 18 hole golf course and is 15 minutes closer to the shopping at Legends then Lansing or Leavenworth. We also offer 550 new home sites ready to build today that have 100% tax rebate for 3 years.

Not to discredit IHT's opinion of Lansing but I just prefer Basehor's central access to to everything in Kansas City. We neighbor KC and Lansing. We are a town of just under 5,000 but are spread out over a few square miles with housing from $160,000 up to $750,000.

Sincerely,

Dennis Mertz

[Krista87]

We are planning a move soon andni would love to ask u some questions. My husband will be working in shawnee mission. We are looking at basehor bc we are looking for a "smaller" community. I have seen that the school district is good. Is there any other things u cld tell me about the town? Do u have any ideas on what the class sizes are? Any info about basehornu can give me is greatly greatly appreciated.

We are moving from a small farm town n iowa with about 1200 people

[AmericnGrl]

I agree LEAVENWORTH SUCKS (it was my hometown for 30 years) overall, LANSING is far superior in that it is cleaner (Leavenworth Codes Enforcement is too lax) - the North part of Leavenworth is where most of the apartments seem to be which also happens to be the trashier end of town. Fort Leavenworth is North, however, so if being close to the Fort is high on your priorities list - NORTHWEST Leavenworth is better part. Basehor used to be just farming community but nowadays its a nice bedroom community, the houses are standard/nice but nothing that stands out overall. The best thing to happen to Basehor is the Legends Shopping Center and various merchandisers surrounding it like Nebraska Furniture Mart. Before the Legends came along Wyandotte County (adjacent to Leavenworth County) was a poor stepchild with higher crime rates and really substandard but now the west end of Wyandotte County is where its at. Avoid Leavenworth also if you want better schools Lansing excels in that regard. Tonganoxie is Basehor's adjacent neighbor in Leavenworth County, same small-town "feel" I think Basehor is just a wee-bit nicer but I'd be comfortable living either place. Parkville across the river nearby in Missouri and Platte City, Missouri are nice. Avoid Kansas City, MO like the plague, high crime, yes cultural attractions but not worth living with the crime - and the earnings tax is an add-on you can do without. Both Kansas And Missouri now have concealed carry without any special training if you are into that. Anyway Leavenworth is backward/stagnant and Lansing and Basehor/Tonganoxie are more progressive and forward-thinking.

BTW Basehor is 15 minutes or so from Shawnee-Mission area (Johnson County) where everything is more expensive.