Moving to KC from Columbus, OH (Kansas City, Parkville: houses, employment, school district)

[Mark12]

Hello,

My wife and I are moving to KC from Columbus, OH. We are both originally from NE Iowa, so the midwest is not new to us. She will be teaching in Atchison, KS and I am just starting to look for employment. I am a manufacturing manager by trade. What would be a good location for a home in the low 300s that would be drivable to Atchison, but still close to the major manufacturing districts? We don't have any children, but are planning to start soon after the move. We love nightlife (Short North and Arena District in Columbus) so it would be nice to be reasonably close (15-20 minutes) to the major entertainment areas.

Thanks,

Mark

[kcmo]

Well, Atchison is really sort of off the beaten path. It's not really part of KC, doesn't feel like it and it's not very accessible, the river valley makes it seem like it's 50 miles away. So if you want to live in a more metropolitan part of KC, then you are going to have to drive some. The closest area (built up, semi upscale suburban area) is going to be over in southern Platte County, south of KCI and along the I-29 corridor down toward Parkville.

Now if you are ok with being in a more rural or small town type area, you have a few options. Platte City is closer and will have some nice areas. Leavenworth, Weston and Lansing will also have some areas. Lansing probably the most. Western KCK near the Speeway is possible, but you are starting to get pretty far from Atchison. The industrial areas of KC tend to be along the MO and KS rivers in KCMO and KCK, although the Northland has a sizeable industrial employemnt sector as well with many assembly plants etc.

Also look into St Joe. That would be much closer to Atchison and they have a solid blue collar economy that in many cases has a hard time filling high skilled jobs because the city a bit of a commute from the KC area.

So I would look into Platte County first, specifically areas west of 29 and south of KCI. Great schools, all your suburban shopping and close to everything and plenty of houses in the 300k range to choose from and it's not that far from Atchison and very close to KCMO's urban entertainment districts and other metro attractions like the stadiums etc. Platte City would be a good choice for a more rural suburban area. Leavenworth County, KS and St Joe, MO would be worth looking into.

If I were you, I would only look at southern Platte County. I would never make it in just about any of the other areas I just described. But that's me.

[famusdarlin]

Yes, I would suggest looking t Platt County. If you are concerned about schools look at areas in Park Hill School District. I think from downtown Parkville Atchison is about 40 miles, but the school district runs further north, so it may be a little closer as you get further north in the school district and the county.

I am not really familiar with manufacturing jobs in the area, but I beleive there are several manufacturing companies in both the northland and KCK. Good luck.

Another suggestion for employment is looking at a temp company, there is one in downtown Kansas City that focuses on manufacturing industy jobs.