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I have lived all over urban KCMO and in several MO side suburbs. I recently spent seven years in Blue Springs and thought I would share with others what has to be one of the most family oriented suburbs around. When we chose Blue Springs, the main reason we kept coming back was because it seemed like you get more for your money there than in any other part of the metro. A nice suburban area that is not overpriced yet still much nicer and offers far more than cheaper suburbs around town. Since I don’t want to type this multiple times, I wanted start a thread on Blue Springs and simply refer to it.
Blue Springs is a suburb of KCMO about 25 miles east of Downtown and has a population of about 60,000.
If you are looking for a family oriented suburb with a very diverse variety of housing prices, you can find what you are looking for in most parts of the metro, but I still say that Blue Springs has to be one of the best areas that offers a full package from good schools to top parks to affordable housing.
They have some of the best and well funded organized little league programs and sports facilities. Both my sons played little league football and baseball there. The leagues are huge and draw from Independence, Lee’s Summit, Grain Valley and beyond. So many kids play there that there is plenty of teams in both competitive and recreation leagues.
They also have some of the best private sports facilities in the entire metro at their expense with venues like Sports City, the KC Sports Lodge and the Community Ice Rink next to the Independence Events Center. All of these facilities are top notch facilities that draw from the entire metro area. Sports City has indoor soccer, batting cages etc and most of the little league teams use the facility for practices etc. Sports Lodge has a full size outdoor soccer field “inside” and the ice rink is simply first class and now has little league ice hockey leagues. Blue Springs also has one of the nicest, if not the nicest, bowling alley in the metro which has been host to many national bowling tournament tours.
If you like outdoors, Blue Springs has a ton of parks. There are parks everywhere in the city and the city is literally surrounded by large parks. Some of the parks are used for national soccer, football, baseball and softball tournaments, some are more for the community.
All the parks have bike trails. Rotary Park has the “Music in the Park” concert series. Pink Hill Park has a very popular BMX track that also draws from the entire metro. Blue Springs has several skate parks as well.
Inside Flemming Park is Blue Springs Lake which has a beach, marina (you can rent boats) and is very popular for water skiing etc. Jackson County - Blue Springs Lake
Also inside Flemming Park is Lake Jacomo, a fishing lake that also has a marina. There is a very active radio controlled airfield in Flemming Park where you can go take in several free RC shows a year. Trust me, watching RC jets is just about as cool as the real thing.
Flemming Park has its annual LakeFest in June which is a lot of fun. Carnivals, concerts, and lots of boats and a huge fireworks display over the lake.
Blue Springs also has its annual Fall Fun Festival in Downtown Blue Springs.
They also have extremely competitive high school sports and top grade facilities. Blue Springs has hosted many nationally televised football games and both high schools are consistently challenging for state championships in all sports. The high schools in Blue Springs are very large, but one of the reasons the district has not built an additional high school is to maintain the level of curriculum and sports choices that come from having very large high schools.
Housing options are very are all across the spectrum in Blue Springs. The city has a very large amount of just regular suburban housing, much of which was built in the 1980’s, but the city has experienced tremendous growth recently and most of this growth has been upper bracket, although plenty of more modest housing has gone up. So you can get a nice home for 130k or into the millions. Many KC Chiefs and Royals live in Blue Springs. My kids have played on little league teams where the fathers were pro ball players.
The city is also experiencing massive retail growth along Adams Dairy Parkway with the new Adams Dairy Landing Shopping mall while at the same time much of the older strip malls along Route 7 have been redeveloped (and still more being built).
Just outside of Blue Springs are very fast growing parts of Independence, Lee’s Summit and Grain Valley. Everything you could ever want is nearby with the Independence Center area and Summit Woods/Summit Fair area.
Blue Springs is also near many residential lake communities like Lake Tapawingo, Lake Lotawana and Lakewood.
If you work Downtown, Blue Springs has a very popular express bus service to Downtown KCMO, so popular in fact that I would have to stand most of the time. I always rode my bike(buses have bike racks) to the last park and ride and the buses are always full by then. Sometimes the rack even has two bikes and I would have to ride back home and drive to work! So when good transit is available in KC, people use it.
Thanks KCMO for the pictures and information. All of your posts on the Missouri side of KC have been extremely helpful. We are moving to the area in August and coming to Independence, Lee's Summit, and Lawrence over spring break to see which we like. Mainly limited to Lee's Summit or Independence since we are both transferring with the same company and work retail hours. We have a seven year old and can only find one daycare in Lee's Summit that provides 24/7 care so due to having to live in the school district of the daycare for busing to school we will probably live in Lee's Summit until we find new jobs. Our company does not have a store in Lawrence but we really like everything we've heard about Lawrence. We live in a college town now and like the people and simplicity of Ames, just not the job prospects since my bf is graduating in May in Business Management. Otherwise do you have any suggestions as to what to check out in these three towns? We tend to like small town life and locally owned restaurants and retail. Also wanting to check out natural/organic grocers for job prospects for myself. We are not concerned about housing prices for the moment as we will both be looking for real jobs so we will rent for a few years. We will be spending a full day in each city. The MO side seems very hilly...will I need dramamine? Any guidance will be helpful and anyone with any daycare programs would be welcomed also. Also looking for a newer townhouse with 3 bed's and in a very walkable area for $800-$1000...does anyone know if this a reasonable price range for a nice rental in Lee's Summit?
I grew up in Blue Springs. It was a nice childhood.
That being said, you couldn't pay me to live there now. Not that its bad. But I visit some of friends that still live there and there is just nothing to do. You're soooo far away from the city. A big night out consists of going to Little Blue Parkway and eating at Joe's Crab Shack.
That being said, its a great place to raise kids. You definitely have more of a sense of community than in other suburbs because Blue Springs is an actual city, not like Johnson County where the cities just run into each other and there is little differentiating Merriam from say Mission. I loved the Fall Fun Fest, Old Mill Park, Blue Springs HS football games, riding my bike to old downtown Blue Springs and visiting the library and drug store, Burr Oaks Woods, and the families we grew up with in my neighborhood. I like that they have at least made an effort to refurbish their downtown into a dense, walkable environment.
But...its still a pretty boring place. If you're totally into your family and never go downtown, you'll love it. If you still like to go to the Plaza, downtown for anything exciting, its pretty far away (although in fairness, its still closer to downtown than say Olathe).
Yea, but isn't all that pretty typical of any suburb? It's what you make of it and we went into the city every chance we got. I'm sure we are in the minority though.
BTW, it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to Downtown from Blue Springs. What seems to take forever was driving to Overland Park, Lenexa, Zona Rosa, Village West etc, then you are talking about 30-50 minutes. Even much of Lee's Summit is 15-20 minutes away. When I lived in Waldo, it took just as long or longer to get downtown.
Driving doesn't bother me and since we tend to be quite active, I never cared what everybody else in BS was doing, it didn't affect us. BS was great for the things it offered, but we are the kind of people that would also drive to 135th and Metcalf or I-29 and Barry to see a movie....just because we didn't want to see a movie at the local places every time we go out.
Yea, but isn't all that pretty typical of any suburb?
The far flung ones sure. I'd much rather live in an inner-ring suburb and live closer to the city, but that's just me.
For example, Google Maps says its a 25 minute drive from Blue Springs to Sprint Center. It also says its a 12 minute drive from Mission, KS to Sprint Center.
I think psychologically, there is an obstacle for many that anything over 20-25 minutes is a long drive. When I lived in Mission, I thought of nothing about popping into downtown on a whim. If I lived in Blue Springs or Olathe, I think making a trip downtown would be something to plan for.
And sure, Brookside/Waldo is still a good 20 minute drive from downtown, but I'll take the nightlife and activity of midtown over Blue Springs any day.
But like I said, if you're just a family guy who isn't going to venture into KC much, I think Blue Springs is probably one of the best bargains in the metro.
Right, but I don't think Mission offes near what BS does when it comes to recreation, sports etc. I mean if I lived in Missin, I would be driving to SMP or Flemming Park etc.
You are right, most people in BS don't go west of 470. But if you are like us, you can take full advantage of both suburban and urban attractions.
No matter where we live, it will not have everything and we will drive to places, something I don't mind doing.
Hang in ther Maria! I will try to post something for you.
Thanks KCMO for the pictures and information. All of your posts on the Missouri side of KC have been extremely helpful. We are moving to the area in August and coming to Independence, Lee's Summit, and Lawrence over spring break to see which we like. Mainly limited to Lee's Summit or Independence since we are both transferring with the same company and work retail hours. We have a seven year old and can only find one daycare in Lee's Summit that provides 24/7 care so due to having to live in the school district of the daycare for busing to school we will probably live in Lee's Summit until we find new jobs. Our company does not have a store in Lawrence but we really like everything we've heard about Lawrence. We live in a college town now and like the people and simplicity of Ames, just not the job prospects since my bf is graduating in May in Business Management. Otherwise do you have any suggestions as to what to check out in these three towns? We tend to like small town life and locally owned restaurants and retail. Also wanting to check out natural/organic grocers for job prospects for myself. We are not concerned about housing prices for the moment as we will both be looking for real jobs so we will rent for a few years. We will be spending a full day in each city. The MO side seems very hilly...will I need dramamine? Any guidance will be helpful and anyone with any daycare programs would be welcomed also. Also looking for a newer townhouse with 3 bed's and in a very walkable area for $800-$1000...does anyone know if this a reasonable price range for a nice rental in Lee's Summit?
I will try to post a similar thread on Indepedence soon. I like Lawrence and know the city pretty well, but I probably don't know it as well as many others here.
My first question would be where do you plan to work? All over metro? Cause Lee's Summit is not close to Lawrence!
I work at one of the largest home improvement retailers and they do not have a location in Lawrence so we will more than likely be in Independence or Lee's Summit. I would like to work in Lawrence and will be looking for jobs there but I know how college towns can be when it comes to employment. Lawrence is more of a long term goal but at the same time I think we will really like the east side of KC metro. Kind of worried about the urban feel would be too strong in such large suburbs, which is why Lawrence sounds good long term. I like locality and a strong main street. I live two blocks from a co-op, and three blocks from downtown so ultimately I feel the population centers and driving/traffic will be overwhelming. I walk everywhere as much as possible. We live in Ames, Iowa now and it is really small and very separated from Iowa State. Really it feels like a town of 25k not 50k. As for future employment, IF I can get the position I want with a regular set schedule,when I transfer I am going back to school doing the online program for dietetics at Kansas State (employer will pay for it all) and staying where I am at for awhile. Otherwise, I am interested in grocery management or would love to manage a coffee shop. Looking for a simple life and have no interest in going out on the town. And...ha ha...I am terrified of driving on the Interstate so I can not do a commute.
Well, Lawrence is not exactly small. The area has about 100,000 people and as far as driving, it would compare to most area suburbs, you just don't have the big urban interstates.
The highways between Lawrence and the MO side suburbs would be a freaking nightmare for you. You would hate driving on 435 and 470 any time of day, let alone rush hour. I-70 would be no better. You would be driving through major urban areas to get from Lawrence to LS or Indy.
Independence has about 120,000 people. Lee's Summit is quickly approaching 100,000 and Blue Springs has over 60,000. You may have to realize that you are moving to a major metropolitan area and it will be difficult to avoid driving on the interstates 100%.
Having said that, I think Lee's Summit is probably going to be a good fit for you. It's a large suburb, but still has a small town feel to it in the center of town. The sprawling outer parts of the city are pretty much typical sprawl though. However Lee's Summit is sort of isolated so if you are not commuting to other parts of metro KC such as Downtown or the Kansas suburbs, you should not be too intimidated by the traffic there and the drive from LS to Indy is not too bad.
Independence is much more urban than Lee's Summit and parts of the city are borderline ghetto, Parts are extremely nice too. But it's just busier and it's connected directly to KCMO with development, where LS has some open land between it and KCMO.
From everything you say, I think a place within walking distance of Downtown Lee's Summit will be perfect for you.
You might contact TabulaRasa for more specific questions on Downtown LS, she lives near there.
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Headed that way
Someone tell me it ain't so.....
