Showing posts with label kansas city neighborhoods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kansas city neighborhoods. Show all posts

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Neighborhoods of Kansas City - Independence

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Neighborhoods of Kansas City - Independence, Missouri

In our ongoing breakdown of Kansas City neighborhoods, in the interest of those who may be considering moving to Kansas City, we will focus this article on the city of Independence.  If you wish to catch up on the articles that preceded this article please visit:  Kansas City neighborhoods, ghettos, downtown, plaza, brookside, waldo and more and our more recent article on the outer city of  Lee's Summit.


Independence, Missouri, was the birthplace of former President Harry S. Truman and is an important hub for The Church of the Latter Day Saints, or the "Mormons" as they are more commonly referred to.  Independence was a common starting point for those who traveled along the Oregon Trail, California Trail, and The Santa Fe Trail and is therefore known as the "Queen City of the Trails".  The population of Independence is approximately 130,000 as of 2010, and it's racial makeup is 91.87% White, 2.59% African American, 0.70% Asian, 0.64%, and Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.69% of the population.  The median household income is around $38,000 per year.

And that's about where the positive facts end.  Independence gained recent fame by becoming the 3rd largest manufacturer of Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth) in the entire United States.  It is currently the birthplace of a new form of Crystal Meth called Blue Meth, or "Smurf Dope".  Needless to say, Independence has some seriously bad neighborhoods.  Mostly white trash, petty-crime-committing drug addicts who frequent the multitude of porno shops and payday loan stores that litter the streets everywhere you look.

On a good note, Independence has areas where a few older "farm-type" folk reside and their respective neighborhoods are fairly docile - just don't go up the street to get gas at Quik Trip or you will immediately be immersed in the local criminal trash.  Basically, Independence is a place to be avoided at all costs - unless you need to break into a house, go next door to the pawn shop and get cash for the items you just burglarized, then go next door to the porn shop to meet a drug dealer who will sell you some shiny new Blue Meth.

Stay tuned for more Kansas City neighborhoods - broken down honestly by people who have lived here for over 35 years.  Don't listen to that real estate agent who is trying to unload a house on you that has been on the market for so long the real estate firm is offering a bonus to the first agent to move someone in.

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Thursday, August 5, 2010

Kansas City Neighborhoods - Lee's Summit

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Kansas City Neighborhoods - An ongoing breakdown of Kansas City Neighborhoods for people who may be planning to move to Kansas City from out of town.

The breakdown continues.  We started off by breaking down the neighborhoods in the heart of Kansas City, on the Missouri side.  Today we will break down a small neighborhood just to the Southeast of greater Kansas City known as Lee's Summit.  If you are moving to the Kansas City area from out of town then you need to know some real facts about the neighborhoods in this area, not just the crap that your real estate agent is feeding you to get you to buy that stubborn house that has been on the market for 3 years that his boss is offering a bonus to the real estate agent who finally sells the thing.  In this blog we're going to focus on the following Kansas City neighborhood:

Lee's Summit
First, we'll give you some statistical facts:  Lee's Summit is located about 15 miles Southeast from the heart of Kansas City.  Highway 470 is most commonly used by Lee's Summit commuters.  The population is at an estimated 100,000, approximately 53% female, and the median income is about $75,000 per year.   CNN/Money Magazine ranked Lee's Summit #27 on the list of the 100 Best Cities to Live in the United States, up from #44 the previous year.  The racial makeup of the city is 93.17% White, 3.47% African American, 0.36% Native American, 0.99% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.97% of the population.

Lee's Summit is basically the working family's "escape" from the bad neighborhoods found in the heart of Kansas City.  Residents of Lee's Summit want to live amongst other people of their own race and financial make up.  They also want their children to go to schools that represent this as well.  If you note the racial makeup of the city (paragraph one above) then you will understand what I mean.

Upside - the upside of Lee's Summit is that is has a good school system, it is family oriented and it is away from the crime and questionable neighborhoods in the heart of Kansas City.  Lee's Summit also gives you more "bang for your buck" when it comes to houses.  Housing costs are low and the typical house in Lee's Summit is a 2 story 3 bedroom with deck and finished basement.

Downside - If you don't like children or dogs then this neighborhood isn't for you.  Not much to look at - Lee's Summit is devoid of any character as far as landscape and nature, it is basically a giant field out in the country with houses and porches.  Lee's Summit is a little bit on the redneck side of things - lots of pickup trucks, construction workers, owners of landscape businesses etc.  There is definitely an element of white trash going on out there, just visit the King's Buffet on 291 Highway to see what I mean.  It is not a very easy commute to other parts of the city.  Lee's Summit is kind of "out there" in the country which is good once you get home but it sucks to have to drive anywhere.

To sum it up, Lee's Summit is kind of a more country-ish pickup driving downgraded copy of the more wealthy and sophisticated Overland Park.  They tried to imitate the lavish strip malls and restaurants of Overland Park, they even tried to copy Overland Park's idiodic street design that makes it impossible to turn into those strip malls - or make a left - anywhere.  But all and all Lee's Summit is a nice safe place to live with low housing costs and great schools.

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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Kansas City Neighborhoods - A Breakdown of KC Neighborhoods


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Kansas City Neighborhoods - A Breakdown

For just the GOOD Kansas City Neighborhoods go HERE.

Kansas City is probably one of the most tricky cities regarding good and bad neighborhoods. If you don't know any better, you might end up with some serious buyer's remorse.

If you're planning on moving to Kansas City, you'd better understand the different neighborhoods before buying that dream... - or nightmare home.

In order to understand this blog, you might want to pull up this Map of Kansas City for reference. Kansas City is flat with no bodies of water so the streets here run in a perfect "grid" with the numbered streets running East to West, and the named streets running North and South. Isn't that handy :)

Let's start by defining Central Kansas City:

We're not going to discuss downtown Kansas City or any suburbs of Kansas City in this article - we'll do those in another piece. We're just going to focus on the area between 39th and 103rd and between Holmes Road and State Line (look at your map - or picture a square area). This is Central Kansas City.

The first rule of real estate in Central Kansas City is easy - Anything East of Holmes Road is the ghetto. This is true all the way from 5th Street (downtown) clear up to 135th street (Kansas City's most Southern point). Don't move there, enough said.

Now that we've ruled out everything East of Holmes Road, let's start with the area between 39th Street and 47th Street - East of State Line and West of Holmes. This area is pretty much considered the Westport area. Westport has gotten pretty bad lately. There is a shooting in westport almost every week. The shootings happen late at night when the ghetto folks start "cruising" the Westport bar areas - they're not there to buy anything or go into any of the nightclubs - but just to cruise around with their boom-boom music playing and sporting their tricked out cars (who's cost probably kept them from paying that month's mortgage). They are extremely rude (especially to whites) and they will shoot you. So that's nighttime in Westport - as far as the daytime goes, Westport is pretty much full of lower class "hippie" type folks who enjoy the coffee shops and the Pitch magazine. There used to be a lot of gays in Westport but most of them are making their way downtown towards the Power and Light District condos.

South of 47th Street - North of 63rd - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area contains the Plaza, which has made Kansas City famous for it's lush fountains and top shelf shopping and dining. The plaza is a great little area and contains everything from expensive condos to affordable apartments. Plaza living is very nice - the only drawback is that there is only one grocery store within miles and it is a MAD HOUSE. South of the plaza to Gregory Boulevard is a fairly upscale neighborhood that contains a popular dog walking / picnic area called Loose Park. This area is usually defined as Brookside and it is filled with great little shops, restaurants and neighborhood bars. Brookside is getting older, however, so the upkeep on a house would probably be a huge factor - most of the houses in Brookside are well over 60 years old. The other downside to living in Brookside is that it has ZERO access to any highway.

South of Gregory - North of 85th - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area, more commonly known as "Waldo" is a lower class area that is deteriorating fast. Abandoned buildings are everywhere, and we're starting to see more PayDay Loan shops and Fried Chicken chains opening up - oh, and pawn shops too. Always a bad sign. For some reason everyone who lives in this part of town has a dog, and all of the men wear sandals. I would stay clear of Waldo.

South of 85th - North of 103rd - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area includes Santa Fe Hills and the Ward Parkway "mall" - if you can call it a mall. This used to be a great area but it has gone to the dogs. The lower class folk have moved in and it is NOT a good place to live.

South of 103rd - North of 135th - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area is still fairly nice and includes Red Bridge, Bridlespur and Verona Hills. Those who live there are looking over their shoulder, however, because they know that this will be the next Kansas City neighborhood to fall. Let me just stop and explain something here: The lower class are moving their way south and west - basically to get out of the ghetto that they live in and to get away from their own kind. In reaction to this, the wealthy people are moving South and if they can afford it, WEST into beautiful and expensive Leawood, Kansas to avoid the oncoming ghetto folk. For a good example of this movement, take a look at how far south they have built up on Metcalf - wealthy people are running SOUTH. Back to this neighborhood...The best thing about this neighborhood is 435 highway. It's just blocks away. This neighborhood will be safe for about another 5-10 years before turning lower-middle class.

To be continued...stay tuned for North Kansas City, Grandview, Independence, Lee's Summit, Blue Springs and downtown kc.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Kansas City Neighborhoods - A Breakdown of KC Neighborhoods



Kansas City Neighborhoods - a breakdown

I think that Kansas City is probably one of the most tricky cities regarding good and bad neighborhoods. If you don't know any better, you might end up with some serious buyer's remorse.

If you're planning on moving to Kansas City, you'd better understand the different neighborhoods before buying that dream... - or nightmare home.

In order to understand this blog, you might want to pull up this Map of Kansas City for reference. Kansas City is flat with no bodies of water so the streets here run in a perfect "grid" with the numbered streets running East to West, and the named streets running North and South. Isn't that handy :)

Let's start by defining Central Kansas City:

We're not going to discuss downtown Kansas City or any suburbs of Kansas City in this article - we'll do those in another blog. We're just going to focus on the area between 39th and 103rd and between Holmes Road and State Line (look at your map - or picture a square area). This is Central Kansas City.

The first rule of real estate in Central Kansas City is easy - Anything East of Holmes Road is the ghetto. This is true all the way from 5th Street (downtown) clear up to 135th street (Kansas City's most Southern point). Don't move there, enough said.

Now that we've ruled out everything East of Holmes Road, let's start with the area between 39th Street and 47th Street - East of State Line and West of Holmes. This area is pretty much considered the Westport area. Westport has gotten pretty bad lately. There is a shooting in westport almost every week. The shootings happen late at night when the ghetto folks start "cruising" the Westport bar areas - they're not there to buy anything or go into any of the nightclubs - but just to cruise around with their boom-boom music playing and sporting their tricked out cars (who's cost probably kept them from paying that month's mortgage). They are extremely rude (especially to whites) and they will shoot you. So that's nighttime in Westport - as far as the daytime goes, Westport is pretty much full of lower class "hippie" type folks who enjoy the coffee shops and the Pitch magazine. There used to be a lot of gays in Westport but most of them are making their way downtown towards the Power and Light District condos.

South of 47th Street - North of 63rd - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area contains the Plaza, which has made Kansas City famous for it's lush fountains and top shelf shopping and dining. The plaza is a great little area and contains everything from expensive condos to affordable apartments. Plaza living is very nice - the only drawback is that there is only one grocery store within miles and it is a MAD HOUSE. South of the plaza to Gregory Boulevard is a fairly upscale neighborhood that contains a popular dog walking / picnic area called Loose Park. This area is usually defined as Brookside and it is filled with great little shops, restaurants and neighborhood bars. Brookside is getting older, however, so the upkeep on a house would probably be a huge factor - most of the houses in Brookside are well over 60 years old. The other downside to living in Brookside is that it has ZERO access to any highway.

South of Gregory - North of 85th - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area, more commonly known as "Waldo" is a lower class area that is deteriorating fast. Abandoned buildings are everywhere, and we're starting to see more PayDay Loan shops and Fried Chicken chains opening up - oh, and pawn shops too. Always a bad sign. For some reason everyone who lives in this part of town has a dog, and all of the men wear sandals. I would stay clear of Waldo.

South of 85th - North of 103rd - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area includes Santa Fe Hills and the Ward Parkway "mall" - if you can call it a mall. This used to be a great area but it has gone to the dogs. The lower class folk have moved in and it is NOT a good place to live.

South of 103rd - North of 135th - West of Holmes - East of State Line. This area is still fairly nice and includes Red Bridge, Bridlespur and Verona Hills. Those who live there are looking over their shoulder, however, because they know that this will be the next Kansas City neighborhood to fall. Let me just stop and explain something here: The lower class are moving their way south and west - basically to get out of the ghetto that they live in and to get away from their own kind. In reaction to this, the wealthy people are moving South and if they can afford it, WEST into beautiful and expensive Leawood, Kansas to avoid the oncoming ghetto folk. For a good example of this movement, take a look at how far south they have built up on Metcalf - wealthy people are running SOUTH. Back to this neighborhood...The best thing about this neighborhood is 435 highway. It's just blocks away. This neighborhood will be safe for about another 5-10 years before turning lower-middle class.

To be continued...stay tuned for North Kansas City, Grandview, Independence, Lee's Summit, Blue Springs and downtown kc.

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