Possibly Moving to Kansas City_Need Feedbacks (Liberty, Houston: home, neighborhoods)

[Ben_FL]

Hi all. I am looking at moving to Kansas City. I am undecided between Kansas or Missouri (leaning more toward the Missouri side at the moment) side. I could use some advise on which location and areas to look into.

A couple other questions: How bad are tornados here? Is there anything I should be aware of if I am moving here? What's the state tax situation look like? Are there any other things to be on the lookout for?

Background. It will be myself, wife and 3 kids (elementary and middle school at the moment). School and safety are important for me. Close (but not too close) to school is preferred as my wife would be picking up the kids. I have a budget of about $550,000 for a 4 bedrooms house. No pets. I dont mind driving.

I appreciate all feedbacks.

[Okey Dokie]

Will you be working in Missouri or Kansas? If going to an office - if you tell us the approximate location it will help us give you better advice. Is easy access to the airport important?

[CCS414]

Originally Posted by Ben_FL

Hi all. I am looking at moving to Kansas City. I am undecided between Kansas or Missouri (leaning more toward the Missouri side at the moment) side. I could use some advise on which location and areas to look into.

A couple other questions: How bad are tornados here? Is there anything I should be aware of if I am moving here? What's the state tax situation look like? Are there any other things to be on the lookout for?

Background. It will be myself, wife and 3 kids (elementary and middle school at the moment). School and safety are important for me. Close (but not too close) to school is preferred as my wife would be picking up the kids. I have a budget of about $550,000 for a 4 bedrooms house. No pets. I dont mind driving.

I appreciate all feedbacks.

Mmmm... You're going to want to live on the Kansas side. The schools on the Missouri side have a very very bad reputation whereas the schools on the Kansas side actually have a good reputation, at least in Johnson County. Wyandotte County maybe not so much.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by CCS414

Mmmm... You're going to want to live on the Kansas side. The schools on the Missouri side have a very very bad reputation whereas the schools on the Kansas side actually have a good reputation, at least in Johnson County. Wyandotte County maybe not so much.

Incorrect, schools are above average for most areas of Platte and Clay counties.

[sub]

Agreed. Schools on the Missouri side can also be quite good.
Lee’s Summit is another one.

[KC_Retiree]

Originally Posted by Ben_FL

Hi all. I am looking at moving to Kansas City. I am undecided between Kansas or Missouri (leaning more toward the Missouri side at the moment) side. I could use some advise on which location and areas to look into.

A couple other questions: How bad are tornados here? Is there anything I should be aware of if I am moving here? What's the state tax situation look like? Are there any other things to be on the lookout for?

Background. It will be myself, wife and 3 kids (elementary and middle school at the moment). School and safety are important for me. Close (but not too close) to school is preferred as my wife would be picking up the kids. I have a budget of about $550,000 for a 4 bedrooms house. No pets. I dont mind driving.

I appreciate all feedbacks.

With that budget, you can buy in every quadrant of KC (Johnson County, Platte County, Lees Summit....) depending on your preferences and desired commute. Most of the suburbs have decent schools with Johnson County probably the best over a broad area but other burbs are OK too.

Income taxes are probably slightly higher on the Kansas side of the metro (although KC proper has a 1% earnings tax making KC on par with Kansas for income tax). Property taxes are most likely a little higher in Johnson County than elsewhere in the metro (at least that's the impression I got when I bought my home in JoCo last year). In terms of the optimal place in the city to live, it's really up to your preferences. Commuting is just not an issue in KC because traffic simply is not bad. Compared to Denver, Dallas or Houston, there's not a difficult commute in KC. So you could live anywhere you want to for any given job although the sheer distance of a Liberty to Olathe commute might give someone pause.

I suspect that with 3 kids, you are looking for a suburban location. For $550,000, you can buy a home in most of the Johnson County burbs (except maybe in the Prairie Village/Leawood/Mission Hills corridor). That will also buy you a nice home in Lees Summit which is the primary suburb on the Missouri side south of the river. Lees Summit is a bit outboard so the commutes tend to be longer into the city. That price range will go pretty far in Platte and Clay counties north of the river too - which also have decent schools.

In more urban parts of KCMO south of the river, that budget will be a little low for the better neighborhoods inboard like Brookside or West Plaza and some of the gentrified areas around town. Most of the people in those neighborhoods tend to put their kids in private schools. The advantage is that you are closer to the cultural attractions in the city and the better restaurants etc... But good restaurants and shopping can be found throughout the city. There are definitely some large swaths of poverty in KCMO and KCK that you probably should avoid. Mostly in the east part and SE parts of KC proper and eastern KCK.

[thriftylefty]

Schools in Liberty MO and Johnson County probably spend more on money on educating kids than anywhere in the country.

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Schools in Liberty MO and Johnson County probably spend more money on educating kids than anywhere in the country.

edited

[Ben_FL]

Originally Posted by KC_Retiree

With that budget, you can buy in every quadrant of KC (Johnson County, Platte County, Lees Summit....) depending on your preferences and desired commute. Most of the suburbs have decent schools with Johnson County probably the best over a broad area but other burbs are OK too.

Income taxes are probably slightly higher on the Kansas side of the metro (although KC proper has a 1% earnings tax making KC on par with Kansas for income tax). Property taxes are most likely a little higher in Johnson County than elsewhere in the metro (at least that's the impression I got when I bought my home in JoCo last year). In terms of the optimal place in the city to live, it's really up to your preferences. Commuting is just not an issue in KC because traffic simply is not bad. Compared to Denver, Dallas or Houston, there's not a difficult commute in KC. So you could live anywhere you want to for any given job although the sheer distance of a Liberty to Olathe commute might give someone pause.

I suspect that with 3 kids, you are looking for a suburban location. For $550,000, you can buy a home in most of the Johnson County burbs (except maybe in the Prairie Village/Leawood/Mission Hills corridor). That will also buy you a nice home in Lees Summit which is the primary suburb on the Missouri side south of the river. Lees Summit is a bit outboard so the commutes tend to be longer into the city. That price range will go pretty far in Platte and Clay counties north of the river too - which also have decent schools.

In more urban parts of KCMO south of the river, that budget will be a little low for the better neighborhoods inboard like Brookside or West Plaza and some of the gentrified areas around town. Most of the people in those neighborhoods tend to put their kids in private schools. The advantage is that you are closer to the cultural attractions in the city and the better restaurants etc... But good restaurants and shopping can be found throughout the city. There are definitely some large swaths of poverty in KCMO and KCK that you probably should avoid. Mostly in the east part and SE parts of KC proper and eastern KCK.

Thank you very much for this detailed information. Everyone else's inputs are appreciated too. I am reading all and taking all into consideration. If moving here, I will be working in Platte County, MO. Driving will be a bit on the Kansas side but it sounds like Johnson county is where it's coming to with my budge and suburban setting. Other areas are out of reach it seems.

[sub]

Johnson County would likely be the priciest overall. Traffic is thicker there too. It’s not a bad area but it’s not the only place in KC like it.
If you’re working in Platte County, that’d be the place to start looking. Clay County is very close with a no-traffic drive.
It’s all very suburban.