KC Living

[como_un_sueno]

My boyfriend and I are considering moving from DSM to KC.  We are 27 and 28.  He would technically be working in Lenexa.  We want to plan a trip to come see the city and make sure it is a place we would be happy.  I have visited a few times, but mostly only to do tourist stuff.  I did make it to the Riot Room for a show last time.  Can anyone

Comments

[hdsqrl]

For vegan/veggie eating, try Eden Alley on the Plaza - it's in the lower level of a unitarian church. SUPER good. The Plaza is a little touristy, but still manages to be many KCers' place of choice for a nice evening out, so that's worth a look. For a lovely park, try Loose Park (near the Plaza, actually, so that's easily done on a single afternoon.) Also on/near the Plaza: Barnes & Noble (a nice 3 or 4 storied version), Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, Kemper Museum of Modern Art, etc.

As for where to live if your boyfriend will be working in Lenexa, Lenexa itself is good. Shawnee Mission area is good...pretty much anywhere that your mental red flags don't start waving is good in KC. To keep taxes easier, you might opt to live on the KS side of the state line. There are only a few areas I'd steer away from, simply due to increased crime rates in those areas. :)

[como_un_sueno]

Thank you very much! Let me know if you think of anything else. Anything indie would also be good.

[_peregrinus_]

Not nitpicking, just don't want someone to be confused if they look for it. Eden Alley is in the basement of Unity Temple on the Plaza, but it's not a Unitarian church.

[como_un_sueno]

Which part in Shawnee Mission would you recommend?

[hdsqrl]

I live on the MO side, so can't comment too knowledgably (is that a word?) on where in SM is best, but I have friends who live just east of Shawnee Mission and KS-7, and that seems to be pretty nice. :)

For Indie stuff, wander the shops on 39th St/Westport area. Always interesting things to see there.

[como_un_sueno]

Thank you! You have been such great help.

[manuka]

Technically, "Shawnee Mission" as a town only exists in the imagination of the US Postal Service, where it's a placeholder for "the part of the KC Metro that is in Johnson County". There's no actual city of "Shawnee Mission" (but "Shawnee" and "Mission" exist)

I think that historically speaking, the actual mission to the Shawnee (and its associated post office) was here long before anything else in JoCo.

[xopiateslavex]

In Shawnee Mission, the cities of Fairway and Westwood are very nice, close to downtown / Westport area, and on the cheaper side of Johnson County living. I grew up in Fairway, and it's super cute, quiet, pretty and peaceful, with lots of young families.

I would look at FuD, Cafe Gratitude and Bluebird Bistro for food.

Power and Light district is very popular right now, but for a lifelong KC resident, it doesn't interest me in the least.

Union Station and Crown Center are pretty cool, and right next to each other. I would also recommend doing a fountain tour! And we have carriage rides on the Plaza if you're into that sort of thing, just to look around at everything.

I also have a coworker who is an official tour guide for Kansas City, too, just fyi! :)

[xopiateslavex]

Oh, and we also have a really neat Toy and Miniature museum, and also a marble factory for something different!

And Westport of course is most popular for bars, but Waldo is also on the up-and-up with bars / pubs / brewery.

Sorry, lol, I love my city! The icon I'm using here is the JC Nichols fountain on the Plaza at night, with the Steeple of Light going up into the sky from Community Christian Church.

[como_un_sueno]

It sounds like a great place to live. I appreciate it.

[xopiateslavex]

No problem!

[celtic_catgirl]

So to preface this I'm 29 and moved from DSM to KC 3.5 years ago, so I've got a lot of opinions

[como_un_sueno]

How big is the apartment you are renting? Are they priced similar to DSM?

[celtic_catgirl]

For 1150 we are renting a 2-bedroom house with off-street parking and a fenced backyard. It's maybe 1300 square feet plus a front porch and screened in porch on the back. (and a basement)

Before living here I was renting a 2-bedroom apartment in the same area with an off-street parking spot for about 900/month. Maybe 1000sqft

You can find them both cheaper and more expensive depending on how nice you want it to be. The neighborhood has both a lot of rental houses and small (4-8 unit) apartment buildings.

[crazylife99]

[jennybobdole]

Yes! This!