describe your dwelling, neighborhood, etc.

[chrizow]

* describe your dwelling.
* describe your neighborhood.
* why did you choose to buy/rent there?
* list a couple pros and cons about where you live.
* would you recommend your living arrangement to others?
* etc.

[tat2kc]

My house:  a 1902 all brick home, 2 1/2 stories. Restored, but not done well. It does need work.
Neighborhood: Pendleton Heights, a historic neighborhood, filled with a wide variety of older homes, most being rehabbed or already rehabbed. 
Why here?  price, proximity to downtown, very walkable neighborhood, active neighborhood assoc., incrediblly nice neighbors
Pros:  see above!
cons:  saying I live just off Independence Ave. scares some folks.
Recommend to others? Absolutely, without question.  The prices are right, the area is improving steadily, a wide range of people and income levels, its safe.  I'm paying over 1/3 less than I was paying in rent for a loft in the crossroads. So, I can afford to go in and make the changes I want in my house. Since my partner works for a design firm, when the time comes, we can get the remodel design for free, buy the materials at cost, and hire construction people we know are good, at a great price. We'll be able to remodel and update at much less cost, so more bang for our buck. 

Here are a couple pictures taken from my front porch of the street, as well as a couple pics of the house from the street. As you can see, we are very close to the street, with only container gardens in the front, so yard work is minimal.  The area reminds me somewhat of areas of Baltimore, south boston, Washington DC, etc.  I can sit out front, read the paper and drink coffee, and say hi to the folks walking by, chat with neighbors, and just people watch.  The range in diversity of people walking by is amazing.  African, asian, anglo, old, young, children, gay, straight, they all wander by sometime during the day.  Its the best!!!

http://homepage.mac.com/pclary/PhotoAlbum3.html

[mean]

Dwelling: ~1200 s.f. loft on the 3rd floor of the Opera House Lofts.
Neighborhood: Beautiful Quality Hill / Historic Garment District, downtown KCMO.
Why Here: Looked around downtown for months, found this unit and loved the location, size, and price. Best value we found out of the dozens of buildings we toured. Only unit of this size we could find under $1k/mo, and it also just happens to be the biggest and have the best view. Convenient!
Pros: Location! Walk to several great restaurants & bars (altho not nearly as many as when we were on 39th St.) Awesome view of downtown out our giant wall of windows, huge living space (moved from a ~700 s.f. in midtown), high ceilings. Gorgeous unfinished turn-of-the-century concrete with exposed rebar, brick walls. All utils paid except electricity. Los Corrals!
Cons: Carpeted floors, no movie theater in walking distance. Be nice if walking-distance grocers were closer (but I'll take city market anyday). No good liquor store nearby. No exceptional bars nearby, altho the Peanut is pretty cool.
Recommend: Yes! The pros more than make up for any cons.

[staubio]

Dwelling: 625 sq ft shotgun style apartment in the West Plaza.  The building is an old brick apartment building typical to the neighborhood and the unit has hardwood floors and great windows in every room.

Reasons: This is my first home in KC.  I chose it because it was a managable distance from my job at the time while still in the city, because it was fairly inexpensive by comparison to other choices and because the neighborhood is charming and walkable to nearby attractions.  There is a bus stop right outside my door for the popular 51 bus.  The street has mature trees lining both sides and has a dense mixture of apartment buildings fronting the street with charming, smaller single family homes behind.  The neighborhood is walkable to Westport, the Plaza and 39th.  It is a compromise because each of these destinations is a bit of a longer walk than from other neighborhoods, but West Plaza puts you in the triangle with options.

Though pretty small, the space is laid out very efficiently.  I love the intimate space.

As with any older apartment, there are drawbacks:
-sound insulation -- I have to be careful about playing the guitar and listening to music because the hardwood floors transmit sound
-modern conveniences -- laundry is a coin-op machine in the basement (or the short walk to the laundromat), no dishwasher (I wouldn't use it anyway), no garbage disposal

Home in 2 months: 750 square foot loft in Riverbend.

[dangerboy]

Dwelling: 1950s ranch house

Neighborhood: Volker (i.e. West 39th St.).  Lots of historic bungalows and shirtwaists.  Stumbling distance to several bars, a deli, 3 coffee houses, 3 quick shops, countless ethnic restaurants, and bus routes to Downtown and Plaza.

My Choice: I wanted a pedestrian-oriented urban neighborhood with lots of amenities nearby.

Pro: walkability, character, great sense of community, Roanoke Park, convenient Downtown/Westport/Plaza/I-70/I-35, charter school in the neighborhood, low crime, huge trees, and streets recently repaved

Con: Housing costs going up (thus the ranch instead of a shirtwaist), weekend traffic/parking problems from suburban visitors, no recreational trails, still too many rentals in the neighborhood.

[scooterj]

Dwelling: 1100 sq. ft. loft on the second floor of Delaware Lofts.  Extremely old hardwood floors, massive brick walls, large kitchen area, 5'x9' windows.   Spent about a year fixing it up from a mostly empty shell.  (Pics)

Neighborhood: River Market

Why I chose:  My house sold 13 days after I put it on the market and the buyer wanted to take posession within 2 weeks so I had less than a month total to find a place.   I wanted a place close to work and friends.  I looked at several between 20th & the river but this one I thought had the most potential.   Actually I did like one place more but the current tenant warned me about his loud neighbor and that he'd tried and failed numerous times to resolve the problem.   My dog was also a factor.

Pros:  Walkability to work, bars, restaurants, small grocers.   Very quiet... all but one of my neighbors are daytime businesses.   Utility bills way lower than with a house.   Rooftop deck.  The dog loves the area.

Cons:  Small rash of car breakins every summer.  Cretins sometimes find their way into the building and steal from the storage areas or break into the vending machines.  No washer/dryer hookups (but it hasn't been a major problem).  The outside of my windows are dirty and there's nothing I can do about it.

Would I recommend?:  Yes, and have.

[AllThingsKC]

Dwelling: 10th floor in one of the Quality Hill Towers.

Neighborhood: Quality Hill. 

My Choice: I wanted rent that I could afford.  I was suprised when the lowest rent I found was in KC was Downtown.

Pro: 1. Walking distance! There are many restuarants, bars, the library, historic sites, etc, near by.  I can even walk to my bank.  If I didn't work in the 'burbs, I would almost have no reason to leave Downtown.  2. VIEW!  I have a great view of the CBD and south, to Crown Center.  It's cool to be watching the news, and seeing the skyline...on TV and out my window at the same time.  I also like how the old Catholic church looks since it's up against the modern skyline.  3. Beauty.  QH is very beautiful (IMO).  I enjoy living/driving/riding/walking here.  4. I'm close to all the major highways.  Even I-435 is only 5 minutes away from downtown in normal traffic.  5. The whole DT experince has been great!

Con: The "image" that Downtown has with the rest of the city.  People say to me , "You live downtown?  Don't get shot!"  But, I feel just as save in QH as when I'm in Belton or Liberty.   I try not to go east of Oak in the CBD at night, but that's about it.  It's my only problem with downtown.  Also, since my building is an older building, there is no A/C in the hallways or elavators, and they are always having to shut off the water/power for repairs. Also, parking is a problem after 10pm or so.

Would I recommend? YES!  I would recommend Downtown/Quality Hill to anyone even IF downtown wasn't booming.

[Tosspot]

I have no idea what my square footage is, but it's enough for me so far. I have a one-bedroom unit in a nineteen-twentyish building in what could either be considered Westport or the West Plaza. I'm within walking distance to QuikTrip, the Berbiglia liquor store, and numerous bars and restaurants, plus whatever else inhabits the Westport Rd corridor. I also frequently walk down to the Plaza, usually catching my dad's bus back home.

Here is the terminal vista I am afforded of my apartment as viewed from my computer desk. Notice the 23 year old television set I inherited from my great-grandfather.

[JBinKC]

Dwelling: 2300 sq ft 2 story Arts and Crafts house 2 blocks N of the Plaza

Neighborhood: Plaza/Westport

Why I chose: Wanted an old house in an urban location with a decent neighborhood.  Great investment potential too.

Pros: 1. Walk to the Plaza, walk from Westport.  2. Great old house, but needed some work 3. Small yard  :) 4. Neighborhood is in a transition  5. 20 minutes from everything in the city

Cons: 1. Lots and lots of renters 2. Neighborhood is in a transition 3. Some amount of petty crime 4. Old house somewhat expensive to heat/cool, not much worse than many other houses though.  

Recommended: Yes, easily.  

[driver 8]

Dwelling: 740 sq ft loft on the 12th floor of the Board & Trade Building which is part of the Library Lofts.

Neighborhood: Library District

Why I chose: Well the view is amazing. Very tall ceilings and large windows. Parking Garage. Lofts aren't very old.

Pros: Quiet neighbors, Great location where many bars and restaurants are within walking distance, did I mention the view? ,
great amenities.

Cons: Carpeting, John's Big Deck can be noisy sometimes, size of the loft compared to other places for the same amount of money.

Would I recommend? In a heartbeat!

[Boognish]

Here are a couple pictures taken from my front porch of the street, as well as a couple pics of the house from the street.
http://homepage.mac.com/pclary/PhotoAlbum3.html

Wow, I really needed to mow my lawn when you took that picture, tat2kc.  So if any of you are wondering who that uncouth slob from across the street is, yeah, that was me. It's dead now, and doesn't seem to be growing much anymore.

Dwelling: 1890 Victorian - 2 stories, attic loft, basement, 2488 square feet. Also restored (like tat2kc, same investor) but done in a not particularly compelling or competent way. Still, it was a doggone steal.

Neighborhood: Pendleton Heights

Why I chose: Unbelievable woodwork, housing and neighborhood for a great value in one of the most interesting parts of the city - very few houses like tat2kc and I have around town, and that makes me feel special. And it's certainly not ugly. It has a great east coast type vibe.

Pros: I have a skyline view from my master bedroom's bay window. I'm convenient to most everything I enjoy, and for the trips to the suburbs I have to make, I have probably among the easiest highway access in the city! (well, not so much with the Paseo bridge closed). As downtown experiences rebirth, it will be even better. Like tat mentioned, great diversity, great value, great urban neighborhood, terrific caring neighbors.

Cons: Inconsistent care of beautiful housing stock. Too many run down investment properties nearby, still. Drivers are aggressive, and some guy likes to rev down the street at 3 am. This has been a relatively new occurence, however.

Recommended: Now more than ever! You wouldn't believe what you can buy some houses for now, but that window will close at some point.

[KCK]

* describe your dwelling.
* describe your neighborhood.
* why did you choose to buy/rent there?
* list a couple pros and cons about where you live.
* would you recommend your living arrangement to others?
* etc.

I live in a 3 bedroom one and a half bath townhouse here in KCK. My unit is attached to 7 other units and features nice things like on street parking, alleys and rear car ports. There are probably around 100 townhouses total in this subdivision. My neighborhood is 80%+ african american according to the census demographics as of the year 2000. The neighborhood suffers from problems due to the fact that one of the landlords has many section 8 families who basically trash the entire subdivision, drink liquor and smoke weed on the streets, and overall act like ghetto trash. There have been a rash of break-ins lately, and unfortunately I have been a victim. I want to move badly, but I am having trouble finding a place with this much space for this low of a cost.

I would not reccommend this living arrangement to anyone else, not just because of the criminal element, but the layout means that a large number of people live in a dense area, yet it is not walkable and is 100% supportive of the autocentric lifestyle. The result is mini traffic jams in the neighborhood and extremely poor parking. Also the walls are paper thin and you can hear your neighbors through them.

[Slappy the Wang]

I realize this is the Urban living room, but I like hearing where/how everyone lives.

Dwelling:  3400 sf 2 story colonial (front porch, shutters, etc), 4BR, 4BA, etc, half acre, fenced yard...blah, blah

Neighborhood: Liberty Area

Built the house and chose the neighborhood based on schools and local amenities (community center, pool, gym, access to groceries)

I love it.  Maybe if we were 10 years younger and no kids downtown would be for us, but this arrangement is ideal.

[KC0KEK]

Slappy opened it to the 'burbs, so here's mine:

* describe your dwelling.

Mid-1930s ranch. 3 BR, 1 BA.

* describe your neighborhood.

Mission Highlands subdivision in Fairway.

* why did you choose to buy/rent there?

Older homes in a central-metro location. Proximity to job (worked at 98th/Metcalf when I was house-hunting). City park/pool a half-block away.

* list a couple pros and cons about where you live.

Pros: Central-metro location, so I can get to all points pretty quickly
        Many banks, stores, restaurants, etc. within a short walk or bike ride
        Reasonable taxes
        Good city services, including a codes inspector who doesn't let much slide (e.g., cars on blocks for months on end)
        Good schools
        Diverse mix of old, young, families, blue collar, white collar
        Reasonable traffic
        Little crime
        Mission Hills a couple of blocks away to prop up the tax base and keep the area from going to pot
        Mature trees

Cons: Mature trees, so more and bigger stuff to come crashing down in ice storms
        Lots of rental properties in neighborhood, although most are well-maintained
        Mainly small, older homes, which most people don't want to sink money into to expand, so they move to newer 'burbs
        Land-locked, mainly residential city, so limited opportunities for expanding tax base
        JoCo stigma

* would you recommend your living arrangement to others?

Yes, especially if you want/need a house but want to be near most of the benefits of urban living

[KCK]

Pictures???

[Marreekarr]

Dwelling: Non-descript brick-walled commercial building near 36th and Main now known as The Nightmare.  It sets back from the sidewalk and does little to enhance the neighborhood.

Neighborhood:  Commercial strip along Main St.  Population is somewhat diverse but tends toward the low income and we often find homeless people sleeping somewhere on the property.

Why: I was offered room and board in exchange for working at the Nightmare.

Pros and Cons: Awesome urban environment.  Something is always going on in the neighborhood.  The old Silo building next door hosts parties on the weekends and there are plans to convert the third floor of the Silo building into lofts.  However, there is a degree of criminal activity in the area and too many low-life street people hanging around.

Recommend?: Yes, if you are twenty or thirty-something, unattached to spouse or children, and like living right smack in the middle of town, then go for it!  Otherwise, find a safe neighborhood to raise your family.

[KCMax]

* describe your dwelling.

Small 3br red brick house with sunporch.

* describe your neighborhood.

Roeland Park, wedged next to Fairway and Mission, right by Mission Mall and the Mission shopping district. Only young adults and senior citizens - very few kids. Every house is about 50 years old.

* why did you choose to buy/rent there?

Good price, close to downtown, close to 39th street/KU Med, love hardwood floors, love older homes.

* list a couple pros and cons about where you live.

Pros: 10 minutes from KU Med, 15 minutes from River Market. Not many kids in the neighborhood. Fairly safe neighborhood. Surprisingly diverse ethnicities for JoCo.

Cons: It is JoCo. Terribly unfriendly to pedestrians (Roeland Park is working on this). No bus service to downtown on weekends.

* would you recommend your living arrangement to others?

Yes. It is an excellent starter home neighborhood. Its also in the Shawnee Mission school district if you want to raise kids here.

[shinatoo]

2800 sq ft story and 1/2 5 bedroom east KC. (no pig nose garage)

1980 subdivision next to established 1960 subdivision. Comunity pool and park, mostly older professionals and KC MO employees, probably 70/30 mix black to white.

Main reason, step son wanted to finish school at Raytown. Close to family. Son lives in Lee's Summit with his mom. Wanted more kids and now have more. Park-like back yard. Pool has swim team that both boys are active in. Area has been home since I was a baby.

Pros, low price per sq foot, great schools (raytown), low taxes, low crime, great neighbors, close to the stadiums.

No retail left in area, no mass transit withing walking distance, far to far from work.

Yes for anyone who has kids and wants them to get a good education with a well rounded world view (i.e. exposure to people of diffrent races, ideologies and economic classes). Plus it is affordable enough that my wife doesn't have to work and can concentrate on raising healthy happy kids. I guess I'm saying that if your kids are more important that the size of your wallet you can make it work in Raytown, even if you only make 25k a year. Full of hard working people with good values.

Lots of good Raytown jokes!

[DiggityDawg]

* describe your dwelling.

1200 square foot apartment in a 7 story, 80-ish year old building that underwent a COMPLETE renovation 1-2 years ago.

* describe your neighborhood.

A mix of all different kinds of people living in apartment buildings & houses big & small.

* why did you choose to buy/rent there?

We like living smack dab in the middle of town, & we got a GREAT deal on a big apartment.

* list a couple pros and cons about where you live.

Pros : location & price.
Cons : the neighborhood seems to have gotten more sketchy over the decade we've lived here - even though I've never really felt unsafe or anything.

* would you recommend your living arrangement to others?

Sure.

[shinatoo]

P.S. you can live in raytown and be in walking distance of several Metro bus lines. 163 down 63rd to Brookside (should continue to DT Raytown), 28X express all along Blue Ridge Cuttoff, 28 all along blue ridge and across 52nd street (don't know why they n't just stay on blue ridge and come right through DT Raytown), 152x out of lees summit on weekdays.