Would You Recommend KC?

[bricknose]

I’m a work-from-home software engineer in his mid-30s, single, looking to make new friends, and hopefully eventually find a partner.

I have AirBnB’d in core Kansas City, MO several times for extended periods (2-4 weeks at a time, at P&L, River Market, and Westport). I was immediately charmed by what I saw as the liveliness of the downtown, the city pride, and sense of community. I’m a nerd at heart, so the vibrant geek scene with many conventions and active tabletop game shops and indie film theaters all had me itching to move.

But over the past couple weeks, particularly in light of the big push against downtown development regarding the stadiums, the continued slow death of the Plaza, and just a sense of depressing, doomer energy expressed on this forum and the Kansas City Reddit, it reminds me a lot of the same vibes I’m moving out of Omaha to get away from. I don’t like being in a stalled, self-loathing city where cool stuff will come when I’m 50, if lucky.

So, be honest, would you recommend Kansas City? Why or why not?

[Cratedigger]

So, be honest, would you recommend Kansas City? Why or why not?

First off, I can understand some of your perspective as a late 20s work from home mgmt/tech consultant who moved from Dallas about 2 years ago. Don’t get bogged down by Reddit/this forum. There’s an overindexing cynicism online that I don’t experience when actually talking with people IRL. ESPECIALLY on Reddit and KcRag - As much as I love this forum for the ability to stay up to date on what is coming.

Feel free to DM me any specific questions. I moved back because I wanted to invest in the community I grew up in. At the same time, my partner got a great job in a growing startup in the crossroads.

Big projects that are opening in the next 5 or so years such as the streetcar extension, the Greenline, the Current stadium and hopefully the park over the highway + baseball stadium will be a major adds to the city. It will be a blast to be in the city for fun events like Copa next year, the World Cup in 2026 and any success the Chiefs have ahead of them.

There are great things happening in KC and it’s exciting to be a part of the momentum. I would recommend it to some but not everyone I know for a number of reasons. Again PM me and we can talk specifics.

Best of luck with the transition. Happy to help in any way I can

[mean]

I'm a work-from-home software engineer in his mid-40s, single, looking to make new friends, and hopefully never to be married again. I would probably recommend, because the arts and food/drink scenes punch way above their weight class imo, but those are things I care about. Things random idiots say on the internet are not generally things I care about.

[im2kull]

KC is Kull.

Just set up a smart switch to randomly kill your router's power after work hours and give yourself a break from the internet every once in awhile.

Then join the local home theater enthusiast group. You'll be plenty happy.

[bricknose]

Thanks for the encouragement and positivity, everyone!

Since there are two other devs here, does anyone know of local KC developer groups, particularly to share indie projects or homebrew game development? Collaborative hobby coding can be fun.

[TheLastGentleman]

Something that has stuck in my mind of the last few years is the story of the new terminal at MCI. The amount of anti-new terminal media was frankly overwhelming, to the point that a lot of people here were concerned the final vote could be pretty close. KC has a history of sentimentality to the absolute weirdest stuff, as well as a reluctance to walk much, so it wasn’t entirely implausible.

Voters approved the new terminal by 70%+

The moral being that the internet is not representative and when the people of KC actually get to choose what to do, they CAN choose correctly. Of course, replacing the worst set of airport terminals ever created by the hands of man was not exactly a hard decision, it was still a far better decision than the mediocre renovation that came two decades earlier.

I’d also say that people here in real life are pretty optimistic on the city. The downtown skyline is plastered on everything and people famously wear KC merch everywhere. We’re able to turn basically anything into civic pride, and while we can get carried away, I think that is a definite boon to the city.

I’ve been traveling to San Francisco frequently the last year, and I can’t tell you how unbelievably negative a lot of the people there feel about living in arguably the most beautiful city in the country. You’d think it was detroit. In my experience it’s a city that absolutely runs circles around KC, but you can see what poor civic pride is doing to SF’s economy, and what disproportionately high civic pride is doing to KC.

And I think that is what keeps KC interesting. There is a sort of friction happening at this stage, as it is evolving. It’s not experiencing the boom of a nashville vegas or austin, but I think in a way it is more culturally interesting for it, and will come out far more refined and established I think for giving itself the time to self reflect.

Anyways, my semi-coherent two cents!

[Chris Stritzel]

I come from St. Louis and chose to move here simply because the people are nicer and it’s not all doom and gloom.

It’s recommended you stay away from any city’s Reddit because you’re exposed to some of the worst people there. On this forum, we have spirited discussions that sometimes get rough, but it’s not like we all hate each other here. I’ve met several forum users. We’re different off the forum (although my introduction to one other forum user was me blowing a gasket at Mr. Atomic last year at a public meeting on the Truman Bike Lanes, so pretty on-par with how I act on here).

KC has a lot to be optimistic about moving forward. Several small businesses are opening up here and bigger ones are quietly establishing operations here. The streetcar is expanding on two fronts with a third in consideration. The World Cup is coming (which will open us up to the world). And while it seems that certain groups are dragging us down on the development front, I’m guaranteeing that the economy has played a much more significant role in new development slowing considerably more than KCTenants and the School District. The last 4 years have been insane on this front (pandemic induced recession, closure of the economy, two heated presidential elections, inflation, increased interest rates, labor shortages, increased energy prices, and increased material costs). Things will get better on this front soon, and we’re starting to see hints of the development machine starting again.

I’ve had the honor of visiting some of this country’s best cities, and we rival any of them. When all the plants are in bloom and full of leaves, the fountains are turned on, and people are out and about, KC comes to life in a way that makes me fall in love with it all over again.

It’s clear that a lot of people, both on this forum and outside of it, have a love for this city. How we want to go about improving it is where we start to fracture. Ignore that. The good far outweighs the bad.

[Highlander]

I grew up in KC and spent my career around the world but decided to return to KC for retirement. Consequently, my perspective will be a bit different than many here as I'm not driven by the same interests etc.... Overall, it's been a great move but there have been some disappointments. First off, I would not have considered KC had it not been for what appeared to be a renewed interest in the urban core. The streetcar and the extension south was absolutely a critical factor in our decision. I've always loved the KC restaurant scene, the cultural infrastructure, the variety of pro sports and just the overall great bones that the city's urban core has. We never have a shortage of places to take friends from out of town and they are generally impressed by the city.

I think there is still a lot of work to do in this city and the first thing we observed when buying a home was that there was so little housing stock available in the urban core. I think the lack of supply drives the higher prices in this city more so than the demand. KC is the least gentrified city I've ever been in and I think that really hurts the overall ability of the urban core to sustain growth and development. Reluctantly, we ended up buying in the burbs. It's a positive feedback loop that strengthen the burbs at the expense of the city. The city does seem to have a 2 steps forward/1.5 steps back evolutionary trend with Covid initiating the most recent backward step and really adversely impacted the Plaza. Other disappointments are more tolerable: 1. It still gets cold in KC. Crap. 2. I learned I don't yearn for great KC BBQ as much when it is available all the time.

I really do hate the suburban/urban rift in this city as well as the constant Kansas/Missouri competition. I think that's accentuated by social media (as the LastGentlemen mentions above) but it does seem to reinforce some of the ridiculous insular notions held by some people in the metro. There just doesn't seem to be a decent forum to discuss ways forward (other than the Rag which is pretty subdued). Social Media is extremely one sided whether the discussion is regarding the airport, stadium, affordable housing etc....

But yea, overall, Recommend. Great place to retire.

[alejandro46]

Yes, don't read too much into this forum or the social media postings. KC has its share of problems, but it's still a nice place to live. I would echo one thing and I agree is that for younger people it can be hard to meet people without actively seeking out interest groups and activities, but that is not a unique problem to KC.

[TheUrbanRoo]

and just a sense of depressing, doomer energy expressed on this forum and the Kansas City Reddit

It's one guy in particular, who then galvanizes others to go along with him. I've ranted against it for years for how pervasive and annoying it is to deal with on this forum.

The average normal person you'll find on the street in urban KC loves the city and the way things are going, and want to keep seeing the progress. Don't worry.

[Metro]

No. With prices going up you aren't getting a very good ROI. Crappy schools, shitty roads, and crime people want to sweep under the rug. Then you have guys like the poster above who thinks we're making progress because a bike lane that will be unkept went up next to a brewery with some generic luxury apartment.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

No. With prices going up you aren't getting a very good ROI. Crappy schools, shitty roads, and crime people want to sweep under the rug. Then you have guys like the poster above who thinks we're making progress because a bike lane that will be unkept went up next to a brewery with some generic luxury apartment.

lol, for context if there is anyone here to not take the advice from, it’s definitely this poster. Metro is perpetually negative and antagonistic towards KC

[bricknose]

Well, thanks for your responses, everyone. I appreciate the sense of perspective!

Including from Metro. You’re probably right that KC downtown isn’t great for what you describe. But I’m single, with no kids, and I like urban density, activity, and non-car transportation options.

I have a married buddy who’s a new father and is considering KC. He would move to Lee’s Summit if he chooses KC over Minneapolis/St. Paul. Being in the right suburb addresses many of those concerns while still having a surprisingly good taste of the urban.

[mean]

Since there are two other devs here, does anyone know of local KC developer groups, particularly to share indie projects or homebrew game development? Collaborative hobby coding can be fun.

I don't, I actually never really thought to look before. Surely something exists.

[Metro]

No. With prices going up you aren't getting a very good ROI. Crappy schools, shitty roads, and crime people want to sweep under the rug. Then you have guys like the poster above who thinks we're making progress because a bike lane that will be unkept went up next to a brewery with some generic luxury apartment.

lol, for context if there is anyone here to not take the advice from, it’s definitely this poster. Metro is perpetually negative and antagonistic towards KC

You don't even live in KC you mooch off the KC taxpayer

[Metro]

Well, thanks for your responses, everyone. I appreciate the sense of perspective!

Including from Metro. You’re probably right that KC downtown isn’t great for what you describe. But I’m single, with no kids, and I like urban density, activity, and non-car transportation options.

I have a married buddy who’s a new father and is considering KC. He would move to Lee’s Summit if he chooses KC over Minneapolis/St. Paul. Being in the right suburb addresses many of those concerns while still having a surprisingly good taste of the urban.

Like anything life is what you make it. Sounds like we are the same age and I went through what you are going through I think part of it is being WFH the human interaction isn't the same. There are plenty of areas around the city that are good for walking and getting physical activity I think that would help you out some. As far as meeting others check out https://www.meetup.com/find/us--mo--kansas-city/

Don't know if you're into playing sports but heres a great social sports league https://kccrew.com/

If you're into trivia https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2022-02- ... -who-drink

All of those are some pretty good things to do around the city to meet new people or you can always YOLO and sit at a bar you'll usually encounter some interesting convos.

Best of luck on your adventures man

[Anthony_Hugo98]

No. With prices going up you aren't getting a very good ROI. Crappy schools, shitty roads, and crime people want to sweep under the rug. Then you have guys like the poster above who thinks we're making progress because a bike lane that will be unkept went up next to a brewery with some generic luxury apartment.

lol, for context if there is anyone here to not take the advice from, it’s definitely this poster. Metro is perpetually negative and antagonistic towards KC

You don't even live in KC you mooch off the KC taxpayer

lol okay