KCRag Forum

never really ever been TO lee's summit before...only passed through a couple of times. i went to my friend's new house out there for a party and it is simply amazing. i had no idea that area was as populated as it is. he lives out in BFE but we drove through what seemed like 20 leawood-type subs before we actually got to his house-not even exactly for sure where it is he lives, i was like by the time i got out of the car and was like once inside, so needless to say i don't remember the trip home either. his sub is somewhere in the 400ks but the hoods to the north of there he said were selling in the 600-900ks. kinda had no idea it was like that out there.

Um, Yeah. It's a regular sprawling suburb just like those in Johnson County, although it also has a very nice downtown area as well. It's the fastest growing city in the state, 70,000 in 2000 and close to 80,000 today, in the top 5 list of annual building permits, growing faster than the metro average. Projected to approach 200,000 people when the current land area is fully developed, plus any additional annexations. It's no longer just a bedroom community, the retail, industrial, and office sectors have exploded in the last 5 years. Even beginning to attract corporate headquarters, now that executive housing has arrived. Schools are top-notch, equal to Blue Valley, Park Hilll, or Liberty. Like the Northland, Lee's Summit is very much underestimated by the rest of the metro.

Hell, I live on this side of town and Lee's Summit freaks me out when I drive around it. It goes from Cass County to near Independence Center and it's filling up fast. Most of its very very nice, way out of my league, thats for sure. Most people don't realize you can't see 90% of Lee's Summit from 470 or 50. The only part of Lee's Summit that really sucks is out east along 50. Looks like south JoCo or Cass County. Tract housing on farm fields.

Sounds like me, remember? .

dangerboy wrote:

The Summit wrote:Holly crap, driving in from the KCI airport I took I-29 to 150 east to 435 south. I had no idea the northtown was growing so much. I usually take 435 all the way and see nothing past 35. That was just insane. How big could this area get?

....Yet another southlander discovers a whole other half of the city

I'm sure I'd have the same reaction if I drove out yonder in Olathe, Shawnee, or whatever the hot new Joco suburbs are. I just find it funny when people "discover" the Northland or Eastern Jack, and are astonished that you can lead a normal, fulfilling life without ever setting foot in Overland Park.

dangerboy wrote:it funny when people "discover" the Northland or Eastern Jack, and are astonished that you can lead a normal, fulfilling life without ever setting foot in Overland Park.

That's impossible...

I find the opposite to be true.

I fully intend not to set foot in Johnson County once I get a job that isn't located in Johnson County. It is very easy to never go to JoCo. The only reason I will in the future is on my bike to ride trails. I don't spend a dime here, currently. I'm in and out every day. Granted, I'm a bit of an idealist that works hard to direct his activity and spend to support the urban core and its developments and it might be more convenient to stop on the way home from work, but I don't do it.

I guess I have one exception -- I race for a bike shop in Overland Park, so I go there, and I don't even go there for everything despite my team discount. Sometimes there are great people that usurp the negative feelings I have about the location.

No ill feelings for people who live, work and shop in Johnson County -- I just feel like they don't need my money.

staubio wrote:I fully intend not to set foot in Johnson County once I get a job that isn't located in Johnson County. It is very easy to never go to JoCo. The only reason I will in the future is on my bike to ride trails. I don't spend a dime here, currently. I'm in and out every day. Granted, I'm a bit of an idealist that works hard to direct his activity and spend to support the urban core and its developments and it might be more convenient to stop on the way home from work, but I don't do it.

Wow, that attitude is as bad as the suburbanites who refuse to set foot in the urban core because of their own perceptions and opinions about it. I don't think any area of the metro deserves being written off with such contempt. Even the most diehard of us Midtowners end up making the suburban shopping trip now and then.

It isn't avoidance out of ignorance or for the sake of being stubborn or competitive -- it is using my money as a vote for the urban core. Perhaps the word "never" was a tad bit strong, but I probably won't be making shopping trips to JoCo. I don't look down upon people that do and I respect all people's choices as to where they live, work and play. I just hope that those choices and their consequences are apparant to the people that make them so that everyone knows the situation. It isn't as if I'm naive as to the suburbs and to what they offer. I think this is the case of those who avoid the core. They think it is dead, unsafe and not worth their time. I know about the suburbs, how they have developed and what they offer and make an informed personal decision.

I'm sorry to have come off as a reverse-snob. I'm just idealistic. I'm trying to vote with my dollars. I am very diligent not to spew hatred and intolerance. I know that the suburbs are good for the community as a whole and I know we should all view the city as one cohesive unit if we want it to succeed. I wouldn't share this rhetoric in public but felt safe to share it here.

I just feel good about spending my time and money in the city. It is fulfilling. It needs me a lot more than Oak Park Mall does. I want to send a clear signal to those bold enough to bring options to the core that I will support them with all of my ability as opposed to the chain/cookie cutter options elsewhere. Shopping at a fringe development just adds more momentum to building at the margins.

Also, I have been known to drop into suburban places with local entrepreuners that set up shop in more historic or responsably built neighborhoods, so my diatribe wasn't entirely accurate. I think the older parts of places like OP, Fairway and Mission, etc, are quite charming and true to their origins. While I spend little to no time or money in these places, I still have a lot of respect for them.

I just want to make it clear that this isn't a petty "Kansas hater" rhetoric or some silly, unfounded stubborness. It is well thought out and it is how I choose to speak using my time and money -- that, and I'm much happier enjoying the core than waiting in stoplights in JoCo.

Sorry, again, if I was inflammatory before.

Good points Staubio. I too, only go to Joco for work related things. One of the problems the urban core has in retaining its retail is that so many people feel the need to travel to the suburbs, all of them, for their needs. Despite the number of people who live between Crown Center and the River, we still do not have a grocery. Garretts has drastically reduced the amount of groceries they carry. Most of the former grocery section is now tables for the restaurant. I try to use Sunfresh in Westport, despite its relative 'skany-ness" in order to maintain our retail in the core. If we can support the retail in the urban core, and prove that it is, in fact profitable, more retailers will take the risk to open in the core. Its nothing against the suburbs, but the folks in the core deserve a better deal than they are getting. The reality is that you do not need to go south of Brush Creek for anything. The sooner we get the message out that downtown is NOT dead, the sooner those vacant buildings will fill with the great retailers we want.

I totally see where you guy's are coming from. I just thought I was only one that did that. I finally moved to Kansas City North and work off 435 & Holmes. I usually bring my lunch but when I go out with the co-workers I only pick the days that they go somewhere besides a Johnson County eating establishment. I currently spend probably 90-95% of my retail dollars within KCMO so don't blame me for the lackluster growth in KCMO's sales tax receipts. New developments across the city are gonna turn those figures around though.

Damn, you guys are never gonna discover new and delightful places with that type of thinking. I spread my dollars like butter from South JOCO to Odessa. Your basic needs, however, should be done at a convenient location, and NOT wastin' fuel and spittin' out pollution jus' to be stubborn.

So basically, you guys would never step into a Barley's Brewhaus because it's in JOCO? Even if you were a beer fanatic and they had 99 beers on tap (even Rogue Dead Guy, bahua)? What about a great Italian restaurant like Gambucci's in Olathe or a delicious Mexican restaurant like Cozumel's in Leawood? I know plenty of "suburbadroids" that spend their dining dollars on Southwest Boulevard or the Plaza. Maybe I can understand shopping, why go to the same places they have at Oak Park if they have them at Crown Center or the Plaza (since the Plaza is becoming an outdoor Oak Park).....but the dining/drinking part of it boggles my mind.

I prefer to do my drinking within stumbling distance of my house.

dangerboy wrote:I prefer to do my drinking within stumbling distance of my house.

That's a very intelligent statement, I wish I could do the same but too often find myself behind the wheel of an automobile after drinking. Luckily I'm Irish and I don't get drunk.

QueSi2Opie wrote:Damn, you guys are never gonna discover new and delightful places with that type of thinking. I spread my dollars like butter from South JOCO to Odessa. Your basic needs, however, should be done at a convenient location, and NOT wastin' fuel and spittin' out pollution jus' to be stubborn.

So basically, you guys would never step into a Barley's Brewhaus because it's in JOCO? Even if you were a beer fanatic and they had 99 beers on tap (even Rogue Dead Guy, bahua)? What about a great Italian restaurant like Gambucci's in Olathe or a delicious Mexican restaurant like Cozumel's in Leawood? I know plenty of "suburbadroids" that spend their dining dollars on Southwest Boulevard or the Plaza. Maybe I can understand shopping, why go to the same places they have at Oak Park if they have them at Crown Center or the Plaza (since the Plaza is becoming an outdoor Oak Park).....but the dining/drinking part of it boggles my mind.

Its a lot easier to support joco when you live there.

Don't you find it odd that so many on this forum live outside of JOCO, but work there, away from the core, outside of their state. I admit, I work in joco and live in kck, but to tell you the truth, I am almost forced to go there.

If I need specialty computer equipment, I have to go outside kck. If I want the best deal on electronics, clothing, or even groceries, I have to leave kck. In fact even fast food is priced higher at kck franchises, probably to make up for the high ass taxes. I persist, shopping at places with guaranteed low prices, like wal-mart here, but the wal-mart here doesn't carry nearly as much merchandise as any of the multiple joco wal-marts. I work in joco and kck is too far to drive back to for lunch, so money goes to their food establishments. If I want to see a movie, the closest theater is in Merriam.

What do I do, JOCO has a lot, WYCO has very little.

I rarley set foot in JoCo anymore unless I am just bored and want a change of scenery. We go to the Northland now if we want that change of scenery. Of course we also frequent the urban core.

I live in the MO burbs and work in Donwtown KC. I took a pay cut to get out of College Blvd, I couldn't stand it out there. It's payed off.

DeadManWalking wrote:Its a lot easier to support joco when you live there.

That's why I support good drinking and dining establishments everywhere in the metro. Jus' ate at the Red Star Tavern at the Shops at Boardwalk in the Northland yesterday. Word of warning...don't try their barbeque sauce...it's sweet and nasty.

If I need specialty computer equipment, I have to go outside kck.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by specialty, but Hypertech has (or at least had a couple weeks ago) a location on Rainbow north of KUMC. I can't find any mention of that location on their website now, so I guess it may have closed. If it did close, it was pretty recent.

http://www.hypertechcomputer.com/

I just mean you know general peripherals, system boards, power supplies, video cards, you know general crap. Nebraska Furniture Mart carries some of this stuff, but I have to run over to Microcenter, CompUSA, and even Best Buy to get a good price. NFM is more expensive than these other places and doesn't have all the specialty stuff I need. I build and repair computers a lot and driving 25 miles to get parts sucks. At least Radio Shack has cabling.