Dispatches from the Northland

[rxlexi]

Decided to start a new Northland thread rather than post this in the "Northland vs JOCO" thread:

This talk of the Northland pulling folks from other parts of the metro has me feeling the need to chime in as my wife and I bought our first home in the Briarcliff area in 2019. I grew up in the heart of Brookside/Waldo (69th and Ward), went thru private schools, etc. Lived on Plaza for 10 years and then City Market. Generally consider myself something of a wannabe hipster or whatnot. So maybe not the typical buyer profile looking up north.

However, I have been working in downtown NKC for over a decade, and became familiar with the general older "inner-northland" (south of I-29?) through that, and then my brother bought a home in Claymont (just east of Briarcliff Village) after living downtown for several years, specifically for the proximity to DTKC and ability to afford a super-modern reno on a relatively limited budget. So I became very familiar with the neighborhoods around him.

Then as we were making offers on homes in central KC (first Union Hill, then Brookside @ 62nd and Brookside Blvd, then Coleman Highlands) and getting outbid consistently, we found a couple of unique mid-century homes in the Briarcliff area and ended up with one of them, actually in Riverside just adjacent to Briarcliff Village.

So far, so good! We love the proximity to the city and spend most of our play time there, it's about a 5 minute (highway - 169) drive to City Market from our driveway, with Parkville and English Landing Park 10-minutes west. That said, I completely agree with comments that it feels much more disconnected than the travel time indicates due to the traversal of river, rail and industrial zones - this is totally true, especially next to the seamless experience of KC-adjacent JOCO hoods.

Further, having spent most of my life in the flat, tree-lined, walkable neighborhoods of central KC, and living at the top of a relatively extreme hill, I often miss the easy walkability of those areas. It's about a 15-minute walk to Briarcliff Village from my house, but it's quite hilly, and generally lacking big mature street trees separating sidewalk and street.

There are some great trails that wind along the base of the bluff and connect to the Line Creek Trail and MO Riverfront Trail but it's not a match for the natural walkability of central hoods. Also desperately missing a solid bike/ped connection directly to downtown NKC; currently have to brave HWY 9 for a stretch or go all the way up Briarcliff Pwky to North Oak and down.

Briarcliff Village, for it's part, is doing it's best to provide improved offerings in the immediate area (we frequent Piropos, Barrio, Green Acres, Headrush) and has a way underused but beautiful lake and small park to run or dog walk or admire the attractive xmas lights. At the end of the day it will always lack the feel of a true Brookside or PV-eque neighborhood center, but it's attractive enough and packs enough that we use frequently that it certainly adds major value to the immediate hoods (IMO).

That said, overall I think this specific area (maybe NKC to I-29) has a ton of potential, as NKC continues to blossom into a bit of destination and the rest of the Northland growth provides more typical suburban development (Costco and major retail, soccer and recreation fields, trails, etc.). Public schools are decent to very good, especially in the newer northern reaches of the Northland (we are in Park Hill district - a nice bonus vis a vis the proximity to the city).

We now have friends that have purchased homes in Briar Pointe and NKC so it's becoming kind of a nice little crew up here.

The Northland in general will never have the cache of JOCO or probably even a Lee's Summit at this point, and remains kind of an against the grain choice in a city where money has always flowed southwest. There are also some rough and/or just weird chunks of dated inner-ring suburban or even semi-rural areas (all of this generally in KCMO) that don't exist in the more well-known burbs.

Not sure whether our next home purchase would remain north of the river or return to a core neighborhood (or elsewhere) but overall, at least in my small portion of the Northland, I am very much enjoying our little perch overlooking the city (great skyline view coming down our hill - another bonus).

[GRID]

Nice post.

That little Briarcliff skyline as you head into downtown KC is so nice when coming from the airport. 169 south is the best entry into KC followed by 71 north.

[FlippantCitizen]

Great post. I agree that the Northland neighborhoods south of 29 provide a nice proposition vis a vis schools and proximity to downtown. Bike infrastructure on 9 to better connect Briarcliff to NKC as well as some denser redevelopment along North Oak would really up the ante for the whole area. For me the comment in the other thread by Chrizow rang true though. You're really reliant on high speed, limited access roads or highways to get much of anywhere outside the immediate neighborhood. Quick and easy highway connections and access, while a selling point for some, aren't my style. I prefer the feel of a robust street network providing the ability to largely avoid the highway in my day to day if possible. That's a perception and preference thing though as objectively your travel time to DT is shorter from Briarcliff than from Brookside.

[chrizow]

i appreciate this post very much. i think the briarcliff area, and downtown NKC, are unique and are a great suburban option esp. for folks who work downtown or in NKC. other than the small village around Armour in NKC which is relatively urban in scale, i think up north one simply must accept it is more of a suburban--even rural--feel and there is some real value to that. we have considered living up there, like in the Bluffs, downtown Parkville, Briarcliff, etc--it really is a nice area with a slow pace with great proximity downtown. the mid-century modern homes around briarcliff are really cool and some have great views. also, as you say, some nice trails and hiking options up there as well. but neither my wife or i work downtown so the commute would be like 30-40 min each way, so it's not super practical for us. i think more and more people--particularly younger folks who may not want to over-spend on places like NE JOCO--will move up there and make it even cooler than it is.

the "outer northland" is where things really break down for me. same with exurban jackson county, joco, or wyco of course. it's maddening that someone can live north of the airport, or north of Liberty, and be in "KCMO."

[taxi]

I've always been fond of those relatively close northland neighborhoods, especially both old and new Briarcliffs and Parkville. After moving out of midtown (for 15 years) in 2005, I was excited to start exploring up north. Unfortunately, I thought I could do it on my bike. You are correct rxlexi about that scary stretch of hiway 9, I hate it. And trying to traverse E/W is pretty tricky and none of it is ped friendly. After a handful of tips to Green Acres and up Cherry to Lowe's and Petsmart, I gave up entirely. I still ride to NKC a lot, but am frustrated by alleged bike improvements – the ped lane across the HOA Bridge is poorly maintained and whoever decided Swift should be the preferred bike route should be in jail for life without parole. Sometimes I'm convinced that a lot of the bicycle lane decisions are made by folks who do not ride.

[Highlander]

i appreciate this post very much. i think the briarcliff area, and downtown NKC, are unique and are a great suburban option esp. for folks who work downtown or in NKC. other than the small village around Armour in NKC which is relatively urban in scale, i think up north one simply must accept it is more of a suburban--even rural--feel and there is some real value to that. we have considered living up there, like in the Bluffs, downtown Parkville, Briarcliff, etc--it really is a nice area with a slow pace with great proximity downtown. the mid-century modern homes around briarcliff are really cool and some have great views. also, as you say, some nice trails and hiking options up there as well. but neither my wife or i work downtown so the commute would be like 30-40 min each way, so it's not super practical for us. i think more and more people--particularly younger folks who may not want to over-spend on places like NE JOCO--will move up there and make it even cooler than it is.

the "outer northland" is where things really break down for me. same with exurban jackson county, joco, or wyco of course. it's maddening that someone can live north of the airport, or north of Liberty, and be in "KCMO."

I looked at the northland when we returned to KC last year. The only places I really liked were parts of Parkville and Briarcliff. The availability of homes in that area were pretty limited. What I did not like about the northland, was the totally disjointed and patchy feel to the area. It was like a lot of small communities connected by a fairly extensive highway system. Almost all commercial activity is along the connecting highways with the exception of North Oak which is kind of a mess and downtown NKC which is actually pretty impressive.

A lot of the disjointed feel of the Northland has to do with topography along with the piecemeal way in which it was developed. Whereas urban KC was built on the broad high ground between Turkey Creek and the Blue River and NE Johnson County was the natural extension of that development trend, the bluffs going north out of KC are dissected by several small creeks which creates continuous hilly topography before reaching flatter territory around Barry Road. Consequently, the development in that area has the haphazard feel to it as described above. They way the belt of hills, still very close to downtown, was initially developed almost seems exurban in places. Around Barry Road a more continuous grid is in place but that starts to feel like the outer burbs in KC south like Olathe or Lees Summit (Lees Summit without the quaint downtown).

I'll add one more thing. If you are from south KC or lived there your entire life, the northland feels like a different city. I know we just didn't feel comfortable with a home there, it wasn't familiar despite it's proximity to parts of the city we enjoy. The area has a distinct feel to it relative to rest of the metro south of the river. If we worked downtown and/or were driven by housing costs, maybe we would consider a move but it would be like moving out of town in a way since you probably would not be seeing your family and friends in south KC nearly as much once there.

[dukuboy1]

thanks for the post. I grew up in the Northland, coming to KC as a 3 yr old in 1976. So I've seen all kinds of change and growth. I grew up in the Briarcliff area, went to NKC High School. Loved the area and it promity to downtown and easy access to the urban core to the Plaza and beyond.

There are a lot of new builds in the general area of Briarcliff, especially to the West. Heck even Travis Kelce decided to live up here (Briarcliff West)

One thing I'm waiting for is the Prairie Village/ Brookside effect to take place in the neighborhoods in Claymont & Briarcliff. By this I mean the teardowns and rebuilds of older homes and renovations of existing homes. There are some unique homes in the area that are worth remodeling, renovating, etc. and not tearing down and some homes sit on great lots that a tear down works. But I'd like to see some more of that and to bring in younger families and look to reset the area a little more.

[chrizow]

I looked at the northland when we returned to KC last year.

Where did you end up??

What I did not like about the northland, was the totally disjointed and patchy feel to the area. It was like a lot of small communities connected by a fairly extensive highway system.. . . .A lot of the disjointed feel of the Northland has to do with topography along with the piecemeal way in which it was developed. Whereas urban KC was built on the broad high ground between Turkey Creek and the Blue River and NE Johnson County was the natural extension of that development trend, the bluffs going north out of KC are dissected by several small creeks which creates continuous hilly topography before reaching flatter territory around Barry Road. Consequently, the development in that area has the haphazard feel to it as described above. They way the belt of hills, still very close to downtown, was initially developed almost seems exurban in places. Around Barry Road a more continuous grid is in place but that starts to feel like the outer burbs in KC south like Olathe or Lees Summit (Lees Summit without the quaint downtown).

I'll add one more thing. If you are from south KC or lived there your entire life, the northland feels like a different city. I know we just didn't feel comfortable with a home there, it wasn't familiar despite it's proximity to parts of the city we enjoy. The area has a distinct feel to it relative to rest of the metro south of the river. If we worked downtown and/or were driven by housing costs, maybe we would consider a move but it would be like moving out of town in a way since you probably would not be seeing your family and friends in south KC nearly as much once there.

Very well said. The Northland feels overwhelmingly rural--which is ok if that is a vibe one wants. the newer, cookie cutter subdivisions like around 152/Shoal Creek are definitely popular with families and i understand it but it also comes across like "Best Choice" Overland Park to me. The Northland is def. more akin to Eastern Jackson County as far as I can tell - bland suburbia, lots of rural land, and way too many lifted pickups, but as noted the "inner" northland from Parkville over to NKC is pretty nice and an appealing option for folks who want a suburban setting but want to be near downtown.

[Highlander]

Where did you end up??

Well, to be literally and geographically correct, we are in NE Johnson County. But further south in that general area - further south than I'd like to be.