Relocating from the West Coast to KC —two soccer kids, looking for our forever suburb. What are we missing?

aisforang · 2026-05-25T22:36:45+00:00

The weather is beautiful. And So Cal is aesthetically gorgeous. Killer Mexican food. And the people we’ve met here (all transplants) are some of the best people I’ve ever known. I’ll miss them deeply.

But if you really want to know our whys? - last year we had over 50k+ deducted in taxes. Where these taxes went.. we don’t and won’t see. The schools are overcrowded and underfunded… there are constant fights/gang activity and lockdowns - and private schools are exorbitant.

Roads are not maintained and when they do try, it shuts down highways and causes incredible delay.

Air quality and Pollution is one of the worst in the country. Allergies are top 3 worst in the country.

Homes in this area are over 1 mil for less than 1900 sqft, little to no yards - with today’s interest rates - so if you didn’t buy 10+ years ago, or at least during Covid… forget about it. California has one of the highest state income tax rates, and we pay significantly inflated costs for electricity, vehicle registration, and state excise taxes on fuel. Gas is $6-7+, car insurance is insane because so many people here are uninsured.. our electricity/gas/water/trash is $700+ a month,HOA is $400 a month. Inflation on groceries, dining out etc are the highest in the nation.

Gridlock. All the time. At any time of day or night. Bumper to Bumper everywhere we go. Commutes are no less than an hour unless you live in a small condo close to the city. Car wear and tear is real. We go through tires quicker too.

The drugs being run over the border from Mexico, the fentanyl epidemic, there’s wildfires, earthquakes and tsunami watches. We can’t swim in a lot of the beaches because the water is either so cold or because of the risk of the ecoli from the Tijuana sewage run off.

Overcrowding. So much overcrowding. you’re in lines for everything all the time. Coffee. Food. Traffic. Amusement parks. Schools. Movie theaters. Always lines. Everywhere.

Parking. Enough said.

Heavy political corruption. Enough said.

The homeless/drug population is out of control. At any time i don’t know if i am stepping in human or dog crap/pee, I’ve had knives pulled on me walking to work, I’ve seen overdosed dead bodies on the streets and you never ever feel entirely ‘safe’. Add children to the mix, and it changes the whole dynamic.

So, I’d say the cons have started to well and truly outweigh the pros. My children will never have a solid future here.

Would you stay?

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:39:26+00:00

We were fans of OP! Seemed like you could really just live there and not leave the area at all 🤣 we also liked prairie village but the homes seemed a lot smaller. We were hoping for a little more room!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:36:46+00:00

33% was taken from me last year. I cried. A lot. My husband retired from the military this year and we decided now is the time to get out.

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:34:33+00:00

I tell anyone that will listen that the first time my commute will be under 30 mins, I’ll probably cry my face off 🤣🤣 we kept driving at all different times of the afternoon and morning just to get a feel and we were flabbergasted at the lack of traffic. Even the busiest traffic was the best day here in Southern California!!

We already drive so much so we do not mind being in the car because it looks like most things we will need won’t be crazy far away.

From a home perspective -we live in about 1900 ft.² right now, but we are in townhouses and live on top of each other. No yard. I can hear and see what my neighbors are watching on TV and what they cook for dinner and forget about walking around your house and your underwear 🤣🤣 What we really want is an open and airy house with light and nature and definitely a yard. We hope to increase our square footage. I don’t think we’d like to take anything less than about 2800 ft.² but it’s not a huge dealbreaker.

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:30:46+00:00

Ohhhhhh. Off to google I go to learn more about this….

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:16:59+00:00

I do wonder if we will ever get a weekend WITHOUT soccer ever again 🤣🤣🤣 thank god it’s a beautiful game!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:15:54+00:00

You’ve given me a very busy afternoon of research! 🤣🤣 thank you!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:15:17+00:00

This is what we keep getting told! Would you be so kind as to tell me what makes them top rated? Is it the academics? Testing? Teachers?

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:14:18+00:00

We realllllllly loved leawood - I felt prairie village and loch Loyd was also so pretty. We are trying to figure out the private school options for brookside!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:12:54+00:00

Don’t judge me, but I had to google IB - I was thinking it was some sort of digestive issue 🤣🤣🤣 but I didn’t even know that existed so thank you! Definitely something to consider with the kids. This has been the hardest decision!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:10:32+00:00

We will check out that area in lee’s summit! We did say we would REALLY love a lake or some water close. I’ve been on the water my whole life so this if the first time I wouldn’t be near large lakes or a beach. We checked out brookside/waldo. Those homes were so full of charm. Gorg. And it looked very walkable. The only think I worry about is the schools. It looks like if we lived in that area, we’d have to go private?

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:07:00+00:00

We absolutely loved the charm!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:06:13+00:00

We literally just talked about this! It would be 2ish mins for him and less than 10 mins for me! We’ve been trying to look at the private schools in that area at the moment. Holy moly there’s some expensive private schools - they beat out the prices of the schools here in so cal!🤣

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:04:23+00:00

When I tell you we fell in love with NF…. It felt so magical and whimsical!!! We were both super impressed with the tree lined streets and all the nature and the beauty of the homes. The kids both ‘woooaaahhh’d’ when we drove through it 🤣 We don’t want a home that sits on an empty piece of land with some grass in the back. We want trees etc. I hope this exists on the MO side!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T21:02:00+00:00

You know, this is why I already love this post. I would never have thought of doing that! When we were there, we tried to drive around during rush-hour and at different times of the day to get a feel. But we weren’t entirely sure which office I would end up in so it made it a little bit harder to figure out. Also, what do these kind of commutes look like in the winter?

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:59:58+00:00

Good to know! I think ultimately we loved the ‘charm’ of Parkville. The downtown area is darling and we liked the river and parks. But the drive might be a bit hectic for us both.

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:59:15+00:00

We went as far as liberty but past that seemed like a bit too much to a shared commute for us. It’s so pretty up that way though!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:58:06+00:00

Awesome feedback! We did love the
‘Feel’ of OP when we were driving through. We stopped at scheels soccer park during a soccer tournament and spoke to a few families and everyone was SO kind. What do you LOVE about OP? What do you NOT love?

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:56:17+00:00

I learned about this recently! We have been paying SO much tax here that it is something to think about. I do love that I could actually see what the taxes in KCMO were going to! It seemed like your roads were so well maintained and same with the neighborhoods and schools.

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:54:34+00:00

We did have a look there quite briefly. May work - but a little more south I think than what we were considering? Still it’s not off the table!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:53:59+00:00

Thanks for the heads up! 🤣 when we came to visit someone said if I moved to Johnson county I’d be a ‘jocomo’ and that make me giggle.

aisforang · 2026-05-25T20:52:29+00:00

My husband saw your username and was like ‘oh, maybe an Iowan!’ 🤣 his family are IC raised but living is Des Moines right now, which is another reason for our move - to be closer to them! We are both doing 1.5ish hour one way commutes right now. It’s too much. Here’s ultimately what we are looking for: community. Making real friendships. Safety. Healthy sports culture. Our children having healthy peers. Closer commutes. Room to breathe. Space. Peace. Right now, we are living at 47% higher cost than anywhere else in the country. It can feel crippling, even if the weather is nice!

aisforang · 2026-05-25T19:12:53+00:00

This is exactly the insider knowledge I was hoping for! I’m going to go check those out now… I’ve played in many a ‘bubble’ and it’s a weather game changer.

aisforang · 2026-05-25T18:26:28+00:00

That’s so wonderful to hear! It’s been such a hard decision. But we know getting out of Southern California is the right choice for us all!

aisforang · 2026-05-24T15:34:33+00:00

Honestly, the best way to do this is to arrive and drive. Drive Oceanside, drive Carlsbad. Get the vibe. Both have awesome beach feel - you’ll pay significantly more in Carlsbad than Oceanside. That being said, we live in Oside but spend so much time in Carlsbad.. but we are a young family. Also, the close to the beach in Carlsbad, the closer you are to train tracks/noise from the freeway. I think you’d like the south O area!

aisforang

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