I am thinking of moving to Kansas City and would also like as much information as I can get.?

Question

2 GWMs 47 & 48.
Not a lot of money.
Starting over .
Prices on both coasts are too crazy.

Is there decent work there?
Car insurance high/low?
Racially / lifestyle diversity?
Homophobic?

Any info greatly appreciated

Answer 1

I posted this response to another open question earlier, but may be useful to you as well. I included additional information at the bottom answering questions that you had asked. Like I have said before, this is my opinion, not factual.

64108 - Midtown.
64105 - Downtown
64101 - River Market
64110 - Westport

In my opinion the Plaza is over rated. I like Crossroads. Very gay friendly. I live in a small loft community, 7 units, and 4 of 7 are gay, male and female. I just moved here from the east coast and it seems OK so far. The city seems deserted after 6pm, except for "First Friday's". But it beats living in the burbs. The burbs seem flavorless and filled with strip malls and horrible architecture. Unfortunately the schools suck *** in MO, so private or Johnson Co is the way to go if you have kids. Personally I am not a big fan of spending countless hours going to WalMart and Home Depot to play in my yard on overly hot weekends. I would rather enjoy cocktails and weekend trips to the lake.

People will claim that downtown is crime infested. Sure KC has it's ghetto spots. But so does every other city?? Not to mention most victims know their assailants in violent crime...

So to summarize:
KC is OK, kinda slow. You can find stuff to do, but requires some bit of effort, depending where you are from.

River Market and Crossroads are definitely your best places for "gay friendly" atmosphere. Plaza is too expensive and too crowded and too straight... You will get more for your money in Crossroads and River Market.

Westport is decent. This is the cities claim to bar and club district... It needs some help, again just my opinion and it depends where you are moving from. it is a bunch of college kids who have no where else to go drink, YAWN... They claim that the bars close at 2am, more like 6pm...

Car insurance is higher from where I relocated from. So needless to say I have not changed my tags.

There are a lot of homophobic people here. just drive out I-70 to Denver and count all of the God signs along your way... Kinda scary! But in the neighborhoods mentioned above, they are the most diverse and open minded.

Definite racial division here. The city is pretty much split down the middle. It is pretty sad that the city is famous for Jazz and they do a horrible job promoting and advertising it. Why you ask? Because jazz is one of the only true American art forms and it was invented by primarily African American musicians. There are a lot of white people, especially on the KS side of State Line Rd.

There is decent work here. Depends what industry you are looking for. Hallmark, Sprint, H&R Block, Quintiles, Harley Davidson, and IRS are big employers to name a few...

Answer 2

Kc is a great place to live. I have lived pretty much my whole life. BIG gay scene here. Lot's of clubs and events. You guys will probably want to be in the Plaza, Westport, downtown area. The city is so much more interesting than the burbs. (where I live) The homophobe thing I don't know what to say about that. I think that's kinda everywhere you go. Yeah sure there are plenty of stupid rednecks and ignorant people here but aren't they everywhere. The cost of living is real decent here. Contact me direct if you have more ?'s or would like more advice. Good Luck!

Answer 3

I agree you're going to want to be in Midtown, Plaza, Westport. Those places do tend to be pricey, I think Union Hill downtown is a pretty good place as well. I think KC has got somewhat better rates of employment than other cities. My car insurance is low, but I live in Johnson county, I do know places you'd be looking at insurance would be higher. I think KC is a fairly diverse place, and while there are probably a fair share of homophobes, probably no more than most other Midwest cities. Best of luck to you!

Answer 4

There is decent work pretty much anywhere you go, just need to search for it. Not sure about their cost of living in KC, but I don't believe its not too different from here in Omaha (4 hours away, give or take who's driving).

KC is very diversified. I have a gay friend who could probably answer your questions better than I could, so if you would like to, send me your email address & I will ask him, as he might know someone down there.