Life in Overland Park is what you make of it
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3/24/2016
I have lived in Kansas/Missouri my whole life. I have lived in Wichita KS, St. Charles/St. Louis, MO; and the last 22 years in Overland Park, KS (which is like living in KS and MO at the same time.) Kansas and Missouri are quite similar so I can honestly say that I know the area.
They say that the USA is the "melting pot" of the world. I would say that the Greater Kansas City area (Kansas City and the 30 or 40 towns around it that combined make up the area) is the "melting pot of the melting pot". Since we are in the center part of the USA, many large businesses have made this area their headquarters. We have people from every state and a lot of people from many different countries. Some have been transferred here and are just working here. Some are citizens that have lived here their whole lives. Some hope to become citizens and are working here to make a better life for themselves. I have read previous comments about Overland Park and from those comments I could tell before I checked where these people lived and if they had lived here for very long. If you want a place to live that is upper class, we have that. If you want a middle class life style, we have that. If you are in the lower class and are trying to make ends meet, we have that. In general, the people are friendly, the food is good and there is something for everyone. Unlike, what some have said, we do have things to do here. But to be entertained is expensive. If you can entertain yourself then there is plenty to do here. We have lots of lakes and ponds to walk around, sit and enjoy or fish to your hearts content. We have parks of all sizes from little corner parks with a few bbq pits and a couple of swings to parks that have multiple sections with equipment for each age groups and climbing rocks and lakes and many walking paths. We have lots of 'nature'. Like was said in another comment "the winters are cold with some snow, the springs are unpredictable but wonderfully new, the summers are hot but not too hot with some rain, and fall is colorful and full of anticipation. It is said of Kansas/Missouri, if you don't like the weather just wait a couple of hours and it will change.
We have history, The Civil War - Kansas for the North and Missouri for the South which made an interesting combination. Indian history and missions, Santa Fe Trail and under an hour you can see Leavenworth Federal Prison next to Ft. Leavenworth and the state capitol in Topeka.
We have Jazz and the Blues, museums, Kansas City Symphony, trolley cars, KC Zoo, World of Fun/Ocean of Fun, Legoland, Science City, Wonderscope, Powell Gardens. We have baseball, football, soccer, hockey, Nascar racing, golf
and many malls if your into malling.
Yes, there are stuffy people in this general area. A lot of thoses people were transferred into the area and live in subdivisions where other people who were transplants live. We have poor needy people. But this is a place where you can make life whatever you want to make of it. We can enjoy life and freedom here at a speed where we can take a few minutes to breathe every once in a while. If you are planning to move to this area: Welcome!
MARILYN | Overland Park, KS