Well, Bye, Kansas City...
 

Those of you who know me and my story know I am a Southern California born and raised native but picked Chiefs as my NFL team in 1994 after the Montana win in Houston in the AFC divisional playoffs. Stayed a loyal and true Chiefs fan through the years and after finding CP in 2005 began coming out to KC once a year (thanks NZoner) for games.

2015 -- through random happenstance, I had an opportunity to come out here for a job. I did it. I made great progress in this firm, hiring and relocating new talent to KC, championing the boomtown that it is.

A few months ago, through some reorganization, I find myself leaving this firm. Not much opportunity for me any more in KC, so I relocated my family back to the West Coast last week. I must say as a born and raised Californian, the weather and the fitness here in CA, I have to pinch myself that I am lucky to be back here.

I still love KC and will be back for games, but here are a few things I observed after living in an entirely new region for the first time in my life.

1) The people are nice. Like, genuinely nice. It would take me three minutes to get through the grocery checkout just because the cashier would ask how I am doing and make small talk.

2) No traffic. I mean, the Plaza at Christmastime is basically any road in any city in California year-round. Getting from A to B in KC was always a breeze.

3) Season Tickets at Arrowhead are a dream come true. Being able to get to the stadium at 7 am every home game, and feel the rush of the crowd every week...now when I watch the games on TV it will be different. I'll surely miss being there, and the waft of BBQ smoke will be forever emblazoned in my mind.

4) It's a good life if you have very young kids. You can buy a three bedroom home for $150K with great schools. If you have teenage kids, moving here is more tough because most local kids have already bonded with friends.

5) Lots of people are overweight. Not to make a body issue statement but it's unhealthy. I hated myself for judging people there.

6) BUT.... Lots of people are active. I was surprised at how many people are running and playing tennis, etc. The workout here seems to be more for heart health than to be good looking fit, so, glad to see so many people getting out there and getting their heart rate up.

7) Produce goes bad too fast. Buy an avocado, better eat it that day. Same with lettuce. And Citrus. I was shocked how fast those fresh produce go bad.

8) Free parking in KC is a blessing. We just went to a museum in San Francisco, Parking was $24. That was focked. Ludicrous.

9) Fast healthy food is hard to come by in KC. We just ate fresh Mex burritos for lunch and in KC it seems all the fast options are Wendy's or Arby's or Burger King etc. It was an effort to eat fast/cheap/healthy there in KC.

10) The weather. Probably the most significant difference. I didn't mind the winters (many said the past two were mild) but the summers and the sticky heat, that was the worst. Three days here and it's 70 degrees and a cool breeze, that's a million dollar climate, and it cost that much.

11) KC is a boomtown. Look at all the development, there's a ton of opportunity there right now.

12) Body modification: People in KC seem to have a higher level of "fck what other people think" in terms of what they do to their hair/face/skin. As a result you get a lot of questionable tattoos and piercings and haircuts, etc. On one hand, i was appreciative of the diversity, on the other hand, it felt like the human modification version of the bad Charles Jersey I ordered online from China.

13) who the fock am I to say what KC is like or any other place. You be you, Kansas City, that's what makes you special. I'm gonna do me out here. I'll be back to visit and sing your praises in my social media feeds. All day long. Just hide the fat people.

TinyEvel out.

where'd you end up going on the west coast??

Just North of San Francisco.

Very cool...we are neighbors.

I am in Santa Rosa....Welcome to NorCal my brotha

Good luck TinyEvel

I feel bad that I was never able to get out there to ride with you.

Ya it would have been cool if TinyEvel would have gone to Cawker City and jumped over teh WORLDS LARGEST BALL OF TWINE



That would have been epic!

Worst of all, the Evel Knievel Museum opened in Topeka about a week before I moved. I was planning to get out there, because it really is very modern and awesome, but the burden of packing up all my stuff and selling off 1/3 of my things kept me from going.

gonna have to come back.

You should go!

Every time I saw a dude on a bike I thought, "Is that TinyE?"

Oh glad you told me about it so when I make a trip to KC I can make that on the agenda. I think my son would really enjoy it.

Enjoy the taxes in Cali. I hear the exodus is going the other way. Heck! Maybe you'll be your own country again or part of Mexico.

Actually, the taxes in KS were comparable to CA. Especially the property taxes in the city where I lived. Equal. Crazy.

I just stayed in Windsor when we went to Bottle Rock in Napa. Welcome back to Cali. I might go to a Chiefs game in SF when they go up there, my sister lives in Sunnyvale

Actually, one of the most pleasantly surprising things about KC, the cars are VERY nice to cyclists. They would always give a big cushion when passing, and be patient and go around when it was safe. Very cool.

Good luck,tinyevel