Well, Bye, Kansas City...

[TinyEvel]

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.

[Rain Man]

So what differentiates one place from another?

We've got a couple of obvious things:

climate
topography/geographic features

I think human culture is a third. I think people have different life philosophies in different places, though I'm sure you could find different subsets in larger cities. But still, San Francisco is fundamentally different than Nashville. This is not just political, but also religious and even vocational. People in an industrial town may have a different way of seeing things than people who live in a technology town or a college town or a military town.

Perhaps a subset of human culture is food. I was back in southern Missouri recently and the restaurant choices leaned much more classic American than I see in Denver.

I saw a reference to water quality earlier in the thread, and perhaps air quality could fall into that as well.

Architecture is certainly a regional difference. I was in Virginia a while back, and I can appreciate their strong colonial architecture, but I'm not a huge fan of it.

What else differentiates a place to live?

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Is that really your Costco water price? Here in Overland Park we get a 40 pack of 16 oz bottles for $2.99.

I think it's a 24 pack. To be honest, I never really paid attention, as I only buy it for events like birthday parties and such.

I'll confirm next time I'm there.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I think it's a 24 pack. To be honest, I never really paid attention, as I only buy it for events like birthday parties and such.

I'll confirm next time I'm there.

I have always wondered if national retailers change the price based on location. But with places like Home Depot people can buy online, so I wonder do they also give different online prices based on location? Or is it the same and they don't inflate based on location? Anyone know?

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'm just going to sit here in high-altitude heaven and watch all of you lowlanders talk up your places.

I actually considered a move to the Denver area earlier this year...until I saw your property values up there. I'll just stick to visiting once a year.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

So what differentiates one place from another?

We've got a couple of obvious things:

climate
topography/geographic features

I think human culture is a third. I think people have different life philosophies in different places, though I'm sure you could find different subsets in larger cities. But still, San Francisco is fundamentally different than Nashville. This is not just political, but also religious and even vocational. People in an industrial town may have a different way of seeing things than people who live in a technology town or a college town or a military town.

Perhaps a subset of human culture is food. I was back in southern Missouri recently and the restaurant choices leaned much more classic American than I see in Denver.

I saw a reference to water quality earlier in the thread, and perhaps air quality could fall into that as well.

Architecture is certainly a regional difference. I was in Virginia a while back, and I can appreciate their strong colonial architecture, but I'm not a huge fan of it.

What else differentiates a place to live?

Apparently, the cost of bottled water.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

I have always wondered if national retailers change the price based on location. But with places like Home Depot people can buy online, so I wonder do they also give different online prices based on location? Or is it the same and they don't inflate based on location? Anyone know?

My price for this is $6.80. What's yours? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Morton-Sa...1500/100089553

My price for this is $9.38. What's yours? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Pepper...z-6pk/20854248

My price for this is $26.99. What's yours? https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Sign...100047638.html

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

So what differentiates one place from another?

What else differentiates a place to live?

I don't think that climate, geography and topography can be overstated. The Mean Temperature in Los Angeles is 71 degrees, with only 18 inches of rain per year. When it's sunny 330 days out of the year, it really does affect your disposition, especially in the morning.

Also, where I live, I can hike directly in front of my home or at Lake Hollywood, which is a 2 minute car ride or about a 10 minute walk up a step hill. I can be at the Santa Monica Pier in 45 minutes or less (without traffic, probably 30 minutes) or at my favorite beach, Will Rogers, which is in between the SM Pier and Malibu. I park on Temescal Canyon Road and can ride my bike on a bike path from there all the way to Redondo Beach and back (about a 40 mile roundtrip hike).

I can drive 2 hours to Palm Springs, which is awesome in the Spring and Fall (and not too bad in the summer, if you're at a nice resort), drive 5.5 hours up the coast to San Francisco or 90 minutes down the 5 to Carlsbad, which is essentially the IPA Beer Capital of the World. From there, I can go to Legoland or catch the Amtrack for a few bucks and have it drop me off in front of the Padres baseball stadium, where I can see a game or hit one of the many bars and restaurants, then take the train back to Carlsbad.

I can take a 45 minute boat trip to Catalina Island or take a two hour car ride to Lake Arrowhead in the winter to go skiing and snowboarding. Disneyland is generally a 30 minute drive from my home most mornings and I can hop a 2 hour flight to Cabo San Lucas to hang out and drink in an infinity pool for the weekend, then fly back home without missing a beat.

It's impossible to do these things living in Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, et al, which is probably why we have 40 million people living in this state.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Apparently, the cost of bottled water.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

My price for this is $6.80. What's yours? http://www.homedepot.com/p/Morton-Sa...1500/100089553

My price for this is $9.38. What's yours? https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Pepper...z-6pk/20854248

My price for this is $26.99. What's yours? https://www.costco.com/Kirkland-Sign...100047638.html

Same prices except the salt is $6.95 for me. So much for the low cost of living in Pigsknuckle.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I actually considered a move to the Denver area earlier this year...until I saw your property values up there. I'll just stick to visiting once a year.

We've had some notable price appreciation during my 20+ years here, most definitely. I'd be hard-pressed to afford the house that I live in if I was buying it today.

Most areas probably have similar patterns, but there are huge differences by region within the metro area. Out by the airport, I think the average price is 1/2 of the average price in my central-city neighborhood, or even less. But those people are generally paying a hefty commuting price, even without the Golden Gate Bridge toll.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Same prices except the salt is $6.95 for me. So much for the low cost of living in Pigsknuckle.

You're getting screwed over on your salt.

[Shag]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

90 minutes down the 5 to Carlsbad, which is essentially the IPA Beer Capital of the World

Carlsbad? I can see saying that about San Diego County as a whole, but curious why you would tag that to Carlsbad specifically...

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

We've had some notable price appreciation during my 20+ years here, most definitely. I'd be hard-pressed to afford the house that I live in if I was buying it today.

Most areas probably have similar patterns, but there are huge differences by region within the metro area. Out by the airport, I think the average price is 1/2 of the average price in my central-city neighborhood, or even less. But those people are generally paying a hefty commuting price, even without the Golden Gate Bridge toll.

I was looking around the Aurora/Centennial area, because that's where the potential job opportunity was. I could probably get around $180k for my current house here, I can't even touch a fixer upper in that area for that money.

[Randallflagg]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I'm just going to sit here in high-altitude heaven and watch all of you lowlanders talk up your places.

Indeed. The last time I was in Denver, people were raising hell about all the California people who were buying up the real estate in Colorado.....

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Shag

Carlsbad? I can see saying that about San Diego County as a whole, but curious why you would tag that to Carlsbad specifically...

I have a friend that lives there that's constantly raving about all of the places in the Village and the numerous IPA's.

I joined him one Saturday afternoon and man, it seemed endless.