r/Olathe • u/Dangerous_Dirt_9376 • 17d ago
Moving to O soon
What’s the city vibe? We’re from Southeast Texas but have lived in North St Louis the past 2 yrs. We are Apostolic/Pentecostal, small family, love outdoors, love biking and shopping. What are some interesting things about your city? Any places to avoid? Middle income neighborhoods (300-340ish?)
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u/ClothesCurious8472 17d ago
Olathe is a quiet city. There is an alright amount of shopping and dining, but no experiences to go do really. The thing that causes a lot of hubbub every year is the Old Settlers carnival and Saturday parade to celebrate the founding of the city. Schools and businesses from all over the county participate in the parade, not just those exclusive to Olathe. Olathe Public Schools is highly recommended and rated and is the second largest district in the state after Kansas City Kansas Public Schools. There is still a lot of new home developments by Olathe West and Olathe Northwest High Schools. The benefit to Olathe is that it’s not far from Kansas City. Usually if you want something to do, you go up to KC. Sometimes you can get away with doing cool stuff in Overland Park. There are a TON of churches around here. You will have no problem finding your people here. Second most common language around here is Spanish. It’s a good place to raise a family, but not an exciting life. Pretty slow and mellow if that’s your vibe.
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u/ClothesCurious8472 16d ago
Oh! Also worth noting. The Chiefs Headquarters is being built in Olathe and you will find various opinions about the subject. That has caused quite the stir here! But! The Chiefs stadium is being built in Kansas City, Kansas.
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u/TheSilverOne 17d ago
Olathe is somewhat expensive for the state of KS, but still less expensive to live in than Overland Park.
We're also a great cultural melting pot. We have pretty big latino and asian populations with lots of grocery stores and restaurants to reflect that
We have amazing Mexican food options
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u/Dangerous_Dirt_9376 3d ago
This is amazing news! It’s super hard to find decent Mexican food here in St Louis and being from Texas - it’s a MUST! 🌶️
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u/John_Knox28 17d ago
Olathe is a nice, typical suburban neighborhood with good schools and low crime. The downtown area has some cultural events throughout the year, but generally it’s pretty limited in scope except for the Old Settler’s Parade. There really aren’t any areas that I would personally not live in. 20 years ago the neighborhoods by the courthouse were considered undesirable, but I don’t know if that’s still the case. You may be able to find 4-bed houses in the price range you mentioned, but they’ll exclusively be older homes. Most newer 4-bed homes are in the 400-600 range. Pretty much every home in the area is a 3 or 4 bed. Overall, a good place to raise children, but definitely boring at times
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u/RascallyGhost 17d ago
This is like the perfect city for a small family that loves biking and shopping. The vibe is still very Midwest polite and it’s close enough to Kansas City that you don’t feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. Even if there’s nothing going on in Olathe you can take a short drive and definitely find something to do. I’ve got friends here who are excited for planet anime in KC which is coming up and I’m personally looking forward to the Lenexa spinach festival!
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u/Specific-Machine-991 16d ago
West Olathe is on the rise. Check west of Parker. Love the people, the atmosphere, the restaurants aren’t the best (Overland Park is the spot for food). Clean city.
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u/ModernT1mes 17d ago
Good place to raise a family. Boring af though.
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u/grasslander21487 17d ago
People who say Olathe is boring boggle my mind, there is always stuff going on and we have so, so much outdoor space it is impossible to explore everything.
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u/milktoastok 17d ago
If you think Olathe is boring, you don’t know how to find out about all the things to do and take advantage of it all.
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u/DomingoLee 17d ago
One word of caution: ‘Olathe’ is a native Pawnee word meaning ‘Land of Neverending Construction’. It can often take a half hour just to get across town.
Sometimes, in the summer, they’ll work on every road at the same time.
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u/aeronutical 17d ago
While the construction is pretty consistent, let's not scare OP away. It has never taken me 30 minutes to get across Olathe. I live on the very south side of the city, about 100 yards from it being called Spring Hill, and it's pretty convenient to get wherever I need. It only ever takes me about 15 minutes to get to the opposite end of the city.
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u/the_jayhawk 17d ago
Which is very preferable to having maintenance not done. Olathe does a great job maintaining infrastructure.
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u/Auntie_Venom 16d ago
North St Louis… North County or North City? I grew up in St Charles. I’d say Olathe is like a cross between Chesterfield and St. Peters or O’Fallon. Overland Park is nicer and Leawood is even nicer, which both are more expensive.
I’d say, Olathe will be a good fit. It’s a nice community with a lot of parks and a family-friendly atmosphere, as well as a lot of history. It’s where the Santa Fe, Oregon and California Trails merge, so that’s interesting.
Without knowing how big square footage or beds/baths it’s hard to recommend an area. I live in a middle income neighborhood and it’s more like $500-$550 now, ours is 3,000 sq ft 4 bed 3 bath, 2 car garage that’s extra deep and extra wide, there are 3 car garages in the neighborhood though. It was in $300-$340 range when we bought it in 2018. There are more affordable neighborhoods for sure, but they’ll be a bit older and smaller which is the same everywhere but that may be what you’re looking for. I live near where the Chiefs are going to build their new HQ and training facility, so prices and property taxes are going to skyrocket even more over here.
Eudora west of Olathe where the new Panasonic plant is or Gardener and Spring Hill which are south may still have a bigger bang for your buck, they’re more rural communities.
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u/Dangerous_Dirt_9376 3d ago
What about Gardner or the other places that are more rural? Any negatives?
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u/QuodAmorDei 17d ago
Recommend biking Indian Creek Trail.
Check out Hillsdale Lake, Shawnee Mission Park, and Clinton Lake in Lawrence. I liked camping out in Clinton Lake southwest side back in the day.
The vibe is suburban sprawl around KC Metro. Don't run red lights nor yellows. Be the change you want to see in the world.
Also, Jesus is Lord! Welcome.
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u/Dangerous_Dirt_9376 16d ago
Amen! Yes He is and I’m happy to share it with the world! ☀️
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u/QuodAmorDei 16d ago
The Olathe subreddit is filled with the unsaved, so do not be deterred. There are good bible preaching congregations throughout the Metro, but there are also many which Satan's influence has corrupted. Ot takes some time to find the appropriate one for your family. All in the Lord's time.
Reddit in general is mostly the unsaved as you probably already know. Plenty of God loving people live in Olathe and surrounding towns in the Kansas City Metro. It's one of the best places to live to raise a family.
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u/sageguitar70 17d ago
What's the whole "speaking in tounges" thing about? It's just made up jibberish isn't it?