"Hidden gem"
This is a great neighborhood and I love living here. I would say that the neighborhood is on the rise. It is an excellent mix of students, families (including a relatively large percentage of same-sex partners) and some senior citizens. Don't let the proximity to Troost and Paseo fool you, it's quite safe. The homes are mainly early- to mid- 20th century with a few having been renovated recently. Most of the streets are tree lined and yards are uniformly nice. All of the amenities of the Plaza are close at hand. For folks unfamiliar with Kansas City, the Plaza is an upscale shopping district with some beautiful homes and condos nearby as well as some of the pricier (though not necessarily best) restaurants in the city. There is easy access to 71 Hwy as well and it's about twenty minutes to the airport, KCI. The 49/63 locals are friendly and there is even a neighborhood association on Facebook that hosts cookouts and block parties. Unfortunately, KC schools are uniformly terrible so be prepared to either enroll children in private school or seek alternate education resources such as the nearby Montessori and magnet schools. Another minor quibble is that there are no good grocery stores in the area so you'll need to drive to Brookside for good groceries. That's only a 10 minute or so drive but that can be a treacherous trip when the streets are icy. Speaking of which, since the neighborhood is made of side streets, we're pretty close to the last priority for snow plowing and this area is somewhat more hilly than the rest of KC so driving can be a challenge when KC has one of its infamous ice storms.
Overall, I can cheerfully recommend this neighborhood to anyone that wants to be close to some of the best parts of the city and doesn't have children or doesn't mind sending them elsewhere to get out of the KC school districts.
