Imagine living in a community where your health is important enough that the city will pay 75 percent of your fitness center fees. You’ve just conjured up Riverside MO. Located a few minutes northwest of downtown Kansas City, Riverside is a progressive community that has made impressive strides and looks to have a bright future.
What Are Riverside's Demographics?
Source:en.wikipedia.org
The population of Riverside is about 3,000, so it’s a small suburban town in the midst of a 14-county metropolitan area of more than 2.4 million people. It has its own city government consisting of a mayor and board of aldermen.
The majority of Riverside residents employed outside the home have jobs in the arts and entertainment, education and health, manufacturing, and retail or wholesale industries. At least 23 percent of workers earn more than $75,000 a year.
The adult population tends to be younger, with just 14 percent aged 65 or older. Most adults are well educated. Around 88 percent of them hold a high school diploma or higher-level degree. About 59 percent have a bachelor’s, associate or graduate degree.
What Is The Quality of Life in Riverside?
Source:en.wikipedia.org
Riverside seems to be all about quality of life, and this could be one reason it appears to be a community on the rise. Consider the increase in the list price of homes over the course of only one year.
Last year, the median list price of a house in Riverside was $274,900. This year, the median list price is $399,900. This seems to indicate that people recognize real value in living there.
At least part of the reason for this growth in value can be attributed to the pride Riverside residents have in their community. The town’s motto is “Upsteam from ordinary,” and there’s strong evidence that city leadership wants to live up to these words.
For example, take the Healthy Citizens initiative. The city sponsors this program aimed at improving and maintaining residents’ health. One of the benefits is the 75 percent subsidy that helps pay for fitness and community centers. But the town is also supporting a trail system for walking and biking that will serve all of Riverside and hook up with trails in nearby Parkville as well the rest of Platte county and Kansas City.
If you travel, enjoy the arts, appreciate professional sports and seek entertainment, Riverside’s location is close to ideal. It’s just 12 minutes from Kansas City International Airport, 10 minutes from downtown Kansas City, 20 minutes from the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex, and 17 minutes from the Country Club Plaza, one of the nation’s most famous shopping districts.
In addition to Kansas City Chiefs Football and Kansas City Royals baseball at the Truman Sports Complex, you’ll find a world-class orchestra, opera and theater at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, concerts and sports events at the Sprint Center and plenty to eat and drink in the Power and Light District.
If you’re concerned about crime, Riverside has its share, but the violent crime rate is quite low. Like everywhere else in an urban area, this town experiences thefts and burglaries. Overall, though, it’s a safe place to live.
It’s also relatively inexpensive, even given the rise in home prices. In the Kansas City area, $2,720 a month can cover the living expenses for a family of four. Singles can live on about $780 per month, not counting rent. Living in Riverside costs about 33 percent less than in New York.
The list price for homes has to be kept in perspective as well. That $399,900 mentioned earlier buys a family-sized 3,118 square feet of living space.
Not long ago, Riverside achieved the distinction of being named a finalist in the All-America City competition. An ETC DirectionFinder Survey found that 89 percent of Riverside residents were satisfied with the quality of life they found in their city. For the rest of the country, that satisfaction rate is 77 percent.
What Is Riverside Best Known For?
Source:en.wikipedia.org
Areavibes.com gives the Park Hill School District, where most Riverside kids get their K-12 education, an A. The 10 elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools feature a low student-to-teacher ratio of 15 to one. Students with special needs receive the services they require at the Russell Jones Education Center, and the Gerner Family Early Education Center has programs for preschoolers.
With an average of almost 13 years of experience, Park Hill teachers are veterans. About 83 percent of them also have a master’s degree or doctorate. It’s not surprising, then, that students achieve the highest composite ACT scores in the region, at 23.3, and that, on state assessments, they score above average, no matter what the subject.
For a small town, Riverside has more than its share of parks and festivals. E. H. Young Park boasts beautiful views along with an amphitheater. Homestead Park is perfect for picnics. Renner Brenner Park offers a skate park. All three play host to fairs and festivals each year.
In addition to its parks, Riverside offers a state-of-the-art community center. Residents can enjoy a large outdoor swimming pool, stage, full kitchen, large gym and meeting rooms.
To say Riverside has it all would probably be over the top, but it comes closer to deserving that kind of praise than many other suburban towns. It has beauty, amenities, the quiet of a small village, access to a major urban center with all it has to offer, and a superior quality of life. It’s small wonder that home prices are on the rise. They’re just following an upward trend that the community has set and clearly intends to follow.
