By Chad Taylor, the Taylor-Made Team
The other night, I was at my son’s football game at the College Boulevard Activity Center in Olathe. Sustained winds were nearly 15 miles per hour, and most of the people around me in the stands were freezing. Luckily, I don’t get cold easily.
One of my fellow football parents turned to me and said, “I guess this is what happens when you cut down all the trees.”
I laughed. But when I got home to Prairie Village, there was barely any wind in our yard. The difference between those open stands and our tree-filled neighborhood was hard to miss.
It got me thinking about the trade-offs we make when we choose where to live. Some are obvious when we walk through a home.
Others become apparent on a windy Friday night.
In Prairie Village, you can find tree-lined streets, established neighborhoods and architecture that gives each block its own personality. In many of its postwar neighborhoods, the homes have a charm that buyers connect with immediately. The houses don’t all look alike, the trees have had decades to grow, and the neighborhood feels settled.
Walkability is part of that appeal, too. Depending on where you live, a walk can take you to a park, a school, a neighborhood restaurant or the shops at Prairie Village or Corinth Square. You may see neighbors along the way and stop for a conversation that turns a 20-minute walk into 40 minutes. For many people, that is part of what makes it feel like home.
But that charm comes with compromises. You may have a smaller lot, which can limit both the size of the house and your options for expanding it. Inside, you may be working with a smaller kitchen and closets that were apparently designed for people who owned three shirts and one pair of shoes.
You may have fewer bathrooms than you would like. The garage may hold your car, provided nobody needs to open a door. And if you want a larger primary suite or an open kitchen, getting there may involve a substantial renovation.
Move farther out, and your options can look very different. Depending on your budget and the neighborhood, you may find more square footage, larger closets, a three-car garage and a floor plan designed around how households live today. There may be room for a home office without sacrificing a bedroom, and a kitchen where two people can cook without negotiating who gets to stand where.
Those are meaningful advantages. When your family is growing or you are tired of making your house function, more space can improve everyday life.
But there are trade-offs in that direction, too. A newer neighborhood may have a less established tree canopy. Some offer wonderful trails and neighborhood amenities, but their more sprawling layout may mean that grabbing coffee, going to dinner or picking up a few groceries requires getting in the car.
Your familiar destinations may also be farther away. Depending on where you work, where your family lives and how you spend your weekends, gaining space inside the house could mean spending more time driving outside it.
That is why the question “How much house can we get?” only takes buyers so far. An equally useful question is, “What do we want our everyday life to look like?”
If you regularly spend time near the Plaza, downtown or family and friends in northeast Johnson County, staying close in may have real value to you. If your work, activities and social circle are farther south or west, moving that direction may make life easier while also giving you the space you need.
And sometimes, your priorities simply change. You may love Prairie Village and still reach a point where the house itself matters more than the location. As life changes and families grow, an extra bedroom, a functional kitchen or room for everyone to spread out may become more valuable than the address.
You have become a house buyer rather than a location buyer. And that is okay, too. Loving a neighborhood does not obligate you to keep living in a home that no longer fits your life.
I see this decision become especially difficult for homeowners who love Prairie Village but have outgrown their house. They want another bedroom, a larger kitchen and somewhere to put the Costco haul. They would also like to keep their trees, their neighbors and the familiar route they walk every evening.
That can be a challenging shopping list. A larger home in the same area may require a significant jump in price. An addition may solve the space problem, but it comes with its own cost and disruption. Moving farther out may deliver more of the house they want while requiring them to give up parts of the location they love.
My job is to help people put those choices in perspective. Which frustrations could a different home solve? Which parts of their current neighborhood would they miss? And which compromises are they comfortable living with every day?
Every home has them. The goal is to choose the ones that fit your life.
If you love Prairie Village but are starting to feel squeezed by your home, it helps to understand your options before deciding you need to leave. What could your current home sell for? What would a larger home in PV cost? And what could that same budget buy farther out?
Our team can help you compare those paths. Whether you hope to stay under the trees or are curious about a little more elbow room, reach out. You don’t have to be ready to move to start the conversation. Just fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!
