Pros and Cons Of Living In Warrensburg Missouri & Whiteman AFB

Maybe you're moving to Warrensburg for a job or maybe you're PCS-ing to Whiteman Air Force Base and you have no idea what it's like to live in Warrensburg Missouri? I can help you with that!

I have a list right here of five pros and five cons about living in Warrensburg, Missouri and you're going to want to read until the end to find out what the worst con is because it's a doozy.

Let's get to it.

I’m going to start with the pros of living in Warrensburg. I have a list of five things and I’m going to start with the number five and countdown. 

 

Pros #5: Growth

Number five is the growing town. We have so many new small businesses moving in! We just got an amazing Thai restaurant and a few new clothing stores and we have new subdivisions being built every year in our growing community. There are new factories that are being put up outside of town which makes more jobs. So, we're just a nice little growing community and it's great to be a part of it. 

Another part of our growing town is that we're about 30 to 45 minutes away from Kansas City. People are moving here from Kansas City to kind of get out of the big city but still have that small-town feel. We also have the B21 coming into Whiteman. That's going to add a lot of interesting spiciness to the area with all the new military personnel coming into town! We love diversity!

Speaking of military personnel that leads us right into ...

 

Pros #4: UCM & Whiteman Air Force Base

We are about 15 minutes from Whiteman Air Force Base which is located in Knob Noster, Missouri. At Whiteman, we have the B2 Bomber which is awesome  (they do some amazing air shows every single year with so many different types of aircraft!). Then we're getting the B21 Bomber here pretty soon. 

All of the military personnel PCS-ing into Whiteman AFB can then use their GI bills to take classes at the University of Central Missouri, which is also in Warrensburg.  We have a lot of really great people coming together in this town from all over the world.

One of the amazing things about being so close to the AFB is that we have such a giant array of aircraft. Once a year they have an amazing air show. That's because we have the B2 Bomber, the incoming B21 Bomber, and the A10. We also have one of the largest attachments of Reaper and Predator squadrons in the Air Force as well as Apache helicopters. Our air shows are lit.  

 

Pros #3: Parks and Recreation

Number three on our list is our amazing selection of well-maintained parks. We have nine parks in Warrensburg and they cover over 400 acres. Three of them are award-winning and one of my favorites is Cave Hollows. 

We also have an outdoor aquatic center called the Nassef Aquatic Center, which is something right out of a theme park. It's great. 

We have two wineries: Montserrat Winery and Arcadia Moon. They hold some pretty great events every weekend with live music and of course, wine.

We have some great outdoor activities in this town through parks and recreation. There are so many kids' activities! There are soccer teams, baseball teams, volleyball teams, and Twisters Sports (which has gymnastics and cheer). There are just so many things that you get your kids involved in and keep them busy and out of your hair. 

 

Pros #2: School Rankings

Warrensburg has great schools! U.S. News ranked the testing ratings in Warrensburg schools in the top 30 percent in Missouri. So pretty good.

In my personal experience though: I love Warrensburg's school district a lot - and that's because they have done amazing things for my special-needs son. They've gone out of their way to identify and create a plan to help him succeed and flourish in school. So, I highly recommend the Warrensburg school district.

Of course, when talking about schools in Warrensburg we cannot forget the University of Central Missouri.  (UCM) is a yellow ribbon school. They have an amazing veterans’ program that makes it easy to use your GI bill and get a bachelor's degree. You can also continue your education there, and get a graduate degree.  

There are so many programs to choose from! They also have a great International School program. I studied abroad in China when I went to UCM and it was eye-opening. University of Central Missouri (UCM) is a great school and it's a great opportunity to forward your education.

 

Pros #1: Community

I know that sounds crazy - like "How is Community number one?!'. The community in Warrensburg Missouri is amazing, legitimately amazing. 

We have some fantastic gyms. I go to CrossFit personally because I love them, they're wonderful. They have so many different workouts and events to just get together with your kids and the community, it's great.

We have so many cute adorable downtown shops that are owned by people in our local community. From Blackadder Two - which is this delicious healthy restaurant to Myers Market which Kristy Meyer owns and she's just wonderful. They have boozy ice cream flights!!. 

We just have such a great community of small-town businesses and we have a farmer's market twice a week where you can get fresh produce. Local farmers bring all of their local beef. 

Living in Warrensburg you're only about 35 to 45 minutes from a big city. If you need to go out to Bed Bath and Beyond, (we have a Marshalls though by the way) but if you need to go out to a Bass Pro or you want to go to downtown Kansas City and try some new Asian cuisine, it's accessible. It's within 45 minutes. The airport is about an hour and a half away. We're close to a big city but we retain our small town feel and that's our community.

Let me tell you our town has parades. So many parades! We have a fourth of July parade, a Homecoming parade, a Halloween parade, and a Christmas parade that's kind of like a Halloween parade because they also throw candy at your kids which is hilarious. We have an abundance of cool parades here in Warrensburg and I love it. 

We talked about the pros. Now we're on to the list of cons.

Okay, let's get to it.  

 

Con #5: Limited Shopping

We are not a big city and I know that was also a pro but it's also kind of a con because we are not a big city. If you want to buy some underwear at Victoria's Secret, you're going to have to drive 35 minutes up to Lee's Summit.  Or if you want to go to a Honky-Tonk, you're going to have to drive down to Sedalia (they have a great one down there) but we're not a big city. 

We have thriving small businesses but not as many choices. 

 

Con #4: No Health Food Stores

We don't have any health food stores. We're in the middle of Missouri, we don't have any health food stores. If you want a Whole Foods,  if you want a Trader Joe's, you're going to have to drive to Kansas City. It kind of sucks but it is what it is. 

Hello, Whole Foods please come put a store in Warrensburg if you see this blog!

 

Con #3: Lack of Dining Variety

We have limited restaurant choices. If you love Mexican, we are the town for you!! We have so many Mexican restaurants. We just got a Thai restaurant and an Italian restaurant. I have not eaten there yet (the Italian place), but I’ve heard it's pretty good. 

We have one amazing lunch place, Blackadder Two, which is my favorite. We DO have a lot of really cool restaurants like Fitters, Heroes, Old Barney’s, (the best burgers in town), Raging Bulls and Colton’s Steakhouse just opened. 

If you want a larger selection -  like if you want to go eat Mediterranean food or Greek food you're going to have to drive up to a bigger city.

I hate to inform everyone but there is no KFC in this town. None. We have limited restaurant choices, but they are getting larger by the day!

If any of you want fried chicken, you're going to have to make it yourself or go to Zaxby’s. They have a fried chicken sandwich that's pretty good.

 

We do have our Brewery though! Phantom Brewery! We're known for it. It was established here in Warrensburg, and they make some pretty amazing hard alcohol. I would recommend it if you're in a drinking mood. 

Another problem with us not being a big city is that we have a little bit of a traffic issue, on our Main Street - 13 Highway. I would avoid it at all costs. It gets a little backed up in the morning time and evening time and then on Fridays when all the students are leaving UCM to go home or go wherever. Highway 13 gets congested. So, we have a little bit of a traffic problem.

Though for all your military folk, all of the subdivisions usually have other entrances and other ways to get to the base. You can completely avoid Highway 13 and you'll never have to sit in that traffic because it is annoying. 

We're down to number two!

 

Con #2: Double-edged Housing Market. 

This is kind of a pro and a con. The pros are that we have a very stable housing market. The con is that we have a very stable housing market with high turnover rates because we have so many military personnel coming in and out of Warrensburg. Then we have students ALSO coming in and out of Warrensburg. 

We have a lot of investors. It can be difficult to find great deals in this town BUT if you have a house in this town, you're going to be able to sell it. It's kind of like a double-edged sword.

In later blogs, we're going to talk about what subdivisions look like; what the people living in the subdivisions look like; what the subdivisions close to certain schools look like. You can kind of get an idea of all the different areas in Warrensburg in the city district and right outside what they look like and what it would look like to live there.

Whether or not you're a military family PCS-ing in or if you're a local professor who's just started your career at UCM, you will be able to find the turnkey house - the first-time house! It's just really knowing the area and knowing the subdivision that you need to look in to find the perfect house for you.

We're on to number one …

 

Con #1: No Target

This is the most highly contentious issue in this town. I took a survey of lots of people to find out the number one problem people have with living in Warrensburg. The issue is that there is no Target. Even the cat's upset. I’m still upset there's no Target . have to drive 35 minutes to go to a Target and let me tell you I need to go to a Target at least once a month. Though, there is a rumor that we may be getting a Target sometime next year. 

You know, cross all your fingers and toes if you're moving to Warrensburg because listen,  Target executives, we need you here 

There you have it guys. Those are the pros and cons of living in Warrensburg as I know them.

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I’ll show you what it's like to live around Whiteman Air Force Base and what it's like to live in Warrensburg, Missouri.