I picked the convention center as city center (union station would also be a reasonable choice) and I was only able to find 2 improved lots under $300k. Notably, neither is quite 3+ acres or within 20 minutes of the things you listed, and both are on septic. And this is in a metro where home prices are 36% below national median.

[0] https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67t...

[1] https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20118-E-Tr...

▲ esseph 2 days ago | parent [-]

First if you us the convention center, you place the housing center off of where most of the housing actually is. Maybe 40% is in Kansas, with another 60% in the metro being on the Missouri side, roughly. The population density of the metro drags further south though if you look at it on a heatmap.

That said, look around:

https://www.zillow.com/kansas-city-mo/?category=SEMANTIC&sea...

Between $175k and $350k center on KCMO alone there are over 760 results.

Note: your first link https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3711-N-67t... is 23 minutes from the WW I museum.

Note 2: Your second link is way out in Independence, MO but is still only 29 minutes away from the WW I museum.

▲ AlotOfReading 2 days ago | parent [-]

    First if you us the convention center, you place the housing center off of where most of the housing actually is.

Convention centers are usually downtown. Mean population centers reflect the surrounding geography and can drift pretty far from an "idealized" circular urban area. My area's is out on an island for example, nowhere near downtown. Jackson county's is east of Raytown. I'm not sure why you'd specifically want to live within 20 minutes of the mean population center, so it wasn't the obvious interpretation of your original statement.

    Between $175k and $350k center on KCMO alone there are over 760 results.

No, there are 17 results once you filter for 2+ acres. Most of them are mislabeled or unimproved property. If you filter those out too (because this is a housing discussion), what remains within 20-30ish minutes are the two I linked.

I realize multiple acres of land is a bit of a silly requirement, but you're the one who suggested there are tons of houses with "several acres within 20 minute drive to a lot of US city downtown areas". That's why I was surprised.

	▲	esseph a day ago \| parent [-]
		> That would buy you thousands of square feet and often several acres within 20 minute drive to a lot of US city downtown areas. This is my direct quote. Let me break this down: 1. That would buy you thousands of square feet True, clearly seen in the search results. 2. and often several acres True, you just filtered down to several results currently on the market. > I realize multiple acres of land is a bit of a silly requirement Why? I live slightly further than 20min outside of town. There are massive, beautiful homes with tons of land out here, and tons have gigabit fiber from GFiber or several of the other providers in the area. But that's not a requirement if you don't want it to be! There are clearly tons of homes available in the city with 3-4+ bedrooms and 2+ bathrooms in the $200 and $300ks is the point.