Moving to Wichita (Kansas City, Derby, Andover: military, gated, leasing agent)

[Kansas City]

On January 1st, 2007 Wichita's Conceal and Carry Law goes into effect. Just a little FYI.

[Crazy_Daisy]

I love Wichita, and in fact, even though I don't live there anymore I still rent out my home in case I move back.

[mity_spader]

Originally Posted by jbdallas

We're moving to Wichita this August. My wife will be in grad school. Looking for some information/recommendations on where to live and more precisely where NOT to live. Looking at the crime rates, they seem to be pretty high as compared w/ the national average.
We will only be there 2 years, but we're not sure whether we'll rent or buy. I've looked at online sites, but haven't found much info. Newton looks nice, but is about 30 mins away, and clearwater looks nice as well. Any info is greatly appreciated. We're willing to spend more for our safety and security.

Hello.
My daughter just moved to this area McConnell AFB.She and her husband & young son will be moving in June to their house they bought in Derby. I live with them and care for their son while they work. They too were concerned about crime so they checked out several areas near Wichita & found out several nice areas. Look into the area Andover or Derby. A real estate agent said Goddard was the city that would be growing the most. My daughter too will only be here for 3 years and they thought best to buy a home. Let me know if you need any other info.............Misty

[mity_spader]

We are moving to Derby.....as when we relocated here we too were concerened about the crime in Wichita. We are only here for 3 years and we decided to buy.

[Paul_Bettes]

Well, obviously the 3 worst areas to avoid are "hilltop", "planeview", and "Oaklawn". Oaklawn has been cleaning up some in the past few years, and tearing down old/abandoned houses and building some very nice new ones, but it still has a long way to go. I live in Oaklawn and work at 21st and Tyler. There is a decent buyers market in Wichita right now, with the downturn in the aircraft industry after 9/11, a lot of people lost their jobs and many simply moved away letting the banks forclose on their houses. My boss stopped making his payments and moved to another state almost 2 years before the bank bothered to foreclose on his house. He paid 100+k for the house and I heard it sold at auction for less than 75k.

[FLD]

I am with orling here.

Just came back from Wichita after having spent 3 months there.

The best area I'd also recommend is northeast. Stick to N. Rock Road. In fact, I was renting an apartment near to 29th and N. Rock Rd. I found it very convenient although I only rode a bicycle. If you got a car, things will even be much easier.

There is also a growing area on E. 21st St. towards the east after N. Rock Road and E. 21st St. There is a Target Supercenter there and I think I saw a number of land development projects going on there, too.

Finally, I'd like to congratulate you for having made a good choice moving to Wichita, the town I'd call my second home.

Regards,
fld.

[adler]

I have two brothers that live in wichita area, one in wichita and one in eldorado, I am moving from michigan[a truly dead state] and I purchased property in hot springs arkansas, i like arkansas a lot, very beautiful but I am 400 miles away from my only family, I am sitting in kansas at my brothers home and we havel looked at home prices, they are so reasonable here compared to parts of arkansas,not by 50% but at least by 10 to 20%.
Not this is not a picture perfect place, but ther is avibrant job market, and the city has everything you could want. many rest. a neat down town called old town. I am going to give it once over, my wife does title work and she should find something here, I have been in floorcovering for many years and would try to pick up something in sale. We owned rentals for many years and did very good at it, finaly sold eveything in michinan and not a monent to soon, as the real estate is falling like a rock. If you look at the michigan site the people who cant get out are biting and scratching to tell every one how good it is there, dont buy it. michigan is dead.

[wsushocker]

There is also a nice suburb north of wichita called Valley Center. Great schools, nice small town feel, yet close to the city.

[jbdallas]

I just got a notice that someone had posted a response to my question from March 2006.
Anyhow, we moved here in August 2006. We're renting in far NW Wichita, near 37th/tyler area. It has been okay not great (had a grill & fire pit stolen 2 months in). Being around renters is always a challenge though, and we knew that going in. We didn't buy knowing the market was flat and didn't have an outlook of gaining much. On top of only planning to be here 2 years.

In response to all the above posters arguing whether Wichita is good or bad, I've figured out it really is personal preference. For us it would not be a long term fit. We like someplace where we can do more outdoor activities like hiking, mtn biking, skiing etc. Cost of living here is higher than where we moved from (north of Dallas, TX) mostly due to State Income taxes on top of sales tax. Food costs are a bit higher, gas is about the same. Housing prices are a bit deceptive due to taxes and "specials" on top of homeowners dues. Although those can be limited if you are willing to buy pre-owned.
But, here is my pro/con list thus far, hopefully it will help out someone else. These are just MY opinions.

Pro: light traffic, decent choices for dining out, decent choices movie theater wise, sunsets are pretty great, air quality (TONS better than Dallas), people in stores from Wal-Mart/target all seem pretty nice. Fantastic YMCAs. Over the air HD channels (I love that, no cable).

Cons: Not much outdoorsy type stuff aside from hunting/fishing. Little free all day parking downtown aside from old town. Crime rate is high for such a small town. State Income taxes on top of sales tax. Local/State Govt has some issues (who doesn't though right). Economy is largely based around airline industry (single threaded is never good). No recycling programs w/ trash pickup. Small airport. Apartment choices are slim.

The truly dumb things I've seen:
Building an arena in hopes someone will come . And using eminent domain to do it . At the same time losing the local baseball team. Wild West World is bankrupt (saw that coming a mile away). They keep building subdivisions when others are not yet full, even considering building in a floodplain in NW Wichita/maize area.

okay boys n girls...argue away.

[KevK]

I don't think his comments were off base. I like Wichita for the most part but let's be honest- air service there has historically SUCKED. If AirTran were not flying there from here (Atlanta) I too would still be flying to K.C. and driving a rental car to Wichita because I am not gonna pay $600 for a roundtrip ticket there.

Originally Posted by formerkansan

It just depends. I've flown out of Wichita, Kansas City, Dallas, Dulles, Reaghan National and many others. Every airport has its pluses and minuses. Most big cities would laugh at KCI because of its size and lack of amenities but sometimes they are more convenient to get in and out of. fyi - flew from Wichita to Thailand earlier this year (with some stops on the way) and it was the same price as flying out of Dallas. You seem hell bent on slandering Wichita (in favor of Kansas City) but your arguments aren't fair nor believable by most reading this forum. Just fyi - this is coming from someone who is reluctantly moving to Wichita due to my aerospace engineer husband's job so I'm not out to defend Wichita per se but to hear a fair assessment of it.