Moving to Wichita

[ScarlettsMom]

Thanks for the info on the College Hill area, its hard to know where is a good place to live when you've never been to that city much less that part of the county. My fiancee will be working (most of the time) at Via Christi in the Good Shepard campus. As for myself, sadly my field does not seem to be in Wichita so I will be starting over from scratch career wise. I may be going back to school. As for the financial aspect of renting because we are from the NYC metro area we are used to a much higher rent than the average rental price in Wichita so there is definite flexibility with price ranges for apartments. JBDallas you are exactly right about renting because 2 years it a bit to short to buy and we aren't sure how long we will be here (even though it could be more than 2 years if we like the area).

Also thanks for the heads up on College Hill. Can you tell me any more About Andover? What about Derby, Maize, Bel Aire, Eastborough, Forest Hills, or Cow Town?

I've been reading up on the area and I've heard of a place called Nu-Way and that their hamburgers are not patties? Is this a Wichita specialty food?

[jbdallas]

ScarlettsMom, If he will be working at Via Chritsi good shepherd, I think Andover would be a pretty good option. The question is apartment or home. The apartment choices in Wichita are pretty slim. We didn't look for any in Andover so I can't really comment on apartments there. When we were looking last August, the newest one built was 1999. There was one set of new ones going in near 96/29th I think, but they were way behind schedule and I don't know if they ever finished them. There are some really cool lofts downtown, and the rent was less than 1k if I recall correctly. Call ahead though to see if you can get in to look at them, you have to schedule an appointment w/ them.
But, if either of you are golfers, there is a complex in Derby where you get free golf w/ your rent. It's a very nice complex not too far from the military base. No garages and No pets, which meant we couldn't live there since we have dogs and lots of garage type stuff.
If you end up on that side of town (east not in Derby) you are actually closer to Rock road which has a ton of restaurants/shopping on the north end.

I'm not sure if you are familiar w/ Craigslist.org or not, but I'd definitely check it out for rentals. I know there were some homes in Andover listed for about 1200/month. Its under kansas/wichita. FYI, be careful of the rosy descriptions of some, they are in some not so nice areas and they know it, not Andover but the wichita rentals. Definitely drive by if at all possible. If you see one w/ 7rentals.com, skip it, I tried looking at stuff they offered, it looks like a spambot puts it on every state.

[ScarlettsMom]

I've seen those 7Rentals.com listings on craigslist.com and it is so annoying! We are coming out this weekend to look with a rental agent. Houses are definitely something we are considering since there are much fewer apartments then we were expecting. Coming from the NY area the rents so so much less here and its amazing what you can get for your money, we feel like kids in a candy store. I will have to look around the Andover area. We want to get a feel for the different areas to see what suits us. Anything you would recommend seeing/doing this weekend, I'm open to restaurant suggestions too.

[jbdallas]

My favorite so far is YiaYias (pronounced yahyahs) on Rock/21st Street on the Southeast corner, it faces 21st street. Its upscale casual, and you usually don't need reservations. If the weather holds they have a nice patio.
Also, the Olive Tree, on Rock/29th Southwest corner good but pricey.
The Larkspur on Douglas, near Old town is pretty good, and there is a bistro of some sort in the old town square that is pretty good as well. You can also check out the waterfront where there are 8 restaurants, it gets very busy from what I hear though.

the Waterfront - Wichita, Kansas - Fine Dining and Shopping


On the west side near us it's mostly chain type stuff. Nothing to write home about. Maize/21st is where most seem to be.

The museum is always free on Saturdays. It's east of downtown.
The zoo is actually closed on Saturday for their yearly special event called zoobilee. Off the top of my head that is all I can think of, I'm sure others will be glad to throw out their suggestions though.

[Akeelie]

I will be moving to Wichita for grad school this fall, and am looking for more information on buying in the Riverside neighborhood. Specifically, could anybody tell me what the street boundaries are to the neighborhood? I cannot find a neighborhood map anywhere, but have found some websites that have Riverside, Riverside second addition, third addition, etc for housing. Are these all good neighborhoods in which to own? Thanks for your help!

[drfeelgood]

Hi; I am an Emergency Medicine physician relocating to Wichita, KS with my wife and small Yorkie by July 2008. We are a young couple, not thinking about having kids at this moment. My wife is a Hair Stylist looking for a job; I'll be working for the Via Christi Health System. First, we are doing an intense Internet research about apartment rental options (which are not that many), especially in Oldtown/Downtown. We went to Wichita for the job interview and were very pleased with what we saw. The new lofts, The Waterfront, the Waterwalk and Park Stone at College Hill look like great options if we eventually decide to buy a property. Still, we rather rent for the first year or so. Places like The Rumley Lofts, Harvester Lofts, Eaton Place, Polo Club Apartment, and the GREENBROOK TOWNHOMES caught our attention. We will be there again by the beggining of May 2008 for apt hunting. We would appreciate any advice or recomendations regarding these places or any other tips

[musicguy]

I just found this website today and checked through Wichita posts. Here are my observations about Wichita. I moved here in 2003 from LA. I had lived here previously and went to high school and college here. I lost my job in LA and decided to move someplace cheaper. A friend suggested Wichita, I checked it out and bought a house here.
I keep seeing people negative about College Hill. That's where I live and I'm closer to the Hillside side, which should make it more dicey. I have never had a problem here and I love the neighborhood. Drfeelgood mentioned the Parkwood development in College Hill. Other than clearing the land, nothing has been done on that and I have serious doubts if it will actually happen in the midst of tight lending rules. If it does, so much the better.

As far as Wichita as a whole, I like it. It's not for everyone, certainly not younger people if you're looking for incredible nightlife. I left here in my 20's and lived all over the country. I've lived by the mountains and by the ocean. I swore I would never live in LA, but I loved it there as well. A city is what you make of it. I know I have a good time here. I'm lucky that I've been able to make a living our of doing independent consulting since I moved here. My clients were/are located in Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles and Seattle. I work out of my house in Wichita and actually make more as a consultant than I did as a senior executive in LA. I fly (out of Mid-Continent) at least once a month to visit the home offices and have never minded the airport here. I have flown to Asia and Europe from here on business as well. LA is closer to Asia, but it wasn't inconvenient.

As much as I like Wichita, I agree about the arena. I voted against it. It's not going to attract more visitors.

Where I came from was Downey, CA, which is 12 miles SE from downtown LA. The majority of the population was hispanic. I got along with everyone and seldom even locked my door at night. Downey is also close to some of the real high crime areas of LA like Compton. Crime in Wichita is nothing compared to a lot of other cities. I remember one weekend in LA when 17 people were murdered in separate incidents.

As far as housing, I have a 1600 sf house, built in 1915, that I paid $70K for. I had never lived in a house this old and thought it would be cool. If I could change history, I would have bought a newer house. I sold the house I had in Downey, CA before I moved here. It was 1471 sf, 3BR, 1BA. It's now for sale for $725,000. Of course, LA housing prices are crashing and it will never sell for that. I'd much rather live here where life is affordable and be able to make the same money I made before.