Moving to KS(I hope!) (Wichita, Topeka: houses, job, schools)

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by chele123

Actually, small towns may have more jobs than you think. One of the perks of small town living is it is usually fairly cheap to live here. Because it is cheap, we have a farily large percentage of welfare people here. With the population increase though, did not come workers, so in my small town and the neighboring town we have to IMPORT workers! In Protection,KS a restraunt closed because she could not find help. At our small Critical Access Hospital we are always short handed. And I'm not sure, but I think we are still looking for teachers. So, don't discount a small town until after you have checked out the employment opportunities! I consider my small town life idyllic.

You make some good points. However, the facts are that many younger people leave smaller towns in search of more diversified types of jobs in larger metro areas like KC, Wichita, Omaha, Chicago etc. Many younger people leave rural counties to go to college and do not come back. It will be a large challenge to convince many people of career age to move to small towns with under 5,000 population in the rural Great Plains.

[chele123]

Originally Posted by Plains10

You make some good points. However, the facts are that many younger people leave smaller towns in search of more diversified types of jobs in larger metro areas like KC, Wichita, Omaha, Chicago etc. Many younger people leave rural counties to go to college and do not come back. It will be a large challenge to convince many people of career age to move to small towns with under 5,000 population in the rural Great Plains.

Yes, you are right. But you would be surprized at how many actually DO return home. Right now we are seeing a fairly large return of our kids. They have gone to college, are now married and realize this is a great and SAFE place to raise their children. Just today in Church we welcomed THREE new families! They had found us on the internet, liked what they saw, and moved here. We are actually having bidding wars on houses! People are tired. They are tired of the hustle; tired of being afraid; a little town like ours takes them back to Mayberry RFD!

[Visi]

Originally Posted by chele123

Yes, you are right. But you would be surprized at how many actually DO return home. Right now we are seeing a fairly large return of our kids. They have gone to college, are now married and realize this is a great and SAFE place to raise their children. Just today in Church we welcomed THREE new families! They had found us on the internet, liked what they saw, and moved here. We are actually having bidding wars on houses! People are tired. They are tired of the hustle; tired of being afraid; a little town like ours takes them back to Mayberry RFD!

Okay see, this is exactly my pet peeve. Kansas isn't Mayberry. Mayberry doesn't exist, and it's nothing more than a lie or an unrealistic wish to pretend that it is. I was born in raised outside of a town (population < 100) in NW Kansas. If anywhere would be unaffected by the passage of time and the filthy influence of the city, it'd be a tiny rural town like that, right? That's what many outsiders (who are looking for Mayberry) think, apparently. That also appears to be what some of the people who live in towns like this think as well, but it's not reality. If these towns were such innocent utopias, why do all the bright young people get out as fast as they graduate high school (and be honest- only the tiniest fraction of them return to live there)?

Here are some facts about rural Kansas. Admit it or not, the place is extremely conservative, with everything that entails (racism, homophobia, sexism, and religious fundamentalism). If you are not a Christian, you'd better keep that to yourself if you want to keep your job and not be bothered (harrassed or conversion attempts). If you're a vegetarian, environmental crusader, or greenie or any kind, you'll made fun of at least and basically ostracized at most. If you are not like everyone else, small Kansas towns can be incredibly oppressive and cruel places to live.

There are very, very few good jobs for "educated" (with at least a bachelor's degree) people. The biggest employers in these small towns are often elementary, middle, and high schools (people with teaching degrees can get a job there- that's what both my parents did), prisons (openings for a few people with criminal justice degrees or maybe some type of admistrative or teaching degrees), hospitals or county health offices (nurses and a few doctors), and there are a few places that people with technical degrees (drafting, linemen, low-level computer networking, etc.) can work.

There is an enormous crystal meth problem. It exists in every single little town in Kansas. It's both naive and dishonest to deny that it exists in your town. In the town where I attended high school (in the mid-90's), the high school principal's son used to sell drugs through his bedroom window. It's not just affecting the poor or "lower class" people in town either; your own neighbors might be users or even makers of meth.

There is also a high rate of alcoholism in certain areas (for example, I'll cite Hays & the surrounding areas since I lived there for about 8 years). Getting a DUI in Hays is like getting a minor parking ticket in other parts of the country. It's almost expected, and many people have multiple DUI's. Back in my high school and college days, getting an MIP (minor in possession) or MIC (minor in consumption) was basically like a coming-of-age rite. Everyone knew that you just had to pay your $300-$400 fine, and you'd just get probation. It wasn't a big deal (and no, I never got one because I wasn't into drinking) for most kids.

I'm not saying that Kansas is the worst place to live. Hell, compared to a lot of places I've been (East Tennessee, metro St. Louis, the barren wastelands of southern Wyoming, the endless cardboard castles of western Denver), it's not a bad place.

I am tired, though, of people thinking it's like Mayberry or the fictional town of Jericho on that ridiculous TV show. People in rural KS have the internet and satellite radio; they use drugs, abuse their kids, & cheat on their spouses; they also often band together to help a member of the community who's fallen ill or on hard times, and smile & stop to speak to you in the grocery store. It's a balance. There's good and bad. But it's not "a return to a simpler time". It's today, and it's reality. It's also a disservice to pretend it's something it's not.

[shonner]

I have lived in some of the larger cities in Kansas and a few small towns as well and can agree completely with what Visi has said. Kansas is not Utopia. There are some incredibly cold, hateful, and rude people in the state. By the same token, there are some who would restore your faith in your fellow man by their kindness and generosity. It is not uncommon to find both kinds within the same city or town. But do not buy into some misguided idea that the state is "The Heartland" in every sense of the word. It simply is not so.

[Plains10]

I get questions from people who ask about moving to these very rural counties in western Kansas. I generally tell them that the jobs are not as abundant in the rural counties, and that many of the younger career age people flee the towns. What this often leads to is the "cycles of decline" problem in the rural plains; more young people leave, more businesses close, more older people are left, and the population declines sharply. If you have been to northern Kansas you would not believe how many ghost towns their are everywhere. Many of these counties have lost more than 10% of their population in the last 6 years alone. Therefore, I generally tell people not to move to those rapidly declining counties because they tend to be economically unstable, and are at risk for losing more jobs.

[fishbowl]

Originally Posted by shonner

Kansas is not Utopia.

That may be so, but did you know that Utopia is, or was, in Kansas? No kidding. It was just north of hwy 54 on hwy 99, in Greenwoood County.

The sign is gone, but there is a sign for the Utopia Community Church. I heard that the preacher there will give a sermon if even one person shows up. I do not know if that church is still operating at all today though.

I would think twice before moving to a town with a name like "Utopia" or "Happyville," or "Harmony." There is a small, very small town in California, north of Morro Bay, called Harmony. There are shops there selling art. Whenever I've gone through there, the natives are anything but "harmonious." I usually see someone who is grouchy, sometimes hear gossip as I'm strolling through.

Okay, the above is only my perceptions and is based on my trips there 7 to 15 years ago. It may be a very harmonious place to be now.

Excuse my rambling. But yer right. There is no Utopia to be had, not a real one. If there was, I'd be afraid of it, because what would personal liberties be like in such a place?

Janet

[shonner]

Stull is also there which is reportedly the "gateway to Hell". Really! It is a small town on Hwy 40 not far from Lawrence. The local high school kids and college students have great fun around Halloween trying to find it in the old cemetery near the site where the church once stood.

[Visi]

Eh, if you're looking for "Paradise", you can find that in Kansas. You could also try Mount Hope, where, ironically, there is neither a mountain, nor much hope.

[chele123]

Originally Posted by Visi

Okay see, this is exactly my pet peeve. Kansas isn't Mayberry. Mayberry doesn't exist, and it's nothing more than a lie or an unrealistic wish to pretend that it is. I was born in raised outside of a town (population < 100) in NW Kansas. If anywhere would be unaffected by the passage of time and the filthy influence of the city, it'd be a tiny rural town like that, right? That's what many outsiders (who are looking for Mayberry) think, apparently. That also appears to be what some of the people who live in towns like this think as well, but it's not reality. If these towns were such innocent utopias, why do all the bright young people get out as fast as they graduate high school (and be honest- only the tiniest fraction of them return to live there)?

Here are some facts about rural Kansas. Admit it or not, the place is extremely conservative, with everything that entails (racism, homophobia, sexism, and religious fundamentalism). If you are not a Christian, you'd better keep that to yourself if you want to keep your job and not be bothered (harrassed or conversion attempts). If you're a vegetarian, environmental crusader, or greenie or any kind, you'll made fun of at least and basically ostracized at most. If you are not like everyone else, small Kansas towns can be incredibly oppressive and cruel places to live.

There are very, very few good jobs for "educated" (with at least a bachelor's degree) people. The biggest employers in these small towns are often elementary, middle, and high schools (people with teaching degrees can get a job there- that's what both my parents did), prisons (openings for a few people with criminal justice degrees or maybe some type of admistrative or teaching degrees), hospitals or county health offices (nurses and a few doctors), and there are a few places that people with technical degrees (drafting, linemen, low-level computer networking, etc.) can work.

There is an enormous crystal meth problem. It exists in every single little town in Kansas. It's both naive and dishonest to deny that it exists in your town. In the town where I attended high school (in the mid-90's), the high school principal's son used to sell drugs through his bedroom window. It's not just affecting the poor or "lower class" people in town either; your own neighbors might be users or even makers of meth.

There is also a high rate of alcoholism in certain areas (for example, I'll cite Hays & the surrounding areas since I lived there for about 8 years). Getting a DUI in Hays is like getting a minor parking ticket in other parts of the country. It's almost expected, and many people have multiple DUI's. Back in my high school and college days, getting an MIP (minor in possession) or MIC (minor in consumption) was basically like a coming-of-age rite. Everyone knew that you just had to pay your $300-$400 fine, and you'd just get probation. It wasn't a big deal (and no, I never got one because I wasn't into drinking) for most kids.

I'm not saying that Kansas is the worst place to live. Hell, compared to a lot of places I've been (East Tennessee, metro St. Louis, the barren wastelands of southern Wyoming, the endless cardboard castles of western Denver), it's not a bad place.

I am tired, though, of people thinking it's like Mayberry or the fictional town of Jericho on that ridiculous TV show. People in rural KS have the internet and satellite radio; they use drugs, abuse their kids, & cheat on their spouses; they also often band together to help a member of the community who's fallen ill or on hard times, and smile & stop to speak to you in the grocery store. It's a balance. There's good and bad. But it's not "a return to a simpler time". It's today, and it's reality. It's also a disservice to pretend it's something it's not.

PLEASE! Please DO keep spreading your story!! WE WANT OUR TOWN TO STAY SAFE AND UNCROWDED! Tell the world your version of the truth, while I live mine. Won't bother me a bit if you succeed in scaring everyone out of Kansas. We aren't crowded here and don't really want to be. *walks off whistling*

[Visi]

I'm not trying to scare anyone. If you'd thoroughly read my post you'd know that. I was just trying to be factual and not gloss over certain details that some choose to ignore or forget. If people choose to move to small Kansas towns, they should know everything before they move, rather than expecting Sherriff Andy & Aunt Bea to be their new neighbors.

My whole argument is that rural Kansas is a REAL place, rather than a fictional place where humble people wear gingham & firemen rescue kittens from cottonwood trees.