Topeka Hospitals (Wichita, Kansas City, Lawrence: real estate, apartment complex, rental market)
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My wife just a got a job in Topeka, KS and we'll be moving early next year. Being an internal medicine physician, I have been looking at employment opportunities and it seems there's only 2 hospitals in the area - St. Francis and Stormont Vail.
Which of the 2 hospital is better? Do people get their healthcare in Topeka or Kansas City? Is there a big shortage of primary care physician? How about HIV care - what is the prevalence of HIV patients in Topeka?
And what good areas to consider in renting (we decided to rent for the first year) and also buying homes?
Rent anything on the west side. I am in the Gage and 19th area renting a 2 bd 1 ba house for 800.00. I am taking a job back in Wichita in January. This house is back on the rental market.
Villa West Apts has 3 bd. 1200 sq ft townhomes. They are a good place to start. I lived there for a year before I found a house. The neighbors were okay at Villa West. The townhouses rent for about 780.00. Best bang for your buck.
Check out craigslist for Topeka to see what is on the market right now.
Hospitals... Storment Vail. Lawrence has a good hospital.
My wife just a got a job in Topeka, KS and we'll be moving early next year. Being an internal medicine physician, I have been looking at employment opportunities and it seems there's only 2 hospitals in the area - St. Francis and Stormont Vail.
Which of the 2 hospital is better? Do people get their healthcare in Topeka or Kansas City? Is there a big shortage of primary care physician? How about HIV care - what is the prevalence of HIV patients in Topeka?
And what good areas to consider in renting (we decided to rent for the first year) and also buying homes?
Thanks!
Congrats on your wife's new job and welcome to Topeka! St. Francis and Stormont Vail are both nice and seem to be comparable, although I have only had experience with Stormont Vail. It seems that most people in Topeka receive their healthcare in Topeka. One would normally only travel to Kansas City for healthcare if one needed a really good specialist. For example, Children's Mercy in Kansas City is really good at rare childhood disorders.
Lawrence Memorial is also a good hospital of a decent size albeit smaller than Stormont Vail and St. Francis. It is about 20-25 minutes from Topeka.
I don't know what the stats are for primary care physicians, but it does seem that we might have a shortage due to a number of offices not accepting new patients and/or long waits to schedule a new appointment. I have no idea about the prevalence of HIV patients.
Here is my overview of the city with many links to sites I found useful as I was getting to know my new hometown of almost two years. I have spent much of my free time visiting different neighborhoods and driving around the countryside getting a feel for the place, and I have to say that I like Topeka and Shawnee County on the whole. It probably helps that I lived in a nice place (Villa West Apartments) in a nice part of the city (West Topeka near 29th and Wanamaker) when I first moved here.
Best real estate website for the area is: Topeka Area Homes It permits you do a search by school district, etc. It is also the most up to date as it is the website of the local realtors. It has a calculator that includes property taxes.
Most people familiar with Topeka consider Auburn-Washburn School District to be the nicest area to live in. It is mostly outside of the city limits, but part of it still is in the city limits. There are no bad neighborhoods in that district; and it is the most expensive school district to live in. One highlight of this area is the proximity to the nice/new big box stores on Wanamaker such as Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods.
I bought a home in the Seaman school district which is north of Topeka, mostly out of the city limits. A little of this district is south of US 24, and I would not recommend living in that part. But, most of the rest of Seaman School District is quite nice and has more of a rural feel to it especially as you go north. I would avoid the small area called Elmont within Seaman School District. I find Seaman the second most desirable district to live in around Topeka.
Yet, another nice area and good school system is Jefferson West School District. It is located northeast of Topeka. Many of the homes in this area are very close to Perry Lake. Meriden, itself, is alright and safe, but might not be to everyone's liking. Meriden feels like a close community that is family oriented, but the homes are on the lower end of middle class. Another possibility is Auburn in the Auburn-Washburn School District.
The next area I would recommend is the Shawnee Heights School District, which is SE of the city, especially near Lake Shawnee. The homes and neighborhoods are nice for the most part.
All of the areas I have recommended are mostly outside the Topeka city limits. One is pretty much guaranteed low crime outside of the city limits. There are many nice and safe areas inside the city limits, but they are scattered about in various pockets all about the city. Generally, the areas get nicer the further west one goes. Personally, I didn't want my kids to be within the Topeka 501 school district which is most of the city itself. The schools aren't that bad, but the ones outside of the city are better.
Other small towns that are nice depending on how far you are willing to drive are Silver Lake, Rossville, Ozawkie, Hoyt, and Carbondale.
If you are looking for more scholarly books, Washburn University has the Mabee Library and a Law Library.
Museums
Brown V. Board of Education Combat Air Museum Great Overland Station
Kansas Center for the Book (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/kcfb/ - broken link) Kansas State Historical Society
Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn (http://www.washburn.edu/reference/mulvane/ - broken link)
Old Prairie Town at Ward Meade Historic Site (http://www.topeka.org/parksrec/ward_meade.shtml - broken link) Topeka Art Guild
Washburn University Crane Observatory (http://www.washburn.edu/cas/physics/crane.html - broken link)
Arts/Entertainment
West Ridge 8 Movie Theater (at the mall)
Hollywood 14 Movie Theater (very nice, new theater at Wanamaker and 6th) Arts Council of Topeka (ACT)
Helen Hocker Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.topeka.org/parksrec/hocker.shtml - broken link) Kansas Expocentre The Collective Art Gallery Topeka Civic Theatre
Topeka Festival Singers (http://www.wuacc.edu/cas/music/festsing.html - broken link) Topeka Performing Arts Center
Nature Trails and Areas (http://www.topeka.org/parksrec/trails_and_nature_areas.shtml - broken link) Zoo
The Kansas Governor's Residence, Cedar Crest, is the smallest occupied governor's residence in the United States; however, it sits on the largest piece of property at 244 acres. There are public trails across the property west of the mansion and it has a beautiful view of a forested hill.
Corporate headquarters for Hill's Pet Nutrition are in Topeka.
Topeka's Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant is the world's largest producer of earthmover tires and the corporation's sole North American manufacturer of earthmover tires for mining and construction operations.
Congrats on your wife's new job and welcome to Topeka! St. Francis and Stormont Vail are both nice and seem to be comparable, although I have only had experience with Stormont Vail. It seems that most people in Topeka receive their healthcare in Topeka. One would normally only travel to Kansas City for healthcare if one needed a really good specialist. For example, Children's Mercy in Kansas City is really good at rare childhood disorders.
Lawrence Memorial is also a good hospital of a decent size albeit smaller than Stormont Vail and St. Francis. It is about 20-25 minutes from Topeka.
I don't know what the stats are for primary care physicians, but it does seem that we might have a shortage due to a number of offices not accepting new patients and/or long waits to schedule a new appointment. I have no idea about the prevalence of HIV patients.
Here is my overview of the city with many links to sites I found useful as I was getting to know my new hometown of almost two years. I have spent much of my free time visiting different neighborhoods and driving around the countryside getting a feel for the place, and I have to say that I like Topeka and Shawnee County on the whole. It probably helps that I lived in a nice place (Villa West Apartments) in a nice part of the city (West Topeka near 29th and Wanamaker) when I first moved here.
Best real estate website for the area is: Topeka Area Homes It permits you do a search by school district, etc. It is also the most up to date as it is the website of the local realtors. It has a calculator that includes property taxes.
Most people familiar with Topeka consider Auburn-Washburn School District to be the nicest area to live in. It is mostly outside of the city limits, but part of it still is in the city limits. There are no bad neighborhoods in that district; and it is the most expensive school district to live in. One highlight of this area is the proximity to the nice/new big box stores on Wanamaker such as Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods.
I bought a home in the Seaman school district which is north of Topeka, mostly out of the city limits. A little of this district is south of US 24, and I would not recommend living in that part. But, most of the rest of Seaman School District is quite nice and has more of a rural feel to it especially as you go north. I would avoid the small area called Elmont within Seaman School District. I find Seaman the second most desirable district to live in around Topeka.
Yet, another nice area and good school system is Jefferson West School District. It is located northeast of Topeka. Many of the homes in this area are very close to Perry Lake. Meriden, itself, is alright and safe, but might not be to everyone's liking. Meriden feels like a close community that is family oriented, but the homes are on the lower end of middle class. Another possibility is Auburn in the Auburn-Washburn School District.
The next area I would recommend is the Shawnee Heights School District, which is SE of the city, especially near Lake Shawnee. The homes and neighborhoods are nice for the most part.
All of the areas I have recommended are mostly outside the Topeka city limits. One is pretty much guaranteed low crime outside of the city limits. There are many nice and safe areas inside the city limits, but they are scattered about in various pockets all about the city. Generally, the areas get nicer the further west one goes. Personally, I didn't want my kids to be within the Topeka 501 school district which is most of the city itself. The schools aren't that bad, but the ones outside of the city are better.
Other small towns that are nice depending on how far you are willing to drive are Silver Lake, Rossville, Ozawkie, Hoyt, and Carbondale.
If you are looking for more scholarly books, Washburn University has the Mabee Library and a Law Library.
Museums
Brown V. Board of Education Combat Air Museum Great Overland Station
Kansas Center for the Book (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/kcfb/ - broken link) Kansas State Historical Society
Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn (http://www.washburn.edu/reference/mulvane/ - broken link)
Old Prairie Town at Ward Meade Historic Site (http://www.topeka.org/parksrec/ward_meade.shtml - broken link) Topeka Art Guild
Washburn University Crane Observatory (http://www.washburn.edu/cas/physics/crane.html - broken link)
Arts/Entertainment
West Ridge 8 Movie Theater (at the mall)
Hollywood 14 Movie Theater (very nice, new theater at Wanamaker and 6th) Arts Council of Topeka (ACT)
Helen Hocker Center for the Performing Arts (http://www.topeka.org/parksrec/hocker.shtml - broken link) Kansas Expocentre The Collective Art Gallery Topeka Civic Theatre
Topeka Festival Singers (http://www.wuacc.edu/cas/music/festsing.html - broken link) Topeka Performing Arts Center
Nature Trails and Areas (http://www.topeka.org/parksrec/trails_and_nature_areas.shtml - broken link) Zoo
The Kansas Governor's Residence, Cedar Crest, is the smallest occupied governor's residence in the United States; however, it sits on the largest piece of property at 244 acres. There are public trails across the property west of the mansion and it has a beautiful view of a forested hill.
Corporate headquarters for Hill's Pet Nutrition are in Topeka.
Topeka's Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant is the world's largest producer of earthmover tires and the corporation's sole North American manufacturer of earthmover tires for mining and construction operations.
I don't have any personal experience with West Indian Hills Townhomes, but I just visited their website and they look very nice. If the price is right for you, I'd say go for it!
Any advise or thoughts on Sherwood Apartments? It's just across Villa West Apartments.
It was voted one of the top apartment complex in the "Best of Topeka" survey by Capital Journal.
And according to the website, it's rated 5+ on a nationwide survey.
They are very nice and if you can afford them, I'd say go for it. I think that you will really like the neighborhood and convenience to shopping on Wanamaker.
Just heard the news about the tornado in Reading, KS. Is a 1st or 2nd floor apartment safer during tornados? If in case you live in a 2nd floor apartment, what do you do during tornado warnings? Is there a public shelter in such events? Thanks!
Just heard the news about the tornado in Reading, KS. Is a 1st or 2nd floor apartment safer during tornados? If in case you live in a 2nd floor apartment, what do you do during tornado warnings? Is there a public shelter in such events? Thanks!
The 1st floor would be somewhat safer, but neither floor is safe in a direct hit (HIGHLY unlikely, but of course possible). I would think that every sizable complex will have a shelter or other designated safe-as-possible area to "take cover," but you'd want to check/confirm.
My dad is 89 years old, and has spent his entire life in KS and has never seen or been impacted by a tornado. But, although that experience is not uncommon, the weather here is not to be taken lightly. You need to "watch the weather" and pay close attention to watches/warnings (a weather-alert radio is cheap and helpful).
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