Wichita crime map... ghetto locations (Kansas City, Eastborough: real estate, work, schools)

[KevK]

Originally Posted by cp1969

I guess it's changed a lot since we lived there (1979-80). I was never afraid to go into any neighborhood but maybe I should have been. At that time, BTK was running loose and the wife wanted to keep a loaded gun under the mattress.

Do you know how lumpy an 870 Remington can be?

I have not lived there since the 80s either but according to family that still does, it has gotten worse in those areas. Armed gangs roam almost at will and killings and shootings and as common as rain. Back in the 70s we did not have armed gangs with machine guns roaming the streets of Wichita. While there was the ocassional murder- mainly in the Murdock area, it was usually domestic or between folks that knew each other. Not so today.

[janetjanetbobanet]

Originally Posted by KevK

I have not lived there since the 80s either but according to family that still does, it has gotten worse in those areas. Armed gangs roam almost at will and killings and shootings and as common as rain. Back in the 70s we did not have armed gangs with machine guns roaming the streets of Wichita. While there was the ocassional murder- mainly in the Murdock area, it was usually domestic or between folks that knew each other. Not so today.

It's not quite that bad, armed gangs with machine guns roaming the streets are not the norm in Wichita. I lived there until two months ago, and had for most of my life. Stay out of the high crime areas at night that are shown on the map and don't pick any fights with obvious gang members.

[mmarlett]

I've lived in Wichita all my life, and I can only say that most of the people on this thread have no idea what they are talking about.

According to the FBI, Wichita has a violent crime rate that is about half that of other U.S. cities of its size. The Census Bureau says that the average commute time in Wichita is 18 minutes -- 28% shorter than the national average of 25 minutes. My personal commute is about 15 minutes, but it used to be five minutes. I took a new job all the way across town. The average price of an existing home is $108,000 (mine was $110,000 this spring) while the national average is twice that, according to the National Association of Realtors. New homes are running about $170,000, while nationally they're about $241,000.

I live in an area called Riverside. My house is almost 90 years old. The ghetto is a few blocks away -- the houses are just as old but lack a river and series of public parks twisting through them that attract young and wealthy families to keep re-investing in old houses to keep them in good shape.

Everything just turned brilliant orange last week, and my walk to the neighborhood coffee shop on Sunday might actually have been the highlight of my weekend, though I did partake in both a movie at the Old Town Warren (literally the best movie theater in the world -- filmmakers who attend our film festival attest to it, and most of them have seen most of the world's movie theaters) and some drinking in Old Town. I'll confess that I ate at Old Chicago (a national chain based in, you guessed it, Denver) instead of one of the seven local restaurants in the same plaza, but they were packed and I was going to be late for the movie if I didn't go some place where I could get in and out in 45 minutes. (And, yes, I could have eaten a full meal in my seat at the Warren -- and the beer is about the same price as the pop -- but I was hungry before my movie was going to start and the theater's sports bar was closed for a private function.) And the night before I was too tired from raking leaves to take in the live music I had planned on, but it happened without me, I'm sure.

People who say that there is nothing to do in Wichita are people who haven't turned off their TVs long enough to go outside to see what's out there. They're the kind of people who think violent criminals are roaming the streets to shoot them down if they leave their houses. Simply ridiculous.

[tmichael83]

Don't live on Hillside or piate, or poplar, or kansas or around the college. Those areas are horrible. I was born and raised in Wichita and lived there for about 20yrs.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by tmichael83

Don't live on Hillside or piate, or poplar, or kansas or around the college. Those areas are horrible. I was born and raised in Wichita and lived there for about 20yrs.

You can live on SOUTH Poplar and Hillside. That is where I grew up. You just don't want to go north of Central on those streets. Just in general draw a big red line down Hillside from Central to 29th street north. Draw another line down I-135 (The Canal Route, MLK Expressway) from Central to 29th steeet. Connect them together to make a sqaure. Don't move inside those lines. Avoid them after dark if it all possible.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by tmichael83

Don't live on Hillside or piate, or poplar, or kansas or around the college. Those areas are horrible. I was born and raised in Wichita and lived there for about 20yrs.

You can live EAST of WSU (Hillside) just fine. Just don't move west of WSU.

[KC to NC]

Originally Posted by J. Olson

This is not true..alot of people have a desire to live in the Wichita City limits. College Hill is still a very nice neighborhood so long as you are to the east of the Central-Hillside intersection. Also smack in the middle of the city Old Town/Downtown has a very high demand for condo/lofts. However the only reason nobody wants to live in Wichita that I could see would be good old USD 259, I would never send my kids to Wichita Public schools...they would have to be homeschooled or go to a private school. That is why the city limits are still a wonderful place to live around the 119th-Kellogg and 21st Maize area. They are so popular so that parents can send their kids to Goddard or Maize public schools.

Also to correct your previous remark the City is Derby.

I too agree. I know alot of people who desire to live within the city limits. I have not lived in Wichita for 19 years but I always have to stick up for things that are important to me. I grew up in College Hill and spent my whole childhood in the same house and loved my neighborhood and felt very safe. I never moved back after college. My father still lives in College Hill, but in a different house and we still go back to Wichita for the holidays to visit both my family and my husband's family. I will probably never live in Wichita again but not b/c I don't want to. I think it is a great place to raise a family. It makes me sad to hear that the public school system is not doing well b/c I am a public school advocate. I don't know the negative comments about the school system to be true as we don't have family members in school anymore. I do know that I have not heard one complaint out of our families mouths about an increase in crime where they live. My husband's family lives out further east within the limits and we are amazed at the growth everytime we go home. Back in high school his subdivision had nothing much around him but a golf course. I feel very safe every time I come back with my three children and show them around my old stomping grounds. I understand that Wichita may not be for everyone, especially if they are moving there from a big city as there is not alot to do but it is not that far from Kansas City. Good luck!

[KevK]

Originally Posted by KC to NC

I too agree. I know alot of people who desire to live within the city limits. I have not lived in Wichita for 19 years but I always have to stick up for things that are important to me. I grew up in College Hill and spent my whole childhood in the same house and loved my neighborhood and felt very safe. I never moved back after college. My father still lives in College Hill, but in a different house and we still go back to Wichita for the holidays to visit both my family and my husband's family. I will probably never live in Wichita again but not b/c I don't want to. I think it is a great place to raise a family. It makes me sad to hear that the public school system is not doing well b/c I am a public school advocate. I don't know the negative comments about the school system to be true as we don't have family members in school anymore. I do know that I have not heard one complaint out of our families mouths about an increase in crime where they live. My husband's family lives out further east within the limits and we are amazed at the growth everytime we go home. Back in high school his subdivision had nothing much around him but a golf course. I feel very safe every time I come back with my three children and show them around my old stomping grounds. I understand that Wichita may not be for everyone, especially if they are moving there from a big city as there is not alot to do but it is not that far from Kansas City. Good luck!

Did you go to East? I did!

[KC to NC]

Originally Posted by KevK

Did you go to East? I did!

Yep and my husband went to Southeast.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by KC to NC

Yep and my husband went to Southeast.

East HS Class of 77