Topeka KS - consider of relocating (Lawrence, Shawnee: public school, income, living in)

[Bulldog Dan]

Try 66619.

[Dclipse03]

Originally Posted by pmj219

What are some of the zip codes in the Seaman School District

My husband and i live in the Seaman district and the zip is 66608. 66618 is also another one within Seaman.

[pmj219]

Thanks so much Dclipse03 we do not have any children in school, but someone posted that if it was in that school district it was a good part of town, are there any other zips you can think of, We have never been too Topeka and we are looking at houses on the internet. My husband will be take a job there after the first of the year.

[pmj219]

Becki, what we want is a good and safe place too live near the Goodyear plant would like too buy a house 1 story with at least 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bath with off the street parking and a yard (we have 2 small dogs) all our children are grown so schools are no big deal. thanks for all your help you can post back or email me

[stephgene]

We moved to Topeka from Emporia in July 2007. My husband has been working in TOpeka for almost 6 years. We stayed in EMporia because we liked living there. My kids liked going to school there. In fact one of my boys decided he wanted to stay in Emporia to finish High School. So he stays with his grandparents. Emporia is a nice place to live. But there are no jobs. It's one of those you have to know someone to get the "good" jobs. With very few jobs and the price of gas getting to be too much we decided to go ahead and move to Topeka. So I did some research to find a rental house either on the outer edges of Topeka or in a small town close to Topeka. We found a place in the 66619 zip. It is a very nice 4 bedroom 2 bath full unfinished basement ranch style. With a single attached garage for $855/mo. It's in the Washburn Rural school district. Which have VERY good schools. We are able to get anywhere in Shawnee County pretty easy. Although our neighborhood is not a bad neighborhood I have seen better after driving around. There are some nice places to live off of 45th going East towards the Shawnee/Douglas county line. That is the Shawnee Heights school district. Which is another Very good school distirct. It feels small town country to me when I was out there. I went from not knowing how to get anywhere but where my husband works to the highway to.........now I know most of the back roads in the SW and SE parts of Shawnee County. There is some beautiful country out there. SW and SE Shawnee county from what I've seen is very nice and very easy to travel and find your way around. I have never been to the North side of Topeka. I have always heard bad things about it. I also have no reason to go there yet either. So in my opinion I cannot say whether North Shawnee county is good or bad.
Some negatives I have experienced.....
I really don't like Driving down Topeka Blvd....blah! It's just ugly and dirty drive to me.
There is higher crime here than in Emporia. (Although Emporia does have it's crimes) That was my biggest fear of moving to TOpeka. So far what we have encountered in the 6 months we've been here.....I had something stolen from my car. It wasn't locked. Now it is all of the time. Then one day my mom and I and my little girl went to Target. Before we got to the doors. A man ran out of Target with a box in his hands and three people chasing after him. We had to move back a little so we wouldn't get ran over......We also had a car that needed a new engine stored where my husband works. (He works downtown Topeka.) Someone jumped the fence and tore out the dash in our car and stole the factory stereo. So far I am not very happy living in Topeka or the Area.

[drblonde]

My husband and I moved to Topeka from PA a little over a year ago. We came because we knew that living here would be an interesting challenge and so, we are happy here. I would say that Topeka and KS in general are not for people who need all the amenities of life. However, what you will find is people who are at heart good, even if somewhat misguided. The most interesting thing I discovered is that there is very little understanding or appreciation for the "collective good". The attitude in the state is a kind of extreme libertarianism where any attempt to harness collective resources is vehemently resisted, even to the point of creating bigger problems for the state. As such, services are limited, the physical surroundings are often neglected and allowed to fall into decline, and people out of the mainstream suffer disproportionately. Perhaps the hardest part for me is dealing with the pervasive anti-intellectualism. It is almost considered a crime to be well educated and often results in social ostracism and derision. However, the intellectual snobbism of Lawrence is just as hard to cope with and is no doubt a reaction to the general state attitude. Most of the crime in Topeka is non-violent, petty theft. There is a culture of thievery that flourishes here despite the outward appearance of religiosity. On some level, it is just considered OK to steal from your neighbors. In spite of this, I think that we have made a good choice to be here. We try everyday to "be the change we want to see". There is so much opportunity to help here if you have the resources and the stamina to do it.

[Farmer Bob]

"It is almost considered a crime to be well educated and often results in social ostracism and derision. However, the intellectual snobbism of Lawrence is just as hard to cope with and is no doubt a reaction to the general state attitude."

How weak-minded of them, and disappointing. One would hope that the educated brainpower of Lawrence would be capable of developing intellectual snobbishness independently of any prodding by external stimuli.

[ivonciuca]

These are definitely very accurate comments, I would follow their advice. Topeka is ugly, cold-ghetto looking and lonely. Lawrence is nice, but too small and college student driven, but you could live there and still drive to the metro on weekends for art, theater, restaurants, etc (only 30 minutes drive). I have a family and live in Lenexa and we like it a lot, of course I would rather live in warmer weather, but for now, this is a good place to raise a family. Is clean, safe and people are very friendly (compared to places like Miami and NY). Good place for families, I wouldn't come here if I was single.

[weimmom]

Having learned from experience, my advise to any working person, do your research. These are just a few of the lessons I've learned the hard way.

Kansas "Pro Business" state
Kansas employment-at-will state
Kansas Workers Compensation System weak as a result of "Pro Business"

[wicked_wisdom]

I've lived in Lawrence and I've lived in Topeka. Out of the two, I'd say I like Lawrence a lot more. There is a lot of crime in Topeka, the public schools are in poor shape, and most importantly, its hard to meet people and make friends in Topeka.

However, if you want to live in the area without living in Topeka, consider one of the smaller communities around this area. Such as Perry, Lecompton, Meriden, Berryton, Pauline, Hoyt, Grantville, et cetera.

Google Maps

Here's a google map.