Atchison (Kansas City, Topeka, Lawrence: homes, employment, neighborhoods)

[mmthomas]

Could someone describe atchison; good and bad? Is the economy based on manufacturing? Do you need to drive places to get products and services? Can kids play safely outdoors?

[mjb62676]

Originally Posted by mmthomas

Could someone describe atchison; good and bad? Is the economy based on manufacturing? Do you need to drive places to get products and services? Can kids play safely outdoors?

My wife grew up there...it has some very nice parts, and some not so nice parts.

Seems like a nice little 10K or so sized town. Heavily reliant on industry from what I know.

All the necessities of life are available there.

[shonner]

Atchison is an interesting town. It is known as the most haunted town in Kansas and even has "ghost tours" every autumn which take visitors by some of the town's marvelous historic homes which are supposedly haunted. It was once a railroad town, (the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe rail lines) and still has that feel. The downtown area has a mall of quaint, locally owned shops, most of which close on Sunday.

Atchison also has a scenic Catholic College, Benedictine, which sits above the river. It, too, has a history of paranormal activity.

My husband and I have been there several times over the past few years. We love Victorian homes and were contemplating moving there, but we just don't care for the town. Much of it seems depressed. A couple good friends of ours
live there and are okay with the town, but not really enthusiastic.

It's about 25-30 minutes from Leavenworth, 45 minutes from Lawrence, and maybe an hour from KC. Saint Jospeh, MO is about 30 minutes away.

You can find out a lot from doing a web search. For fun, you might want to do a search of "haunted Atchison". I'm not too sure about the safety of the town overall, but there is an area of town that I would definitely not feel too secure in. Maybe that's just me.

[silverhaired51]

I live just 9 miles away from Atchison. In a little town called Lancaster, I work at the foundry in Atchison.

Atchison has a super size Wal-Mart store, Country Mart Food Store. Quick Stops. Quick Food places. If you want to do shopping for other things you would are close to St. Joe, Kansas City, Topeka.

As for the kids being safe in their yards, it depends on the neighborhood. As someone said he has good places and bad places. It has a number of things that they put on during the year. Haunted Tour is one, then you the OctoberFest, Eahart Days during July, 4th of July fireworks.

Employment wise, you have Midwest Grain, Atchison Steel and Casting, Northwest Pipe, Golden Star. grain elevators.

All in all it is not a bad town, I just like a small town to live in and still close to town to do shopping.

[Punkeesmalls]

I have lived in Atchison all my life still do, really it is a nice place to live its quiet but yet close to cities for big shopping adventures. People are saying there are bad neighborhoods and the good but really Atchison is not as separated as it was a few years ago. The city is doing alot of improvements and having people really fix up their homes. It is nice not to have to look at the rundowns anymore, However it is a historic town we have kept alot of our historic buildings and the historic feel of things. The "haunted town" thing is really a fun thing for people to get in to around here. Usually alot to do in summer, the most annoying part is it gets packed here in July now because of Amelia Earhart festival but other than that. Its a pretty good place. There are the necesscities as someone has mentioned alot of places to eat. There are 3 large factories around here, you get used to them! As far as children being safe.... it is about as safe as it gets anymore. People take their children to the pools and parks and drop them off we don't ever really have any problems with people though. But if there is anything else I can answer let me know!

[dazui]

I'm new here.Though I can't understand you clearly.But I'm very glad to see what you said!

[dazui]

Originally Posted by dazui

I'm new here.Though I can't understand you clearly.But I'm very glad to see what you said!

I hope you can have a good time here!

[wsushocker]

i lived about 15 minutes from atchison in a town called effingham..

[CJay]

Atchison is alright... I grew up there, went to college there, and moved away some years ago. Back when I lived there, the city's economy seemed to be doing fairly well, and was in transition from an agribusiness/manufacturing-base to one based somewhat more upon tourism and services. Culturally, the town has more to offer than most Kansas town its size.
One caveat, however, and this from experience: if you are black or Hispanic, do not expect to find a white-collar job in Atchison County. People aren't bigoted, exactly -- nobody hates anyone -- but if you are male and non-white, it is very difficult to obtain white collar employment in Atchison County, except for in the fields of medicine, social services or education.

[Yokomo]

Not a BAD town but it stinks. Most of the town is blue collar and has a rough or trashy feel to it. Maybe that's just me and my wife though.