Relocating to Lyon/Coffey area (Wichita, Kansas City: travel, rental, job)

[morilla]

Hello. I have a job offer in Lyon County and am looking to move there or to a nearby town like Burlington-which was suggested by my new employer. Coming from a more populated area in Michigan and having never been to Kansas, I'm looking for input about suitable towns to live in-possibly in Coffey or Osage. I know they're smaller towns with different amenities. I have considered that it might be nice to live in Osage County in order to be closer to Topeka, Lawrence and KC. But I have no sources for information other than demographics and yellow pages entries I've checked online. I am a single 40 year-old woman who needs to meet new friends (though I also love me some solitude and quiet). I have bigger city sensibilities-love live music and movies and art and such-but am also putting my work first and am hoping to embrace a new community and life. If anyone has any words of wisdom, I would surely appreciate it.

[2005hawk]

Morilla,

Will you be working in Emporia? If so, you should know that, for Kansas standards, Emporia is not that small of a town. It is about 26,000 people and is about 1.5 hours from Wichita or Kansas City and about 1 hour from Topeka. Burlington is a quintessential small Kansas town that has fared relatively well economically and actually pretty nice. It has a population of about 3,000 I believe. Not that it makes a difference, but there is a nuclear power plant near Burlington. There are very few other places to live (except out in the country) in either Lyon or Coffey Counties other than the cities of Burlington or Emporia. Some of the communities in Osage County would be a relatively short commute to Emporia and they would alout so be quite close to both Topeka and Lawrence. I've only driven through these towns so I do not have much information. I believe that all the towns in Osage County are about 2,000 or less people. If you want to be in a place where you could easily go out to dinner at a nice restaurant, or out to see live music on a weeknight, I would suggest you try Osage County because you could easily drive to and from Topeka or Lawrence on a weeknight. If you're just interested in the live music and art/culture on weekends or on special occasions, consider Burlington or Emporia. Good luck with the move and welcome to Kansas.

[morilla]

I appreciate your reply. I will definitely look into the outlying areas when I travel for the in-person interview. Will also check out some rental listings on the net. Thanks for taking the time to give me a clearer picture of the area.