Is Manhattan Kansas a safe place to live? (Junction City, Riley: crime, house)

[snowlandcook]

Can anyone tell me if Manhattan Kansas is a safe community? I know "safe" is a relative term, so maybe I should give a few specific examples.

1. Would you feel safe shopping in the evening (8PM, during winter, when it's dark outside, for instance) and walking alone to your car (or walking home, if you traveled by foot), or would you be afraid of getting beaten, mugged, stabbed, or raped?

2. Do you feel safe going on vacation for a week, and leaving your house unattended (but with timed lights that make it look like someone is home)?

3. Is it safe to walk on the campus of Kansas State University after dark--say, from the library or an event to a parked car?

I am thinking about applying for a job in Manhattan, but I want to know what it's like first. My career has taken me to various towns throughout the country, and I do not want to move again if I am going to end up in a crime-ridden pit. The job sounds great, but I know I won't enjoy it if I have to fear for my life or look over my shoulder every time I go someplace.

Thanks.

[Rivertowntalk]

I don't live there, but Manhattan is a great place to live and it is very safe. It is very safe in the evenings and would not worry about any crime. No problem with leaving for vacation for a week. If there is any crime on campus, everyone knows about it and there will be warnings.

Apply for the job. If you get it, you will love living in Manhattan-definitely not crime ridden and it is a great place to live. Riley County has a consolidated police dept and it is located in Manhattan. They cover the entire county, so there tends to be plenty of police--too many at times.

The only warnings about Kansas are that the winters can be brutal and there are tornadoes. Tornadoes are very random though and there are warnings. The property taxes are fairly high.

[luzianne]

Manhattan is very safe. None of the things you mention would be a concern at all. And don't worry about tornadoes. I have lived in Kansas/Missouri my whole life and have never actually seen one.

[AnywhereElse]

I lived in the JC area for 8 years and in Manhattan for 1. Manhattan has really grown. You can get some info from the city-data webpage including weather info: http://www.city-data.com/city/Manhattan-Kansas.html but they did not list crime stats which you can find here: http://www.accesskansas.org/kbi/stat...dex%202011.pdf (Riley Co. - Manhattan) and this website on crime might help: Manhattan Crime Map - Showing Crime in Kansas State University, KS - Crime Statistics - Crime Alerts - Crime Stops Here Manhattan has much less crime than Junction City which I found strangely eery the last time we visited. I'm guessing you know that Manhattan is next door to Fort Riley so you'll see a lot of military in the area. Personally, I like living around the military but some people just don't. Good luck with your decision.

[kansas sky]

Can anyone tell me if Manhattan Kansas is a safe community? I know "safe" is a relative term, so maybe I should give a few specific examples.

1. Would you feel safe shopping in the evening (8PM, during winter, when it's dark outside, for instance) and walking alone to your car (or walking home, if you traveled by foot), or would you be afraid of getting beaten, mugged, stabbed, or raped? Most places in Manhattan, yes. I would avoid Aggieville at night, just because there is always some drunk idiot who wants to start a fight and several have ended in serious injury or death lately. Mostly in Manhattan in order to find trouble you have to go looking for it.

2. Do you feel safe going on vacation for a week, and leaving your house unattended (but with timed lights that make it look like someone is home)? Yes.

3. Is it safe to walk on the campus of Kansas State University after dark--say, from the library or an event to a parked car? After dark, mostly yes. Late at night I'd take advantage of the program they have that sends someone to walk with you. It's not very well publicized but there is a rapist who likes to stalk women walking alone late at night on campus.

[snowlandcook]

Thank you ALL so much for responding. Manhattan sounds great! I'm not worried about "harsh winters"; I was born and raised in Michigan, and I've lived in Minnesota, Iowa, and Fargo, North Dakota. I think North Dakota takes the prize for harshest winters!

[snowlandcook]

Hey AnywhereElse: Very useful links. Thank you.

[privatecitizen157]

Originally Posted by snowlandcook

Can anyone tell me if Manhattan Kansas is a safe community? I know "safe" is a relative term, so maybe I should give a few specific examples.

1. Would you feel safe shopping in the evening (8PM, during winter, when it's dark outside, for instance) and walking alone to your car (or walking home, if you traveled by foot), or would you be afraid of getting beaten, mugged, stabbed, or raped?

2. Do you feel safe going on vacation for a week, and leaving your house unattended (but with timed lights that make it look like someone is home)?

3. Is it safe to walk on the campus of Kansas State University after dark--say, from the library or an event to a parked car?

I am thinking about applying for a job in Manhattan, but I want to know what it's like first. My career has taken me to various towns throughout the country, and I do not want to move again if I am going to end up in a crime-ridden pit. The job sounds great, but I know I won't enjoy it if I have to fear for my life or look over my shoulder every time I go someplace.

Thanks.

1 - Ha, yes not afraid of beaten / mugged / stabbed / raped. Aggieville can get rowdy but all and all it's very safe. That said, don't be dumb--park under street lights, etc. if you are concerned. But do steer clear of Junction City aka "Junk Town"...

2 - Yes. In fact, those precautions are fine but probably more than most folks do.

3 - Yes. Bear in mind, that Manhattan Christian College is across the street from K-State. Further, lots of salt-of-the-earth people from neighboring towns come to the "big city" of Manhattan for school. Lots of "Christian-y" and / or home school folks from Johnson County go there as an alternative to KU. All that said, fights and assaults do happen but it certainly isn't the norm; if anything, it's mostly people drinking to excess for the first time in their lives and dancing (sometimes loudly...) on the lawn after a football game.

[SmalltownKSgirl]

Manhattan is really nice. Lots of small town kids go there to attend K-State. My own daughter plans to go there & I'm looking forward to visiting here there while she is a student. It has some fun restaurants, a little bit of shopping, generally very attractive, clean town. I didn't go to college there, but I spent time in Aggieville when I was a college age with friends were did attend and never felt unsafe. One of our friends owned a bar down there for a while. Never had any trouble that I know of. If anything the looks cleaner and more upscale now than it ever did then.

I go back occasionally for a girls day out with a friend and we always have a great day. We leave my car at a handy parking lot midway between the mall and Aggieville and it's always been just fine.

The down sides are probably expensive housing - common problem in a college town of that size - and not a lot of job opportunities, especially corporate types.