Info on Wichita neighborhoods (Andover, Eastborough: crime rates, buying a house, buy)

[burnt]

Originally Posted by spongebob`

The short answer is dont move to wichita, move to andover,augusta,goddard,rosehill, but not wichita. You will have a much hader time selling your home and crime is much higher. not a good idea

If you read the original post, you'd have noticed that (s)he specified that suburbs were not in consideration.

Original poster: my parents live in Riverside, and they love it. The schools in Wichita are good relative to much of the nation, although not as good as the great schools in the suburbs of Wichita. Riverside and College Hill have very stately and comfortable homes for much better prices than similar homes in Eastborough. Eastborough is a status buy, in my opinion, and unless you need your address to scream your status, you'll get much much more for your money in Riverside or College Hill. The trees are established, as are the neighborhoods. The crime isn't bad at all, either.

Edit: whoops, looks like people already beat me to the "status" label on Eastborough. Again, it's lovely, but not really any more so than the right areas of College Hill or Riverside. You migth also consider Delano, which is getting to be fairly hot.

I can't remember the name of the really, really nice old neighborhood in College Park, but it is really nice. I would recommend the area around N. Riverside Blvd in Riverside, though do not confuse this with River Blvd.

The next time you go house-hunting, if you want to stay in the area so you can scope out Riverside and College Hill, I'd suggest the Castle Inn Riverside. Known as Crumm Castle when I was a kid, it's now a very, very nice bed and breakfast, and it's right in the heart of what I suspect is exactly the area you'd love to live. That was you could just go for a walk and see lots of for-sale signs in that area. It's exactly where my wife, daughter and I stay when we're in town visiting my parents and they don't have room.

[burnt]

Follow-up comment: the area in College Hill you might like, if price isn't such a big deal, is Belmont. It's among the most established and affluent neighborhoods in the city. Sometimes a Belmont address is also a bit of a status thing, but the price isn't nearly as inflated as with Eastborough.

[vclary]

Originally Posted by Sco

Please share opinions/information about some areas of Wichita. My wife and I are considering a move to Wichita and would like to get some thoughts about some areas that we have heard are nice. If you have some other suggestions, I would like to hear about those as well. We prefer older, more established neighborhoods with large lots and do not care about schools. We will not consider any suburbs nor anything west of West St. We like to live close to work which will be downtown or NE Wichita and hate the cookie cutter subdivisions and small town vibe of places like Andover. Budget is wide open. We have been told to look at some areas, but we are hoping to get the local perspective on the types of houses and personality of certain areas and how they would be suited for a couple in their mid 30s with no children. We are looking for something as an alternative to the tract home McMansion style subdivisions with treeless lots that seem so prevalent in the area. Also, why do so many of the new houses have no fences? That is the most unusual thing that we have noticed about Wichita, how many people live in houses with no fencing or barrier between them and their neighbors. In our current area, almost all of the houses have 6 foot masonry block walls for a nice private backyard. We have been told to look at:

1. Eastborough
2. College Hill
3. Riverside

Hello,
This is my first attempt at answering questions with City-Data.com
First of all I hope that I am not to late in responding to your questions about our city.

Eastborough is a city within the city of Wichita. It has it's own police department. The residential speed limit is 20 mph. It is a very old established neighborhood. In my opinion it is an exclusive neighborhood, high in price range, older homes, a lot of the homes were customed built homes, but now they are very old homes, a lot of the homes have been remodeled. Younger families are moving in and remodeling the homes.

College Hill is another area of older homes being remodeled, homes are also in the high in price range, considered to be exclusive older homes. Price range can vary, lower end homes and the high in homes.
Riverside is also the same. People love Riverside because of the area and history, Indian Culture, no matter what the price range people love to remodel in this area.

It is just a matter of choice, but they are good areas to live in.
If I can be of further assistance let me know. I am a Realtor in the area.

[Sco]

I did not know that Eastborough was actually a different city, how do taxes and utilities compare to Wichita? It sounds like it might not be the right thing for me, I am not really interested in buying for status. What I really want is a unique house with mature landscaping and neighborhood, nearby parks and diverse neighbors. Also, from the listings I have been able to find online, it looks like the houses were built mainly in the 50s and 60s, is that what you meant by very old?

What are the rough boundaries of College Hill and Riverside? Are there some area within those two broad categories that are better or worse than others? Are there houses along the river, looking at a map on streets like N. River Blvd, W. River Blvd or Back Bay Blvd? As you can tell, I have only seen some of these areas in pictures and on a map, a trip is planned but I will have to wait a bit longer to see these areas in person.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by Sco

I did not know that Eastborough was actually a different city, how do taxes and utilities compare to Wichita? It sounds like it might not be the right thing for me, I am not really interested in buying for status. What I really want is a unique house with mature landscaping and neighborhood, nearby parks and diverse neighbors. Also, from the listings I have been able to find online, it looks like the houses were built mainly in the 50s and 60s, is that what you meant by very old?

What are the rough boundaries of College Hill and Riverside? Are there some area within those two broad categories that are better or worse than others? Are there houses along the river, looking at a map on streets like N. River Blvd, W. River Blvd or Back Bay Blvd? As you can tell, I have only seen some of these areas in pictures and on a map, a trip is planned but I will have to wait a bit longer to see these areas in person.

The boundries of College Hill are roughly Douglass, Kellogg, Grove and Oliver. The area between Hillside and Grove is also called Sunnyside after the old school that used to serve the area (long since closed).

[Sco]

Originally Posted by Iseeblackpeople

I dont know about sponge, but I can tell you when I was looking for a house in wichita, all the realtors told me what ever you do, dont buy in wichita, your home will not appreciate like other communites, and there is no place any where near as safe as places like andover and the like. The demos. show the higher population of african amer. is where the higher crime is. I was also told that there is a lot of break ins in wichita. and crime.
So you can buy where you want but it is your money to waste.
Also I was told by 3 differant realtors that resale on a home in wichita will take much longer than one in andover.
This is proven by the fact that you can get twice the house for the $ that you can in andover or one of the other nice places to live.
That childish attack on the other poster, makes me think of the sixth sen. "I see black people" You sound like an angry BM.

I am beginning to think that Wichita might not be the right place for my family. There appears to be an undercurrent of racism and ignorance that is shocking for the times. At least two posters have now claimed to be proud of the fact that segregation is still an accepted practice. I have no interest in moving my family to an area that has yet to emerge from the bad old days of the past. Are these posters truly representative of the area?

[leighland]

Originally Posted by Sco

I am beginning to think that Wichita might not be the right place for my family. There appears to be an undercurrent of racism and ignorance that is shocking for the times. At least two posters have now claimed to be proud of the fact that segregation is still an accepted practice. I have no interest in moving my family to an area that has yet to emerge from the bad old days of the past. Are these posters truly representative of the area?

I would say that Racism in Wichita is the same as in Philly but, although people are vocal about their prejudice, I see more interracial couples in Wichita than in Philly. I would also say that people are more prejudiced over American Indians in Wichita than Af.Amer. If you want a less judgmental community, I say move out West. Denver, San Diego etc are less vocal about their racism. But when they do, its over Mexicans.

[Sco]

Originally Posted by leighland

I would say that Racism in Wichita is the same as in Philly but, although people are vocal about their prejudice, I see more interracial couples in Wichita than in Philly. I would also say that people are more prejudiced over American Indians in Wichita than Af.Amer. If you want a less judgmental community, I say move out West. Denver, San Diego etc are less vocal about their racism. But when they do, its over Mexicans.

I currently live in the west and I think that is where I will stay. I have a job/business opportunity that would require a move to Wichita and was just in the beginning stages of checking out the area. I am completely blown away that areas still exist where property values decline when the neighborhood is no longer 100% white. I can hardly believe that people are actually proud of the fact that they live or have the choice to live in segregated suburbs. It does not take a genius to read between the lines when someone is using the codewords safe and crime free, they really mean as white as possible.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by Sco

I currently live in the west and I think that is where I will stay. I have a job/business opportunity that would require a move to Wichita and was just in the beginning stages of checking out the area. I am completely blown away that areas still exist where property values decline when the neighborhood is no longer 100% white. I can hardly believe that people are actually proud of the fact that they live or have the choice to live in segregated suburbs. It does not take a genius to read between the lines when someone is using the codewords safe and crime free, they really mean as white as possible.

Touché! It's really hard to believe how ignorant people are sometimes. You can add another codeword to your list: "good schools".

[leighland]

Originally Posted by Sco

I am completely blown away that areas still exist where property values decline when the neighborhood is no longer 100% white. .

I just moved from San Diego to Philly- I have had more racist comments said to me here in Philly than in 5 years in SD. It happened once in SD. Its been more than 6 comments, both against other races and religions, in 7 months of Philly. I don't want my son to be raised with that attitude either so we'll be moving back west as soon as possible.