Winfield or Wellington (Wichita, Salina, Derby: real estate, crime, how much)

[starlene 31]

We are considering a move to one of these 2 towns. Which one is comparable to Salina and how much is housing? My husband and I are both employed with the Highway Patrol.

[arkcitynative]

Hi-

It has been years since I have been in Wellington but I grew up in Ark City, which is just South of Winfield.

Winfield is a nice town and you have the convenience of being close to Ark City so if one town doesn't have something you want the other usually does.

Wellington is closer to Wichita. I have no idea how they compare to Salina.

Sorry, if I am not much help but Winfield also has a small college so there might be more culture there if you are interested in that.

[jmages]

Take a look at Argonia, KS....it's 19 miles west of Wellington and has great schools and FREE land if you come build a house. Take a look at ADC - Home (broken link) just check it out. Only 35 minutes from Wichita and nice quite living.

Thanks

[Predaking]

Wellington is a great town to live in. I have lived here all my life and your line of work is gonna be needed with the casino's coming soon . Also your just a 20 minute Drive to Wichita, for any fun you might want to have that we cant accommodate. The people are similar here as Salina but it is a lot smaller. As far as that goes Ark City would be the choice as its only about 4 miles from Winfield but much bigger. Hope this helps

[stepmom3]

We lived in Salina (on the south side near Jerry Ivey Park) three years ago when my husband was offered a job in Winfield. The job position required him to live in Cowley County, but I just couldn't do it. While the town is small and relatively quiet, I found the real estate prices exorbitantly elevated - to the tune of $40,000 more than homes in Salina. I didn't understand why because other than the once a year bluegrass festival, there isn't much 'to do' in Winfield. In addition, you won't have the shopping convenience that you enjoy in Salina. There is no Lowe's or Home Depot, so if you purchase one of the abundant two story Victorian homes with character, (i.e. needs a LOT of work) you'll have to pay incredibly high prices for supplies from a local business, or drive 40 minutes to Derby. At the time they were protesting the construction of a Walmart Supercenter on the highway between Winfield and Ark City and I hope they built one because the Walmart that was standing at the time was really dingy and had an odor. There aren't many restaurants to choose from and really, other than the limestone buildings located downtown, there isn't much to get excited about.

But that's me -- I felt like I was leaving the big city, which struck me as odd since everyone still knows everyone else in Salina, but if you want a small town full of self-importance, Winfield is an option.

[AnywhereElse]

We just discovered Wellington, KS when looking around the web. Currently in Fort Scott, KS. It looks like really nice and housing seems more reasonable than it is here. The photos of the downtown were nice - they want to renovate the downtown here but have a long way to go and too much competition by businesses growing south on the highway. My husband has some education and experience in the aircraft type of stuff so am anxious to do some more research and see if anyone has anymore comments about Wellington. Have lived in Salina years ago and had liked it and considered going back but found the real estate was higher than we could afford and jobs were scarce that paid much of anything. Wellington just looks inviting in the photos.

[scinatrah]

Originally Posted by Predaking

Wellington is a great town to live in. I have lived here all my life and your line of work is gonna be needed with the casino's coming soon . Also your just a 20 minute Drive to Wichita, for any fun you might want to have that we cant accommodate. The people are similar here as Salina but it is a lot smaller. As far as that goes Ark City would be the choice as its only about 4 miles from Winfield but much bigger. Hope this helps

To clear things up, Ark City is not "much bigger" than Winfield as stated.
Winfield is actually about 1,000 larger than Ark City. Ark City has more fast food and one longer "main" street which makes it appear larger until you get off Summit. Crime in Ark City is around three times that of Winfield as well.
If you want a clean and safe town, Winfield is the choice.