Possibly relocating to Topeka (Lawrence: visiting, advice)

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by Rivertowntalk

I would look for an apartment on the west side of Topeka and try that for a year. During the work week, I can't think of any reason to go into to Lawrence. By the time you work all day and make the drive both directions (that is a bout 1.5 hours), that doesn't leave you much extra time to do much of anything anyway. During the weekend, could then buzz over and spend the day in Lawrence, or into Kansas City. For that matter, you may want to drive over to Manhattan. Certain times of the year, the commute is in the dark and the roads may be bad in the winter. The other safety hazzard is deer on the highways.

I second this. The only thing is the commute (one way) can be as little as 20 minutes, up to 40 minutes, depending on where you work and live. We can have somewhat long winters, and icy roads should be a concern if commuting to Topeka. Lawrence is great for occasional getaways, but nothing spectacular about living there. Regardless, I'd stick with a 6 month lease, that way you don't have to stay somewhere you don't like.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Mattks

I second this. The only thing is the commute (one way) can be as little as 20 minutes, up to 40 minutes, depending on where you work and live. We can have somewhat long winters, and icy roads should be a concern if commuting to Topeka. Lawrence is great for occasional getaways, but nothing spectacular about living there. Regardless, I'd stick with a 6 month lease, that way you don't have to stay somewhere you don't like.

Those are good points regarding the commute, however, the OP is coming from a city of Columbus that is quite a bit larger than Topeka. Living in Lawrence splits the difference between Topeka and the KC metro area in case the OP wants the easier access to larger city amenities more often.

[Tall Tree]

There are plenty of good neighborhoods near the VA. I lived a couple of miles north of there, in the Gage Park area for several years and liked it just fine. Convenient to downtown and about as close to the mall as I wanted to be. Lawrence is a lot more fun, and if I had to move back to Kansas I'd be looking at living and working there. I did work there for a few years, commuting from the south end of Topeka. That got old pretty fast but the rent was cheap and the house was good and the neighbors were great. The climate would probably seem familiar to someone from Columbus. I don't miss that part.

[empires228]

I would recommend living in Lawrence. A lot of the state workers, Washburn employees, doctors, etc. live in Lawrence because it's just an overall nicer town.

[Spudcommando]

What's the commute like during winter?

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Spudcommando

What's the commute like during winter?

Add on some additional time, but highways like I-70 are cleared first, and that handles commuter traffic. Winter snow is very negligible most of the time in Kansas, even compared to central areas of Ohio, so I would not worry too much about it. I would worry more about drivers as they tend to freak out over a few inches of snow, however.

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Add on some additional time, but highways like I-70 are cleared first, and that handles commuter traffic. Winter snow is very negligible most of the time in Kansas, even compared to central areas of Ohio, so I would not worry too much about it. I would worry more about drivers as they tend to freak out over a few inches of snow, however.

I agree, the area generally doesn't receive a lot of snow. We do occasionally get ice storms, it might rain one day, then at night turn to ice, and of course that ice doesn't disappear, so the next day the roads can be icy. I'm trying to think how many times we had icy roads last winter... probably a dozen times I would guess. My aunt has commuted from Lawrence to Topeka for 15 years, but she loves Lawrence, a lot because of KU and basketball. It rained yesterday and if it had gotten 5-10 degrees colder last night the roads would likely be icy today. Friday it is supposed to rain again and the temperature is supposed to drop to 27 that night, so another good chance for icy roads.

[Okey Dokie]

Many years ago I lived in Lawrence and worked in Topeka. I took Highway 40 to work unless the weather was bad and then I took the turnpike. Only had to do that a few times a year. If you decide on Lawrence, look towards the west side to ease the commute, although with the new K-10 bypass it's probably not as much of an issue as it once was.

[thriftylefty]

There are some new Lofts under construction in the Down Town area near the Capitol.
Major new project announced for Downtown Topeka

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

There are some new Lofts under construction in the Down Town area near the Capitol.
Major new project announced for Downtown Topeka

That's cool. They built some lofts a few years ago and they sold them all relatively quickly. So there is some demand for housing downtown. They are also building a new hotel downtown called the Cyrus Hotel, looks neat. There are also some other new restaurants and businesses downtown, plus the city just spend a few million renovating the streets and sidewalks. Considering the state is demolishing a state office building and moved most of those jobs to Manhattan, downtown is doing surprisingly well. It's better now then in any recent memory. But for a Capitol, and for a city it's size the downtown is still pretty bad.