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Old 06-20-2018, 10:47 PM
 
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Old 06-20-2018, 11:04 PM
 
6 posts, read 22,115 times
Reputation: 16
My husband and I are considering moving to Kansas, but we really don't know much about it yet. What are some safe, smaller cities or towns that aren't super expensive? I saw online that there are many counties that pay off up to 15,000 in student loans; has anyone taken advantage of that program?
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Old 06-21-2018, 06:46 AM
Status: "119 N/A" (set 21 days ago)
 
12,957 posts, read 13,668,599 times
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It really depends on what you would define as small. Kansas varies a little depending on what corner of the state you are nearest. It can take over 7 hours to drive across the state from east to west.
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Old 06-23-2018, 01:11 PM
 
Location: Overland Park, Kansas
767 posts, read 1,321,845 times
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I don't know which towns/counties qualify for the program, but for safe small towns that are livable (have a grocery store and access to more within 15-30 minutes) I would recommend Scott City, Phillipsburg, Holcomb, Cimarron, Goodland, Colby, Wamego, and Abilene. Most are in the western portion of the state, but

Scott City is a farming community around 30 minutes north of Garden City and around an hour south of I-70. The community has good schools, a pretty good housing stock, a grocery store, a Shopko, a new hospital, and they're near one of the the best and most beautiful state parks in the state.

Phillibsburg is around an hour north of Hays. The town is quiet, has a thriving rural downtown, a theater, and has managed to stabilize its small town economy over the past few years by sending city leader and business owners to conferences to improve their business knowledge.

Holcomb is a quiet suburb of Garden City with a population of around 2,000. The school buildings are on the newer side and the housing stock was mostly built post 1980. The town doesn't have a lot of other amenities outside of a Love's with a Subway and a Sonic because Garden City is only 7 miles to the west and has almost anything you might need between Menards, TJMaxx, Sam's Club, Target, Kroger, and Walmart.

Cimarron is nearly halfway between Garden City and Dodge City (closer to Dodge) and is a popular option for people who work in Finney or Ford County, but don't want to live in a larger community. The town is clean, safe, and the schools are decent.

Goodland and Colby are just larger small towns in far Western Kansas along the interstate. They both have a Walmart, a small college, and a decent number of businesses thanks to the interstate. The big drawback is that you have to drive 2+ Hours to Garden City, Hays, or even further to Denver for any major purchases.
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Old 06-25-2018, 06:32 AM
Status: "119 N/A" (set 21 days ago)
 
12,957 posts, read 13,668,599 times
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Small towns in this part of the country can be a little like islands. You might think about which large city you would like to be able to drive to on occasion or for a weekend get away. I know people out west in Kansas go to Denver for the weekend. Or if you are in some place like Smith Center Omaha would be the big city. Anywhere three hours of Denver-Wichita-Kansas City-Omaha would be equal to me and far enough from the riff raff and commuters of a large city.
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Old 06-25-2018, 07:54 AM
 
Location: Riley Co
374 posts, read 562,553 times
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I've been told by a former KSU extension economist that KS towns > = 20K have most of the services necessary to greatly reduce the need to travel to a larger city. (That seems like an obvious statement re: W KS.)

I couldn't recommend Wamego (worked there one year), as the property values have risen to match Manhattan's. The "rush hour" commute has certainly become that.

I also don't encourage anyone to live close to NBAF, see: National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility aka NBAF
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Old 07-12-2018, 10:49 PM
 
3 posts, read 4,684 times
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Make sure there is a grocery store in town. I live in a small rural Kansas town and when the grocery store closed, suddenly you have to drive a lot more just for basic supplies. There was a convenience store-Gas station there, but the prices are really jacked up since they are the only game in town. It is pretty normal to drive 30-60 minutes to a mid to large size town (where there is a Walmart, for instance).

In western Kansas you might want to be aware of where the feed lots are. There is a very different school culture in farm communities, where people will live in one spot their whole lives, often generations of families near by vs the feed lots that attract a lot of migrant workers. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but they can be in neighboring schools/communities and be vastly different.
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Old 07-13-2018, 05:48 AM
 
Location: In the house we finally own!
922 posts, read 791,010 times
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We moved to Southeast Kansas 3 years ago. There several small towns in our area: Iola, Humbolt, Chanute, Parsons, Pittsburg, etc. All of them have grocery stores and several have Walmarts. It is a pretty area that is greener than Western Kansas, and there is access to good healthcare.
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Old 07-18-2018, 04:40 PM
 
1,831 posts, read 3,197,967 times
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It used to be many small towns would have a Dairy Queen and a Pizza Hut and maybe one bar. Now, it seems there is possibly a Dollar Store (they do have some groceries) and sometimes a Subway. A Dollar Store can really help a small town, but if the town has a grocery store, already, it may put it out of business.
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Old 08-05-2018, 04:54 PM
 
Location: KS
145 posts, read 609,850 times
Reputation: 96
Default Colwich is safe, quiet and 10 minutes from the city

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jalise123 View Post
My husband and I are considering moving to Kansas, but we really don't know much about it yet. What are some safe, smaller cities or towns that aren't super expensive? I saw online that there are many counties that pay off up to 15,000 in student loans; has anyone taken advantage of that program?
I would recommend moving to Colwich, KS. It is 10 minutes to all the shopping and restaurants on west side of Wichita.

6 minutes to the hospital and the YMCA.

There is a biofuel plant ICM that is hiring here. https://workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/...=MP&lang=en_US

Several homes for sale. Like this one... https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...0_M88858-26301

Colwich is quiet town. Has a bar/restaurant. Food is great. Doesn't look like much from the outside but it is packed Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Post office, Liquor store. Grocery store(won't close anytime soon. Not much else but you have all you need in Wichita. A major grocery store is Dillions on Maize and 21st about 15 minutes into town.

15 minutes to Cheney Lake.

I live here and work remotely for a company back East. Have all I need. Great neighbors!

I hear that the loan pay off is worth it.
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