Moving from California to Garden City Area

[ArizonaBear]

Let me interject something here:

Americans of 'Hispanic' heritage in at least the Heartland; I would suspect they are mostly American first.

As for the illegal variety of 'Hispanic'------they are a different animal. I am basing my observations on that group here in Arizona

[Mom_2_specialneeds]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Let me interject something here:

Americans of 'Hispanic' heritage in at least the Heartland; I would suspect they are mostly American first.

As for the illegal variety of 'Hispanic'------they are a different animal. I am basing my observations on that group here in Arizona

ArizonaBear, being a former resident of Kansas now living in Phoenix, most of the hispanic population IN Southwest Kansas is of the Illegal Variety. They are mostly there illegally from Guatemala and pushed the "Americans of Hispanic heritage" out.

[navman]

I don't know how the subject shifted to Hispanics but when I lived in Dodge City (11 yrs 1977 - 1988) I worked with a lot of Hispanic people and had no problems with them. I do know that Hispanic-American friends of mine didn't like the illegals and gave them more of a hard time than anyone else I knew. I grew up in Kinsley (35 miles west of Dodge) and had several Mexican friends so that was never a big deal to me. I'm military now and have only visited Dodge City and surrounding cities I lived in now and again but from family that still lives there I'm told that the gang problems are growing - BUT they stay in their own "territories" and if you stay in your neighborhoods or are with friends and attend activities out and about you're mostly left alone. In the almost 20 years I've served in the military, I've been with literally hundreds of diverse ethnic groups and have discovered that we're all essentially the same with similar likes and dislikes but with each group having their own distinct traditions and beliefs. Anyway, whatever the decision is to move to Garden City or any of the surrounding towns (Sublette, Santana, Holcomb, Cimarron, etc) just remember to be yourself, watch out for your children and always look out for anything that could be wrong. It's just common sense. Oh, and be sure to have a basement because, yeah, I saw more than my share of tornadoes - used to be a hunter of those crazy things with my Dad. Statistically you're more liable to get hit by lightning or have a car accident before you get hit by a tornado.

[pjweichert]

We were just traveling through Kansas had had 2 flat tires on our travel trailer. Isaac Conners from Sublette stopped to help. Even though we had called roadside assistence, he insisted on helping and took us into Sublette to buy new tires and changed them for us. If that's an example of all the people in Sublette, I think it must be a pretty great place to live.

[JRNetwork]

In Garden City, the majority of Hispanics are legal. I'd say no more than a quarter are illegal. Illegals, for the most part, are afraid of getting caught and deported so they tend to stay out of trouble that might involve the police.

There is a culture clash going on in Dodge City but that is not the case in Garden City. You will only have trouble with gangs if you go looking for it - which living in Southwind, will be a very difficult thing for you do accomplish - lest you be involved in drug dealing. Last I heard of a drive-by shooting was a few years ago. There is a murder every few years or so - I think there was a bank robbery about 10 years ago. That's as far as it goes for crime.

Garden City is growing. I moved here in 2000. Since then, we've gotten a WALMART, a HOME DEPOT, a SEARS, a SAM'S CLUB, IHOP, A&W, APPLEBEE'S, STARBUCK'S, SUPER TARGET. Shopping is the best in the area, the nearest competition is Dodge City's Hobby Lobby.

One draw back: At about 40,000 pop. - you'll eventually run out of things to do. Wichita, KS - the nearest city - is a 4 hr drive to the east. Denver, CO is about 5 hrs NW. Kansas City, KS is about 6.5hrs NE. Awesome for road trips, but impractical with gas prices on their upward incline.

[athfo]

Originally Posted by JRNetwork

At about 40,000 pop.

Actually, the population is a little over 26,000.

See here and here.

[bethmarywhite]

"There is a murder every few years or so - I think there was a bank robbery about 10 years ago. That's as far as it goes for crime. "

The famous murder case in the 1950's which was written about by Truman Capote and later turned into a movie "In Cold Blood" and later in that movie starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Truman?) took place in the Garden City Area.