Junction City or Manhattan?? (Ogden, Riley: low income, for sale, crimes)

[Beemerbob]

It depends on who you are, where you came from, your educational level, and what you want for your 9th grader.
I would choose Manhattan, hands down. JC is trash, and it attracts more trash in a self-propagating cycle. Manhattan is middle class, even upper class, and it spills over into everything in the society there. Schools, speech of the people, even the postal service is better and more reliable. I just left the area after over 2 years there, and could not believe the difference between the two towns.
Truthfully, I'm glad to be out of Kansas. Never again. The whole state is like the fifties elsewhere. The people are so backward they even voted down a wind farm for clean energy, saying it would ruin the scenery!! What scenery?? I drive across KS at night, cause there's nothing to see anyway!! It is definitely "fly-over" country. Backward.

[TwoWheelRider]

Originally Posted by RLFuller

I agree that I would not use a real estate site to compare crime statistics. But you did. You threw the link up like it is somewhere you advocate.

Check with the local law enforcement. And read both cities papers. After doing that for a period of over a year I stand by what I said.

Murders happen in Manhattan. Rapes happen in Manhattan. Junction City gets damage to property violations.

Manhattan has a static population would be more accurate. When a unit deploys (and typically when a first time deployment wife of a lower enlisted Soldier chooses to go home for the year) Junction City naturally feels a larger portion of that burden.

Two Wheel Rider; it sounds like you are using a lot of personal experience from over 30 years ago to self-reinforce this belief you have about both towns.

When was the last time you visited either city?

One of the links may have been from a real estate site however I do not advocate them. I included it because I thought the remark about truth in lending was a real estate reference to your crime stats. I should have been more explicit in my explantation.

Actually, the answer to part of your question is in one of the two posts I made. I indicated I was there around a year ago. I might add that I have a relative still living in Manhattan. Even though I have not been there for about a year, I do hear about what goes on there.

I mentioned in one of my previous posts there are many reasons why Manhattan is the better place to live. Crime is only part of the equation.

Obviously we disagree on the crime factor however one thing I noticed in your post was the statement "For their size they get as much crime as a city larger than their actual size". That statement shows that you acknowledge Manhattan as a much larger town in population than Junction City yet you also made a side by side comparison between the two towns as if they were equal when you said "...read both cities papers. After doing that for a period of over a year..."

To put things into perspective the population of Manhattan is about triple that of Junction City. I did some checking with the KBI and Riley County (which includes Manahttan) violent crime offenses rate per 1000 was 4.3. Junction City PD reported 9.9 and Geary County 7.1

The reason Manhattan does not show specific value is because Manhattan technically does not have a Police Department. Riley County serves as the their law enforcement agency. Junction City has there own PD.

[RLFuller]

You know what I really think the problem people have with Junction City is:
(Source: Junction City, Kansas (KS) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders and Manhattan, Kansas (KS) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders)[/left]
Races in Junction City:

• White Non-Hispanic (55.8%)
• Black (26.7%)
• Hispanic (8.3%)
• Two or more races (5.9%)
• Other race (4.0%)
• American Indian (2.1%)
• Korean (1.8%)
• Filipino (0.8%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races)

Races in Manhattan:

• White Non-Hispanic (85.4%)
• Black (4.9%)
• Hispanic (3.5%)
• Two or more races (2.1%)
• Chinese (1.4%)
• Other race (1.3%)
• American Indian (1.0%)
• Asian Indian (0.9%)
• Korean (0.7%)

In almost all cases Junction City's diversity is counted against the city. I'm a white male, over 40. Maybe I'm not as elitest as most; but the military has taught me the true value of living in a diverse community.

Using the above sites, the median income of both towns is within $1,000 of each other. So it can't be economic. Both towns have the same number of registered sex offenders (?!) <not sure if that is double counting or what>.

Oh, by the way; I find it very strange that riley county chooses NOT to report their data by city. Every other cuonty does. Even if the tows are significantly smaller than a town the size of Manhattan.

Crime stats can be found by scrolling through. Kansas Bureau of Investigation

[irocworld]

Originally Posted by daznconfzd

We will be moving to KS in Sept. My hubby is in the army & we have one child in the 9th grade. I would like some feedback as to which town is better....Junction City or Manhattan

Thanks

Did you make a decision on which town to move to?

[city_data_poster]

I'd pick Manhattan over Junction City.....without hesitation! LOL!

[dredio05]

Originally Posted by Beemerbob

It depends on who you are, where you came from, your educational level, and what you want for your 9th grader.
I would choose Manhattan, hands down. JC is trash, and it attracts more trash in a self-propagating cycle. Manhattan is middle class, even upper class, and it spills over into everything in the society there. Schools, speech of the people, even the postal service is better and more reliable. I just left the area after over 2 years there, and could not believe the difference between the two towns.
Truthfully, I'm glad to be out of Kansas. Never again. The whole state is like the fifties elsewhere. The people are so backward they even voted down a wind farm for clean energy, saying it would ruin the scenery!! What scenery?? I drive across KS at night, cause there's nothing to see anyway!! It is definitely "fly-over" country. Backward.

Like any cities there are good areas and bad areas. Manhattan has a larger population so the crimes area higher. The college has a rape and sexual assault problem and yesterday, there was a cocaine bust in Manhattan, about 46 pounds. It's mostly military and families in Junction City, college students in Manhattan. It ost more to live because of the students, so I'd recommend J.C. With the new Smoky Hill Market place, and all the other developments J.C. is poised for more growth then Manhattan over the next 10 years.

[madm0nk]

Ok I feel I have to put my two cents in since I have a pretty good perception on the difference between both "cities". I am originally from Cocoa Beach, FL and I was stationed at Ft. Riley for over 5 years before I got the hell out of the Army and decided to finish my degree at KSU. I decided to stay here because I knew if I went back home to FL I probably wouldn't get anything done. So decided to stay here until I finish school. To be honest there really isn't anything to do in Manhattan except get drunk, take college courses, and play some sports if that's your thing (which it isn't for me). Naturally the crime rate and cost of living is considerably lower here than it is back home, which was another reason I decided to stay here for the time being. I have also spent quite a bit of time in JC, which was during my Army days. There are some run down areas in JC that aren't too appealing (but the housing is cheap!), but there are also some nice middle, middle-upper class areas as well. As far as the crime rate goes it's pretty mild in both areas, although there seems to be a little more robberies in the poorer areas of JC. Manhattan is a little bigger and overall nicer (as far as houses, and overall living conditions go). As far as the quality of the grammar schools go I couldn't tell you, and I would research both before you decide. But be warned, Manhattan is a very conservative and religous town. The people here do not like change, they do not like soldiers (except some of the girls who like the physically fit with a steady paycheck) and they definately do not like the liberal minded. Most people in Manhattan look the same, dress the same, and act the same. It is a very, very homogeneous/conformist environment. I am a very liberal minded person, and to be honest with you I would have gone somewhere else if I had known it would be like this. But hey, live and let live. They have every right to live that way if they choose, but it's not for me, and I have heard similar statements from like minded people in and out of the Army.

[Ranger12]

Junction City or Manhattan? Hmmmmm, that's like asking: Corvette or Corvair?

[city_data_poster]

I think Manhattan, Kansas is a nice city. Granted, it's nothing to get too excited about, but it's not bad.

It's just too bad that it's (literally) out in the middle of nowhere! To me, Manhattan kinda feels isolated. Junction City is nearby, sure...but so what? JC doesn't have anything going for it that Manhattan doesn't already have. Topeka is, what?, about 70 miles away? And Lawrence is even further away!

[munygirl]

I live in Junction City (came here via Uncle Sam and decided to stay). We live up near the hospital. For some of these people that haven't been back in awhile Junction has changed. I do have to say crime is much lower and less violent than Manhattan. The housing is less expensive (although it is catching up). There is more to do in Manhattan as far as more selection of restaurants the mall and that is about it. Junction has better family oriented things in my opinion. We put on the best 4th of July festivities pretty much in the state and it is free. I work in Manhattan at KSU and go to school here, so I see both cities every day. When I started working here almost 9yrs ago you rarely heard sirens, now I hear them out my office window almost daily. I don't have that at home in Junction. Traffic is worse in Manhattan in my opinion also. Junction has more growth over the next 5 to 10 yrs than Manhattan. Junction schools are rated very highly. The program at the high school is very innovative and many schools in the area are changing theirs to match ours. The student/teacher ratio pretty much stays around 20-25 students per teacher. For students with Autism and other disorders, the military sends you to Ft Riley as the Junction City schools have one of the best programs in the US to educate these children. The list goes on. We chose to stay in Junction because the cost of living is lower, we can drive 20 minutes if we need to go to a mall or a different restaurant. Otherwise, the amenities are pretty much the same in my opinion. You have gotten a lot of advice. Good Luck in making your decision.