Ex "City Boy" yearns to become a "Country Boy" (Wichita: houses, neighborhood)

[Chana]

Frederick, first let me wish you well in your endeavors. I know it can be hard making decisions as to the best place to move.

I was born and raised in a small town near Kansas City, KS. When I hit 18 I moved to California. After a few years, I grew very weary of the constant hustle and bustle of city life. I wanted all the things the big city offered without any of the BS of the people. So off I moved to Phoenix, AZ. Seemed a good choice as it was large enough to offer all the amenities yet the folks there were friendly as they were in Kansas. After many years there it too started to change. As more and more folks from California moved in, the cities “attitude” started to change.

Last year, after being gone for 26 years, I grew “homesick” and my sister and I decided to move back to our hometown. Neither of our husbands had ever lived in a small town but both were willing to move. My husband now says he wishes we had moved here years ago! He has found the people extremely friendly (heck even the police wave at you!), the weather agreeable, prices low, lots of wide open spaces and he loves waking up to seeing the occasional Deer in a neighbor’s yard!

The one thing I’d strongly suggest to you is to make sure you are not too far from a decent size city. You won’t find any large cities here as the entire state of Kansas has less people than the city of Phoenix or LA. Kansas City’s Metro area has a little over 500,000 people. Most any type of store or restaurant you may want, you can find in KC. Another good point to make about a decent size city is there is less a chance of any being prejudice. The town I’m in for example is 32 miles from KC has approximately 25% African-American and 72% Caucasian. I have seen no prejudices here. The town is about 36,000 people and sits right on the Missouri River. Houses go from anywhere from $25,000 for a fixer-upper to $300,000 for what in CA would be a mansion!

If I can assist you in any information about Kansas or Missouri, please feel free to send me a private message. I am willing to give you my phone number or call you, whichever you prefer. I do wish you much luck and happiness. The Midwest is a great place to think about retiring in.

[TornadoAlley]

Cherryvale has great crime rates, but no real job growth.
removed
Anyother areas =) ?

[BriarFox]

Kansas taxes are *way* higher than Missouri's are (however,we have better
Basketball) You can live in the suburbs and still be close to Kansas City
and all the perks that come with a large city.

Lorie Foltz

[davec]

I'm looking at Winfield Kansas. It was voted one of the top 60 small towns in the country to live in. It's only about 30 minutes from the south side of Wichita so you are only a short drive away from the big city if you need it!

[okielen]

I don't know how small you are talking. But I would suggest you look into Ottawa Kansas. It is around 10,000 people. The downtown area is still as it was in the 1950's. There is a lot of rual houses in the area. It close major cities such as Topeka, Kansas City, and Lawrence. The Public Library and County Court House are original buildings from the 1800's. My great great grandmother all the way down to my mother had all lived there. I lived there for a while, but currently live on Oklahoma City. I still have family in Ottawa including a brother. I also have family that lives in Lawrence.

Just some ifo for you.
You can google search "The Ottawa Herald" a local newspaper for Ottawa KS.

[sameoldkris]

You should find that housing in KS is alot cheaper than CA. From what I've seen on TV, you might pay $300,000 for a 2 BDRM, 1 Bath there. Here, $300,000 would buy you a house and a couple of acres. I would agree that you might find the Wichita area attractive. There are several small communities around & activities in the city. There are even a few very small towns in KS that are giving away from lots in town if you move there and build a house to their specifications.
Good Luck!!

[ladydeann]

I am in Hesston, KS. It has a about 3500 people. A small Dr. office, dentist, eye doctor. Small grocery store that closes at 8pm, 2 gas stations. Subway, Pizza hut, Sonic, a small bar & grill.
It is 1 hour south of Salina, KS.
Hesston is 7 miles north of Newton, which is not a huge town but it does have a Walmart, Applebees, Montana Mikes and a couple of other nicer restaurants and of course all the fast food places. an 8 plex movie theatre and a small strip mall that currently is pretty lousy but some new owners took over and are revamping it.
Wichita is about 35 miles North.
Hutchinson, KS is about 35 miles to the West.

There are many small towns around here. I can only tell about Hesston and Newton. I prefer Hesston over Newton, because Newton is bigger than I prefer. I cannot stand going to Wichita because there are too many people. I know that there is acreage for sale as I have seen it advertised in the paper. We bought a house in the middle of Hesston 4 bedrooms, 2 baths for $80,000.
It is an older house (1890), but about the lowest price we found for as large as we needed. The houses run in Hesston from about $70,000 to around $400,000. near the golf course.
There was a deal to get people into Hesston last year that the city would give you $1000. if you bought a house...but I don't know all the details or if they are still doing it.

We have cute little things like parades for homecoming and movies on the 'hill', block parties (usually at the park). If you have kids/grand kids we have a nice swimming pool and a little water sprinkler park.
Hesston does not have any bars and only sells alcohol at the 2 gas stations. There is a nice little bar in Newton with a restaurant and ample liquor stores there.

I hope you find what you are looking for. I moved from Northern NM and I miss the mountains, but the schools are much better than what I went to.

Kansas is expensive in the sense that we pay property tax on everything. Hubby has a 98 Chevy extended cab truck and when he moved here in 2000 it cost him $400. to tag it, this year it was just under $200. I have a 2004 minivan and it is about $350. to tag it.

[sevdie]

Originally Posted by Frederick Guidry

I live in the California Bay Area. I'm REALLY sick and tired of all this traffic, of housing prices that are out of reach, of city government's hands constantly in my pockets (you get a ticket for EVERYTHING here ... you literally have to pay to stop driving your car because there are parking meters and metermaids everywhere, jay walking tickets, cars towed because of street cleaning, constantly rising bridge tolls ... etc...)

I'm 52 and I don't have to have a lot of excitement. I want to grow a garden and spend the rest of my time reading, writing, and working on art and business projects. I've worked most of my life in the Social Service trenches so I've given more than my "pound of flesh" to others. Now I just want to chill. The idea of "quiet" makes me drool at the mouth.

I am African American, degreed, down-to-earth guy who was worked as a professional... so while I yearn to be a "Country Boy" ... I worry that I may not ... um ... "fit in" everywhere. I don't want to change anybody's reality ... I just want a small house on about 5 acres of land to live quietly.

I love to hear suggestions about a small town/rural area that this "fed up city boy" could live in.

I am AA too and lived in San Diego for two years...UUugh! I live in Kansas now. I think Lawrence may be your best bet. I have lived in Leavenworth which is a small military town. Although they have lots of country land that you will enjoy they are also very bigoted there when it comes to black people. I lived in Lansing too which is right outside of Leavenworth and it is even worse. I felt like I went back in time when people would scream the "N" word at me out their car windows. I live in Lawrence and it is more liberal than the other cities in Kansas. There is that "city" feel to it , but there are also many rural areas and country parts to Lawrence as well. I live in the country. The University of Kansas is there. It was put there as a strategy to keep Kansas a free state all those years ago. Leavenworth has a lot of beautiful country too, but I think you would "fit in" more in Lawrence. PM me and I will be more than happy to send you info on Leavenworth and Lawrence. it is very easy to get a job, land, and a home here and the cost of living is very VERY low compared to California. You can get a very beautiful home and lots of land for half of what you get in California. Kansas is also visually beautiful in my opinion and I haven't seen homes as nice as these in any other part of the country. I am a native New yorker and long to go back to the east cosat, but I have to tell ya...I have yet to see home designs as beautiful as the ones in Kansas.

[Versatile]

There is plenty of rural area to fit your needs in the surrounding metro areas of Kansas City. African-American is no problem at all. Major airport to anywhere, Excellent restaurants, Major sports and the list goes on. Be prepared to not be really accepted in any rural area of Mo or Ks for about 5 years. That is the way it is.

[veganwriter]

Oh God ... I've had to go back and take a few classes since Iposted the original question ... but just looking at the posts that all of you have made ...

I just want to leave.

I want to be somewhere where I can put my hands deep in some honest soil and breath some rain clean air. I'd like to drink from a cool stream and sit down to eat some food that I've grown.

I won't bore all of you ... but the search will continue. Thank you all.