Life in Wichita? (Hays, Derby, Newton: transplants, how much, mobile home)

[Yingxiong]

I'm looking to make a move with my family to the Wichita area soon for a job, and had some questions about family life and housing. I have 3 children all under age 5, so "night life" is not exactly what we're looking for. I've lived in metropolitan areas and suburbs, and prefer suburban/rural life much more. We're looking to see if the area is "family friendly" - parks, zoo, museums, activities. What does the city and surrounding areas have to offer?

Some other inquiries:

• What is the new construction market like right now (Q4 2008)? We are looking for a new home, maybe a spec home sitting finished or near completion - 5BR 3200+ sq ft on at least .75 acres. Does this exist, how much? (this would cost me over $700k in CT)
• How are property taxes calculated? (In CT, 70% of appraised value x local mill rate - I'm paying $8,800/yr on a house worth $470k)
• How is the weather in the winter?
• Are vehicles taxed? (We pay the same calculation for our 3 cars as we do on our house each year - about $1,800yr in car taxes!)
• What is the tolerance level of non-native KS relocatees? (CT is not a very "warm" area to live in regards to the people here. I'm from Baltimore originally, and found that people in New England are as cold as the weather - no offense.)
• How are the elementary and secondary school systems? Aggresive curriculum, good student to teacher ratios?

That's all I can think of for now. I look forward to anyone's candid insight so we can learn an inside perspective while we decide on this move.

[averagejoe76]

Some of your questions you may need to refer to a city government or county site for specifics.
Heres what i can tell you after living here about 10 years.
Wichita has a great Zoo and a smaller one in Goddard,Kansas.
There is Exploration place,Museum & Art Museum located Downtown.
There is plenty of Dining,and great places to catch a movie(the Warren).
Winter weather is unpredictable some years we have a mild one and..
Some years alot of ice,etc it normally doesnt stay really cold for long.
Noone that i know of has an attitude towards non-natives at least that i have seen.
We dont get as many transplants as say the South but we get some.
You will have no issue as a non-native IMO Kansas doesnt have a really strong..
Regional identity as much as other places in the US.
Heres the Bad & Good from my viewpoint:
Good:Traffic isnt too bad depending on what you are used to.
Wichita has alot of great dining,zoo
Wichita economy seems to be holding up well,Housing isnt as hard hit as some places
Housing is afforable compared to many parts of the country.
Bad: Wichita has somewhat of a inferiority complex,many attractions fail or..
Struggle Wild West World,Indian Center,etc
Wichita Schools can be somewhat iffy best to go to Schools in the suburbs.
Weather can be very unpredictable,crazy winds,hail,icestorms.
Scenery in these parts isnt very exciting,very flat not as bad as western KS..
But not as interesting as eastern KS with hills,woods,etc
Wichita area is a good place to raise a family IMO its a medium sized mostly conservative blue-collar town.
I would look at Derby,Bel Aire,Haysville or Andover.

[athfo]

averagejoe70 summed up things nicely. I'll add that the arts scene in Wichita is very strong. If you prefer suburban/rural settings, I would look into the outer suburbs like Goddard, Valley Center, Maize, Derby, Andover, Park City, Haysville, etc. However, if you seek Wichita schools, you will obviously have to live in Wichita city limits, which will not provide a suburban/rural environment. If you don't mind a drive, Newton is a nice option as well. Honestly, the weather, as averagejoe70 said, can vary from year to year. This summber was relatively cool, with only minimal days in the 90's, and last winter was relatively mild. However, we still get ice storms and the occasional blizzard, but in reality, it only snows 4 to 6 times a year. The worst aspect of a Kansas winter are the cold and windy days, but like I said, recent winters and summers have been mild and pleasant.

[crazyma]

Houses are affordable. Look out for new construction, the *specials* , or taxes on new homes can be really high, so an older neighborhood will be cheaper tax wise. For example you could get a 4 BR house in my neighbor hood for under 200K. (over near the Bradley Fair area on Rock Rd.) Homeowners ins. is under $1000 a yr. and car tags were not bad. Water is high in Bel Air so I am told. Don't know about the schools though. Wichita seems a good place to raise a family. The wind can be irritating. Oh yeah, with all the aircraft business, and other stuff, there are a lot of people from other places living here. We are originally from Atlanta,by way of Miami most recently. Most folks are nice, but some have some hoity toity attitudes LOL, 'specially on the newer east side areas
Good luck , it isn't too bad a place!

[Yingxiong]

Originally Posted by crazyma

Look out for new construction, the *specials* , or taxes on new homes can be really high, so an older neighborhood will be cheaper tax wise.

Are the "specials" a one-time tax, or an annual deal?

[crazyma]

Specials, as I understand, go on for years. Not certain how long. Apparently when a builder puts in a new subdivision, the city, or maybe county, does the roads, etc. and then the *bill* is passed on to the home owner. I guess it is divided up amongst the homes built. It can be in the thousands. Now I may be wrong but that is basically how it was explained to us. If anyone knows different please feel free to ammend.

I have heard of people that pretty much got to closing, only to find out their total monthly payment, with the taxes escrowed in, wound up being more than they could literally afford. So do your homework and decide if new IS the way you want to go. Personally I do not care for new...unless it would be a custom one, overseen directly by us....
You might want to look in Tall Grass, Waterford and some of the other older subdivisions along off Rock Rd. (east side 67226 zip code)) There are many nice homes, from the lower 100's and on up. A 4br, 3 car. garage, full basement, backed up to the green belt near me recently sold for 195K...needed minor *updating*. Our specials are I think about $3 a year now, I think it is for lights or something....

[Yingxiong]

OK, I'm going to have to look into this "specials" thing. We are stuck on new......we custom built this house and are a little spoiled now having the it exactly the way we wanted it when we moved in. Thanks for the feedback.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by Yingxiong

I'm looking to make a move with my family to the Wichita area soon for a job, and had some questions about family life and housing. I have 3 children all under age 5, so "night life" is not exactly what we're looking for. I've lived in metropolitan areas and suburbs, and prefer suburban/rural life much more. We're looking to see if the area is "family friendly" - parks, zoo, museums, activities. What does the city and surrounding areas have to offer?

Some other inquiries:

• What is the new construction market like right now (Q4 2008)? We are looking for a new home, maybe a spec home sitting finished or near completion - 5BR 3200+ sq ft on at least .75 acres. Does this exist, how much? (this would cost me over $700k in CT)
• How are property taxes calculated? (In CT, 70% of appraised value x local mill rate - I'm paying $8,800/yr on a house worth $470k)
• How is the weather in the winter?
• Are vehicles taxed? (We pay the same calculation for our 3 cars as we do on our house each year - about $1,800yr in car taxes!)
• What is the tolerance level of non-native KS relocatees? (CT is not a very "warm" area to live in regards to the people here. I'm from Baltimore originally, and found that people in New England are as cold as the weather - no offense.)
• How are the elementary and secondary school systems? Aggresive curriculum, good student to teacher ratios?

That's all I can think of for now. I look forward to anyone's candid insight so we can learn an inside perspective while we decide on this move.

I have not lived there for a long time so my answers may not be totally accurate but I will try.

1. Home construction in Wichita tends to be more replacement type than growth - that is people moving from old homes in Wichita to newer homes. They do not have a great amount of population growth there.

2. Property taxes are a millage rate and special assesments may also be taxed. New houses can also have a "special" or "impact" assessment to pay for what it cost to build the roads, water and sewer to them.

3. The weather in Wichita sucks all year. The winters are freezing cold and windy. You get freezing rain, ice and snow often. The summers are blazing hot and oppressingly humid. Fall and Spring typically last about 2 weeks.

4. Vehicles are taxed- as are trailers, mobile homes and boats- as a Personal Property tax. It was not oppressive when I lived there however.

5. Wichita is a friendly city and they do not care where you are from or what your race or nationality is. It is a place where you can make friends quickly.

6. The schools are excellent. Wichita East High- is nationally recognized on the Great Schools list- and that is where I graduated from. Note that Wichita had kind of an odd high school system in that it is 3 years as opposed to 4 you find elsewhere (7th, 8th and 9th were Jr HS). My sister told me that they have changed this she thinks but I don't know for sure.

[Yingxiong]

Originally Posted by KevK

3. The weather in Wichita sucks all year. The winters are freezing cold and windy. You get freezing rain, ice and snow often. The summers are blazing hot and oppressingly humid. Fall and Spring typically last about 2 weeks.

Sounds like New England!!!

Otherwise, good stuff, thanks for weighing in.

[crazyma]

IMO the summers are not humid compared to Atlanta (home), Jax, or,Miami ...Last two we were from. Open the door for 5 secs in Miami be sweating in half that.
Its just HOT. And rather dry...at least there is wind, albeit HOT
They don't seem to get Deep snow. Spring was nice this year I thought. But where did fall go???