What do you dislike about Kansas? (low crime, public schools, casinos)

[Weedsnake]

I was born and raised in SW Kansas, accepted an invitation to work for the government, and in the course of 22 years lived in California, Washington State, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, and Japan. I visited several other states and countries. I now live in NE Kansas.
In the course of my travels, I have yet to find (with the possible exception of Whidbey Island, Washington) any place I would rather live than Western Kansas.
Some observations - Snow is supposed to come in horizontal, doesn't make good drifts otherwise.
It gets dark enough out west to actually see stars.
There are two lane roads on which you can travel 100 miles without a stop sign or light.
You can actually see more than a hundred yards down the road.
Everybody waves whether they know you or not.
Driving twenty miles to the next town can be good therapy.
The major problem is the lack of good non labor-intensive employment and sometimes it's a long trip to medical specialists.

[TinaMcG]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

It could be worse. You could have a native Kansan grandmother who is actually named Dorothy, as I do. (89 and still doing fine. Flint Hills ranch life = healthy life.)

Or you could be from Georgia, and have everyone mentioning Deliverance all the time. My wife is an Alaskan, and I think she wishes she had a penny for every time some donkey has brayed about living in igloos.

Ha! Try growing up in Chicago with an Italian last name! Talk about stereotyping, LOL!

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I am also a native of Johnson County (lived there many years), and can generally point out its positives and negatives for those wishing to relocate there...

Are you a native or a transplant who lived in Johnson County for many years? My posting was in reference to many of your posts too, GraniteStater.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by smellykat

Are you a native or a transplant who lived in Johnson County for many years? My posting was in reference to many of your posts too, GraniteStater.

I am a native of the KC area (lived there 22 years), and still have family there. I feel that I have an extensive knowledge of the metro area, especially on the Kansas side of the state line. Some positives exist for the KC metro, but not enough to keep me there.

[upandrunning]

Taxes are high for the home values, to many Christians and republicans. Flat, trees are smaller than many other parts of the country. Attitude of many people is very cliquish, Keeping out a casino because god does not like gambling, of some such clap trap.
[SIZE=3] [/SIZE]

[Vision-Quest]

JOCO is the only county IN Kansas thats NOT Kansas. In long words, JOCO is the only Kansas county with suburbia and urban sprawl. Wichita doesn't even come close. JOCO was my favorite county in Kansas actually, because it was the only county that had things to do other than sit on your porch and gripe about the bad weather.

[briansgi]

Property taxes are insanely high in a state with state income tax. Tax on vehicle registration and yearly renewal of vehicle registration is also outrageous.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by Vision-Quest

What do you dislike about Kansas the most? I really can't stand the small town residents. My family moved in from the big city and we were new to a small town, NOT GOING TO MENTION THE NAME!!!, right in the middle of NOWHERE!! I guess they just didn't like the fact that we came from one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. They made us feel welcome like any small town would and then as soon as we settled in the whole town started talking about us and it all started with our neighbors across the street and all they would do was stare at us and follow us around town to see what we were doing. Then they told everybody in the town a bunch of lies and they believed it. Gossip is the most annoying crap to put up with and we just got the H*ll out of Kansas!! Are all Kansas small towns like that???

Must be Syracuse. But then again I don't think them folks have any internet out there.

[leebonlee]

I have lived here all my life, born and raised, and it must the proximity to the exact geographic center of the country that renders Wichita an odd duck. It is indeed very welcoming, until your time is up and then it becomes evident (and should have all along) that this is a town which does everything to maintain the status quo - no changes, thank you. It is very clique-ish and definitely an unforgiving population. This is mediocrity at its finest, with the threat of being 'better' at something than any other citizen constitutes a major infraction, again, not to be forgiven. What they know here is as far as they want to go. And you soon realize that you are in a town (not a city) that has been frozen in time. It literally takes three to five years for any social or cultural trend/shift to reach the Air Capitol of the World, where you can't get a flight to anywhere and it will cost you a pretty penny to do that. If you are raising a family, it's not that bad. Get out before you get to university, for most of these are academe at its most suffocating, with rampant jealousies and run amuk egos which must be stroked, which cuts down on study time. Culturally, the town is stuck in high school, both in mentality and the merchandise, the goods. It is a classic hypocritical hot-bed of two-faced discussions, healthy arguments (just arguments aren't appreicated) that are disliked intensely and a general pall of mediocre thinking and action as a result. You can bet that beneath that friendly exterior, they really don't like you. They want more of the same and you can indeed find a home if you don't think for yourself, have a group inclination to the herd (and like it) and don't go around expressing opinions on much of anything. There is a church and a beauty parlor on every corner here. It is spread out and continues to expand that way, like a mini-L.A. without any of the things that make L.A. a city. Wichita is a good allegory for The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. If you tow the community line, this is a place for you.

[salsashark]

I don't think it's realistic to try and compare Wichita to Los Angeles. LA has almost 4 million people, Wichita has less than 400,000.

I lived in Modesto CA for a couple of years and liked it in Wichita a lot better. People are nicer here, there aren't bums asking for money everywhere, there isn't much smog. The cost of living is relatively low compared to other cities its size.

I don't like the hot Kansas summers. I can handle the winters, but the nasty humid summers are horrible. The lack of mountains, national parks, etc. is a drawback but that's not something that can really be helped.

It's funny how people who have never left Kansas act like it's the biggest sh*thole in the world. If you've never lived anywhere else how do you know what is and isn't better?