Questions about Wichita... (Derby, Andover, Park City: waterpark, neighborhoods, elementary school)

[bluede78]

Mrs Spain,

I just moved to Wichita within the last 2 weeks from St. Louis, MO. I gotta say, it is such a big change. I am still trying to find out everthing also. Much of these same people helped me out when I was in your shoes. I appreciate the advice, but I can honestly say this place is not what I expected. I have been told not to even bother sending your kids to the Wichita public schools. I have done endless research about what schools are the best and where the BEST areas to live are. My personal opinion is that I like the Northwest area by the zoo (however the zoo is not anything compared to the St. Louis Zoo. We just went there today.) Now when I say northwest area, I mean anything west of Ridge and north of Central. Some of this area is in the Maize school district which is probably the best in the surrounding area. I also like the Bel Aire area. This area is north of K96, but still in the Wichita public schools. Another area that I have been looking at houses at is in Derby KS. They have good schools, but it is smaller community south of Wichita.

Rent here seems to be cheaper than in most places. However, my husband got a job with Spirit and came here first to work. He picked an apartment for us. It is a 2 bedroom for 600/month. Basically it is HORRIBLE! If you are going to move into a bedroom, it is definately worth spending a little extra to get something nice... a place you can call home. As far as utilities, I haven't lived here long enough in this apartment to get a bill. (We have been in temporary housing).

I currently do not know much about Mulvane other than it is south of Wichita. Derby might actually be a good fit for you if you want to live out of town. Derby is closer to Mulvane than Wichta.

If I can be of any other assistance please let me know.

Dawn Ayala (bluede78)

[Mrs_Spain]

Mulvane is a little further out then Derby, and bc its smaller, I figure its likely to be cheaper. Derby wasn't horribly expensive from what I could see, but its a little more than I would prefer to spend. :-/ I want to stay t that side, bc thats the side of twn that the store I am transferring to is on. I appreciate your response and thank you!

Originally Posted by bluede78

Mrs Spain,

I just moved to Wichita within the last 2 weeks from St. Louis, MO. I gotta say, it is such a big change. I am still trying to find out everthing also. Much of these same people helped me out when I was in your shoes. I appreciate the advice, but I can honestly say this place is not what I expected. I have been told not to even bother sending your kids to the Wichita public schools. I have done endless research about what schools are the best and where the BEST areas to live are. My personal opinion is that I like the Northwest area by the zoo (however the zoo is not anything compared to the St. Louis Zoo. We just went there today.) Now when I say northwest area, I mean anything west of Ridge and north of Central. Some of this area is in the Maize school district which is probably the best in the surrounding area. I also like the Bel Aire area. This area is north of K96, but still in the Wichita public schools. Another area that I have been looking at houses at is in Derby KS. They have good schools, but it is smaller community south of Wichita.

Rent here seems to be cheaper than in most places. However, my husband got a job with Spirit and came here first to work. He picked an apartment for us. It is a 2 bedroom for 600/month. Basically it is HORRIBLE! If you are going to move into a bedroom, it is definately worth spending a little extra to get something nice... a place you can call home. As far as utilities, I haven't lived here long enough in this apartment to get a bill. (We have been in temporary housing).

I currently do not know much about Mulvane other than it is south of Wichita. Derby might actually be a good fit for you if you want to live out of town. Derby is closer to Mulvane than Wichta.

If I can be of any other assistance please let me know.

Dawn Ayala (bluede78)

[Lil Jhwk]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Spain

I may be relocating to Wichita in the near future and need as much/any info as I can... It will be me and my 3 children, so info on schools, day care, apartments, aprox cost of utilities, anything is helpful. Thanks in advance!!!

Any of your surrounding areas are great for schools. I personally like Goddard (where I went for school) and Derby. Derby is a great area. I found great apartments down there for cheap that I was planning to move into before I relocated. As for daycare, TOP Learning Center is amazing! I worked there for almost 2 years and I highly recommend it. They start at 12 months and walking and end at 5 years right before kindergarten. One of the pre-k teachers had a few of her students reading before they went off to Kindergarten. They have a theme based curriculum and they are NAEYC accredited. They are partnered with HS and EHS so they have outstanding quality. The facility is amazing. It's about 2 mins from the Derby area.

[jettagirl]

I disagree with alot of what was posted about Wichita. I dont see it nearly as negatively as most posters. Having lived in a few different areas of the country, including the Atlanta area and Metro Detroit, I find Wichita refreshing. Housing is much more affordable, utilities comparable to Metro Detroit (we pay about 250 a month for water, elec, and gas for 2000 sq ft house). Schools in Wichita (259) aren't all that great. We chose to live in College Hill for better public schools. We love the zoo here. We like Old Town restaurants and the Warren theater. We enjoy Exploration Place and walking down by the Keeper of the Plains. OJ something park is nice, as is College Hill Park. There are plenty of decent restaurants and we are content to live in this city. If we crave "excitement", we plan a trip to a big city to see a great play and do some serious shopping. But I'm happy to live in a smaller size city and not have to deal with higher costs and more traffic. Just my opinion. I like Wichita.

PS..I would not rent an apartment in Wichita. Simply because I hated every one I saw. The only nice one in my opinion was for low income only which we didnt qualify for. It's affordable to rent a house here. And as far as daycare goes, we tried La Petite Academy and we were pretty happy with it, but it was a little pricey, so we discontinued.

[talbet]

You can not even begin to compare to Detroit. That city is just plain dead. When the avg. price of a home is 18k its apples and oranges. I am looking at moving to Wichita. I do not love it. Its not Florida or Charlston, but I have family there and family is most important to me. But that said, there are some things to do in Wichita. There are a lot of community stage plays, the looney bin is great and cheap. They do have a lot of great bike paths. Its close to Eureka Springs and Branson, cheap and lots to do. But I would never try to sell it as a great place to retire. It is not a retirement town or state. Crime is not that bad. I have driven around and yes there are some areas in the center of the city that are questionable at night. I would not feel unsafe walking in the day time in almost any place I have seen. But I would not walk in some areas at 3 am, but that is the same in almost every city.

[janelle144]

mulvane school district - Google Search

I googled Mulvane schools and got that.

[dahill2424]

I have spent a good number of years living in Mulvane, and have nothing negative to say about it. It is a small suburb, and shopping and restaurants are non-existent (with a few exceptions). However, it is only a 20 minute drive to south Wichita, and 10 minutes from Derby. Schools are top notch (as are almost all suburban schools), safety is not an issue, and you still get some of the small town feel. Two major roads (K-15 and Rock Road) run through Mulvane, so commuting to Wichita is a breeze. There is a good mix of housing in Mulvane, but overall it is pretty inexpensive, with houses fitting most income levels. Good luck on your search!

[jettagirl]

Originally Posted by talbet

You can not even begin to compare to Detroit. That city is just plain dead. When the avg. price of a home is 18k its apples and oranges. I am looking at moving to Wichita. I do not love it. Its not Florida or Charlston, but I have family there and family is most important to me. But that said, there are some things to do in Wichita. There are a lot of community stage plays, the looney bin is great and cheap. They do have a lot of great bike paths. Its close to Eureka Springs and Branson, cheap and lots to do. But I would never try to sell it as a great place to retire. It is not a retirement town or state. Crime is not that bad. I have driven around and yes there are some areas in the center of the city that are questionable at night. I would not feel unsafe walking in the day time in almost any place I have seen. But I would not walk in some areas at 3 am, but that is the same in almost every city.

Talbet: I was not comparing Wichita to Detroit. I simply stated that I have lived in METRO Detroit. That means a suburb. Of course Detroit is dead. Its like a 3rd world country there. And having lived in a smallish town outside Atlanta as well as a suburban area outside of Detroit, I find Wichita a nicer place to live. Just my opinion.

[talbet]

VWgirl. I was not putting it that way. I agree with you that there are worse places to live than Wichita. I am trying to move there for family. I would loose a finger if my family lived in Ft. Myres Florida. Any where in Florida is better than Wichita IMO. But Wichita is not that bad. Over all a fairly safe place to live, Not a lot to do and to much religion for my taste, to flat, but is very easy to get around in. The city was created with a large grid system that is almost impossibe to get lost in. Homes are relitivly cheap compared to other metropolition areas but taxes are high. They are almost 30% higher than many other places. Even Myrtle Beach is cheaper on taxes. But there is no one that goes to Wichita for a vacation, If I were wrong west world would not have went belly up in 6 months.

[Lil Jhwk]

All I can say, is there is not much to do unless you're 21 and love to drink all the time. Sure there's Exploration Place and the Zoo but what else is there besides dirty lakes to go spend your time at? I have lived there my whole life until I just recently moved. It was the best move ever.