SW Wichita near Pawnee and Maize (Goddard, Auburn: cul-de-sac, rentals, crimes)

[bluede78]

Hey guys,

I have a question. Looking at possibly buying a house in the Goddard School district near Maize and Pawnee. Is that a decent area as far as resale value of homes, and what about safety?

It seems close to the airport, so is it noisy?

[athfo]

I don't think it will be noisy there. I've a friend who lives in that general area, and I have never seen planes fly directly over houses there. Most planes coming into Mid-Continent will fly far south of the airport or directly in over businesses surrounding Kellogg.

It is a nicer and newer area. The Goddard school district is top-notch.

[Modron]

I live in that area. I live closer to Maize and Kellogg. It is relatively quiet. There's easy access to shopping on the westside like New Market Square shopping center, Auburn Point, Westlake (?) something, a couple of westside Wal-Marts, Super Target, Dillion's supermarkets. The airport noise isn't a big deal. I once lived closer to Mid-Continent - in the flight path, actually - and could see the reflection of incoming planes in a bedroom mirror. Pawnee and Maize can't be that bad. I don't have kids so I don't have personal experience, but people seem to like Goddard district.

The homes are newer. They are nice, but kind of all look alike. That will change some in areas where people will be landscaping and when trees start to mature and give the area some character. Historically, the cost of homes south of Kellogg is less than north of Kellogg even for a comparable home. The upper-end housing additions north of Kellogg tend to be nicer than most of what you find south, and that makes all the property values there higher. The homes here do tend to be starter homes and people move up and out. In about ten years, of the 16 homes on my cul-de-sac, 6 of us are the original owners. The rest of the houses have had two or more. At least one house is a rental. One house was abandoned and became a HUD home which was bought within a few months by a younger couple who have been there about 3 years now.

There are getting to be increasing numbers of rentals in this area which will effect neighborhoods some, but I haven't seen it do any real damage to the neighborhood. As far as crime, in ten years, I've only heard of two home invasion-type crimes within a couple of blocks from me. Although, I did hear we had a rash of items being taken from garages if the gargage doors were left open. That goes on pretty much all over the city.

As I've observed it, the area isn't really ethnically integrated. Sometimes when neighborhoods integrate it can be a little uncomfortable. (I saw it happen where my mom lived. People had to make some adjustments and give up some old prejudices.) I really have no idea what to expect if, or when, that happens in this area. This area of the city tends not to have much ethnic mixing. I was, actually, told I should move here because it's "white". I selected this area because the exact same house was more expensive in a more integrated area of the city, and I took the lower loan. Personally, I wouldn't mind a little more ethnic diversity, but we'll see in time what happens.

I don't know if this has been helpful. I guess I've kindof gone on about it. I can say I intend to stay in this house until I can't anymore. It provides me with what I need without being more than I need which means I don't find myself over-extended on expenses. I haven't found such huge drawbacks to living in this area that I want to pack up and leave.