what's good (or bad) about KS? (Wichita, Kansas City: tech jobs, public school, universities)

[leighland]

Originally Posted by Plains10

How about Colorado? It seems to be a popular destination for those that are leaving KS these days.

Really? Wow!. Do you have any idea how many multigenerational SoCal families are moving to CO also? They cash out their house and buy a big one in CO. I wonder if CO is freaking out with all the people moving to their state....

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by leighland

Really? Wow!. Do you have any idea how many multigenerational SoCal families are moving to CO also? They cash out their house and buy a big one in CO. I wonder if CO is freaking out with all the people moving to their state....

CO has been a popular place for people to move to from many states. It has net in-migration overall compared with the out-migration trends in states like CA and KS. The Front Range is getting pretty crowded and congested, though. A semi-continuous metro area now stretches from Fort Collins all the way south to Pueblo with some breaks in between.

[katie45]

Originally Posted by Plains10

How about Colorado? It seems to be a popular destination for those that are leaving KS these days. The Front Range has a climate that features over 300 days of sun a year. The extra sun makes the cold and snow much easier to handle for most people.

Thanks for the input, but want to live sans snow...have seen enough to last me the rest of my life.

[lazydog]

Kansas is a great place to live. I grew up in Medicine Lodge, a small town of about 2500 or so. It is good clean living. No smog, traffic, etc. I live in San Diego now and am trying to go back home. Finding a good paying job is a bit of a challenge unless you are a doctor or something like that. I, hopefully, can transfer with my company now. But there is not a better place to grow up, live and thrive.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Plains10

How about Colorado? It seems to be a popular destination for those that are leaving KS these days. The Front Range has a climate that features over 300 days of sun a year. The extra sun makes the cold and snow much easier to handle for most people.

I'm a KS native (JoCo) living in Denver and I love it. I don't think Denver ever gets ice storms - I've never seen one or heard about one. We have about 4" of snow on the ground right now, but next week it should be gone, with temps getting back into the 50s, at least. The sun is much stronger here in the winter and the humidity is lower than KS, so it can feel very nice. And summers feel better too without the high humidity and all the bugs - most summer evenings are perfect for sitting outside.

I left home at age 18 (22 years ago) and never moved back to KS. I just really don't care for it much and I'm into urban living, not rural. I drove to KC last summer and the thing that struck me was how religion hits you in the face as soon as you cross the state line. Jesus billboards and church signs everywhere and half the radio stations are religious programming. It's just too conservative for me to feel comfortable in KS, but it that's your thing, you'll probably love the state.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by Plains10

CO has been a popular place for people to move to from many states. It has net in-migration overall compared with the out-migration trends in states like CA and KS. The Front Range is getting pretty crowded and congested, though. A semi-continuous metro area now stretches from Fort Collins all the way south to Pueblo with some breaks in between.

I lived in L.A. for 10 years and cashed out of the overpriced housing market to move to Denver. There are many Californians here, but they fit in well. The culture is similar and summer weather is similar. I'm surprised at how many Kansans are in my neighborhood too.

[tallguy924]

i lived in sterling for about 2-3 years... and i didnt like it to much at all. it has nothing to do at all, despite its 3-lane bowling ally, theres really nothing else. maybe go to the park and check out one of the city's 3 skyscrapers, the water tower, lol. the other two are grain elevators. one in use, and one not in use. but you can see those buildings from quite a bit away.

but the weather, we got golf ball sized hail about 3 times every summer and with that came the threat of a tornado. some tornados have gotten pretty close to sterling. and in the winter, it gets so cold, because with the strong winds that came by everyday, it made the wind chill about -10 or close to that. and a funny thing about sterling, whenever it snowed big, they never plowed any road except K14/96, and they plowed the block of the schools, but they didnt plow a way to get there, and it was a mess driving on any street getting onto the highway.

[JAN-SLM]

I live in Kansas now and will tell you what I like and what is positive..

1. Wide open spaces with Rolling hills...
2. A wholesome respect for law...
3. Family Friendly
4. People who came from very hardworking grandparents...
5. Clean Air and clean water

Now what is not positive to me...

1. Hot dry winds which in the summer can kill a garden....
2. Ice in the winter and not snow...
3. Lawrence... it is the worst place I have ever been and I have been to a few... of course I am one of the few people left who thought putting poison in your bodies...some people call it dope...was STUPID back in the 1960's.
Only after Janis, Jim, Jimmy succumbed to "reality" did a few wake up and say "duh".
4. Too many of the young people I try to hire to do a job in Lawrence wear earrings in their ears and tell me its their right and when I tell them the job is dangerous with heavy equipment they give me the "attitude".

[Kansasfornow]

I differ with many of the posters above. I am originally from New York City/Long Island and have lived in Wichita for the past five years - I am a professor at the state university here. I have been so pleasantly surprised at the wonderful day to day quality of life, the affordable housing, the excellent public schools, and the central location enabling travel to various parts of the country. Wichita has three universities which have cultural events all year long, a medical school with the largest family practice residency in the country, a symphony, opera and a vibrant local theatre scene - to mention a few. I am puzzeled by the negative comments. I think Wichita is a wonderful place to live and it also has many safe and wonderful communities.

[KevK]

The good: Family friendly, cheap to live in, good schools, fairly safe (outside parts of Wichita and KCK), clean air, OK water, easy commutes with no traffic.
The bad: unless you work in agri business or an aircraft factory, the job scene absolutely sucks there. Finding a job in high tech is almost impossible there. The weather sucks almost year around with blazing hot summers and freezing winters and fierce storms in the spring. Finally, while you can find things to do, there is usually not much going on unless you live in the K.C. area. While Topeka and Wichita have some degree of "culture" , neither are cosmopolitian places.