Looking to move to Kansas from Connecticut. (Wichita, Overland Park: real estate, rental)

[Sewellfamily]

Hi all my husband and I want to move to kansas because according to MSNBC it is the cheapest place to live. We are always having financial issues and would like to live where things are cheap. Currently we live in hartford ct where it is expensive. I live in a 3 bedroom run down apt for 850.00 a month. we have 3 kids and one vehicle. my husband work as a drivers helper, but his back ground is in construction. I have experience in office work, such as receptionist and customer service. I am going to school to become a registared nurse. My family and I are not picky people. I dont want to live in a rural area where it's hard to shop and get gorceries and such. I would prefer city or a suburb area. if we have to do rural because of money then we would but prefer not to. I want to be close to a community college who have a nursing program and a good school for my kids. there ages are 7,6,2. if someone can recommend some good areas that would be appreciated. I checked out witchita so far and the rental prices looks good. Also do kansas offer state assistant such as medical, food stamps and rental asisstant. the reason I ask is because when times have gotten touch for my family we have depened on these aids to help out until we got back on our feet. so lets go over what I'm looking for:

low rent max 650.00 for 3 br
communty college for nursing
good school for kids
close to shopping

also how is the job market in kansas? my hubby is looking into starting a construction business, do you think he can get clients in kansas?
also how is child care for 2yr olds. can they get in free school at that age. I know in ct they can start at 2/12 for free.

The weather scares me, but it's worth a try. I keep hearing good things from the forum. we are young, but because we're trying to establish our family,so clubs and nightlife is not a big issue. as long as I have good neighbor to chat with I will be fine. Please give as much info as possible.

Thanks

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Sewellfamily

Hi all my husband and I want to move to kansas because according to MSNBC it is the cheapest place to live. We are always having financial issues and would like to live where things are cheap. Currently we live in hartford ct where it is expensive. I live in a 3 bedroom run down apt for 850.00 a month. we have 3 kids and one vehicle. my husband work as a drivers helper, but his back ground is in construction. I have experience in office work, such as receptionist and customer service. I am going to school to become a registared nurse. My family and I are not picky people. I dont want to live in a rural area where it's hard to shop and get gorceries and such. I would prefer city or a suburb area. if we have to do rural because of money then we would but prefer not to. I want to be close to a community college who have a nursing program and a good school for my kids. there ages are 7,6,2. if someone can recommend some good areas that would be appreciated. I checked out witchita so far and the rental prices looks good. Also do kansas offer state assistant such as medical, food stamps and rental asisstant. the reason I ask is because when times have gotten touch for my family we have depened on these aids to help out until we got back on our feet. so lets go over what I'm looking for:

low rent max 650.00 for 3 br
communty college for nursing
good school for kids
close to shopping

also how is the job market in kansas? my hubby is looking into starting a construction business, do you think he can get clients in kansas?
also how is child care for 2yr olds. can they get in free school at that age. I know in ct they can start at 2/12 for free.

The weather scares me, but it's worth a try. I keep hearing good things from the forum. we are young, but because we're trying to establish our family,so clubs and nightlife is not a big issue. as long as I have good neighbor to chat with I will be fine. Please give as much info as possible.

Thanks

Kansas may have a slightly lower unemployment rate than the national average, but things are HARD everywhere right now. My big piece of advice is to make sure you have a job lined up before you move anywhere. The Kansas City metro area will have plenty of options available for you. You generally want to avoid most areas of Kansas City, KS. However, you could find many affordable areas in KC, MO and the surrounding suburbs. Johnson County Kansas generally has a higher COL compared to the rest of the metro area. Wichita is probably even cheaper overall in terms of COL but I think the employment situation there is not very good right now either. The flip side of the coin is that KS might be cheaper, but some jobs are going to pay less than you might expect as well.
Kansas City and Wichita are the big hub cities in KS with the next largest city being Overland Park. It is cheaper to fly in and out of KCI (MCI Airport) compared to Wichita from what I hear.

Other potential options in the surrounding region in the Midwest might be: Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, St. Joseph, MO, Omaha, NE, or Columbia, MO.

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by Sewellfamily

Hi all my husband and I want to move to kansas because according to MSNBC it is the cheapest place to live. We are always having financial issues and would like to live where things are cheap. Currently we live in hartford ct where it is expensive. I live in a 3 bedroom run down apt for 850.00 a month. we have 3 kids and one vehicle. my husband work as a drivers helper, but his back ground is in construction. I have experience in office work, such as receptionist and customer service. I am going to school to become a registared nurse. My family and I are not picky people. I dont want to live in a rural area where it's hard to shop and get gorceries and such. I would prefer city or a suburb area. if we have to do rural because of money then we would but prefer not to. I want to be close to a community college who have a nursing program and a good school for my kids. there ages are 7,6,2. if someone can recommend some good areas that would be appreciated. I checked out witchita so far and the rental prices looks good. Also do kansas offer state assistant such as medical, food stamps and rental asisstant. the reason I ask is because when times have gotten touch for my family we have depened on these aids to help out until we got back on our feet. so lets go over what I'm looking for:

low rent max 650.00 for 3 br
communty college for nursing
good school for kids
close to shopping

also how is the job market in kansas? my hubby is looking into starting a construction business, do you think he can get clients in kansas?
also how is child care for 2yr olds. can they get in free school at that age. I know in ct they can start at 2/12 for free.

The weather scares me, but it's worth a try. I keep hearing good things from the forum. we are young, but because we're trying to establish our family,so clubs and nightlife is not a big issue. as long as I have good neighbor to chat with I will be fine. Please give as much info as possible.

Thanks

I have read that Topeka has some of the cheapest real estate in the country. Community colleges, tech schools and shopping would be available to you in Topeka. I do not have any information on the school districts. Topeka is about 60 miles from Kansas City which would give you greater access to medical care, shopping and entertainment.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by smellykat

I have read that Topeka has some of the cheapest real estate in the country. Community colleges, tech schools and shopping would be available to you in Topeka. I do not have any information on the school districts. Topeka is about 60 miles from Kansas City which would give you greater access to medical care, shopping and entertainment.

Just because it is the most affordable doesn't mean much if it has a horrible job market. Topeka has lost 12% of all non-farm employment since the year 2000.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Just because it is the most affordable doesn't mean much if it has a horrible job market. Topeka has lost 12% of all non-farm employment since the year 2000.

Exactly! the average home price in Detroit is $7,500 but I wouldn't want to move there. I am just saying think before you make such a drastic change.

Connecticut and Kansas are very different.

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by johnfrisco

Exactly! the average home price in Detroit is $7,500 but I wouldn't want to move there. I am just saying think before you make such a drastic change.

Connecticut and Kansas are very different.

Kansas and Connecticut are vastly different, for entertainment in Kansas you sit on your front porch and watch people drive by your house. After a while you will start to recognize all the people in the cars that drive by. Soon you will be able to turn to your wife and make comments about them and know where they’re going. Wednesday: Church night, Friday: Bowling, Saturday: Wal-Mart

[Sewellfamily]

Yeah I know CT is different from kansas. I dont mine, some times you have to make sacrafices. As far as sitting on my porch, that's what I do now.LOL! I love it. I like being outside even if I am not doing much. What attracts me other than the price is the small communities, good schools, and low crime. all which are much better than ct. I lived in ct all my life and really want to live somewhere esle. I am a bit scared because I have never moved before. It's kinda a headache because I know I have to get a job and a place to live pretty much at the same time,plus get enough money to move our stuff. this is something that my hubby and I have been talking about for a few years now, but my fear always make me back out or I dont move because something abut the location make us change our mind. so far kansas looks good. anyone else who want to recommend anything please feel free to do so. as far as the comments above, thanks for taking the time to reply and give your opinions, I appreciate it. thanks

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Kansas and Connecticut are vastly different, for entertainment in Kansas you sit on your front porch and watch people drive by your house. After a while you will start to recognize all the people in the cars that drive by. Soon you will be able to turn to your wife and make comments about them and know where they’re going. Wednesday: Church night, Friday: Bowling, Saturday: Wal-Mart

For entertainment in Kansas, you typically go to Missouri (or Colorado if you live west of Salina (do people live west of Salina?)

What the hell is there to do in Connecticut, besides drive to Boston or NYC??? Conn is practically a suburb of NYC.

Rural Kansas is cheap, but the KC area, especially the suburbs on the Kansas side, is not the cheapest place in the country to live in. It's one of the cheaper big cities and is much cheaper than Conn (for a suburban home), but if you want super cheap, you will want to live in a small town in Kansas (or any other midwestern state).

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Just because it is the most affordable doesn't mean much if it has a horrible job market. Topeka has lost 12% of all non-farm employment since the year 2000.

GraniteStater, the poster stated that she is interested in pursuing a nursing program at a community college which would be available to her in Topeka. Although, now that I give this some more thought, acceptance into nursing programs can be difficult due to the high number of applicants. She also stated that she has work experience in customer service. I am sure she would be able to obtain employment in this field in Topeka. Walmart is hiring. Because she has a desire to get into nursing, she might also be interested in employment in a care center as a CNA. Her husband's background is in construction. They also rely on state assistance. My intent was only to provide the name of a location in Kansas with a very reasonable cost of living. I am not that knowledgeable with Topeka other than the fact that it is the state capitol.

[athfo]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Kansas and Connecticut are vastly different, for entertainment in Kansas you sit on your front porch and watch people drive by your house. After a while you will start to recognize all the people in the cars that drive by. Soon you will be able to turn to your wife and make comments about them and know where they’re going. Wednesday: Church night, Friday: Bowling, Saturday: Wal-Mart

Ha, that's funny. If you lived in a larger urban area like Wichita or the Kansas City metro, Sewellfamily, you'll experience the above much less. But out in the small towns of Kansas, I imagine the entertainment gets much more limited.

I know from personal experience that those areas - Wichita and KC - will have huge medical opportunities. They are the medical hubs of Kansas. However, someone else might be able to chime in about the new hospitals in some of the smaller towns, as who knows - they might just be hiring. For construction, well, considering the high rate of population decline in rural counties of Kansas, I'm not so sure your husband would do well out there. You'd have to be in or near a larger metro area, in my opinion. The job market is better than the rest of the nation. The Wichita metro unemployment rate is just 6.7% (on the rise, but lower than the national average), the Kansas City metro unemployment rate was 8.4% (in February - couldn't find updated info), and the Kansas unemployment rate is 6.1%.