Crown Heights?

[athfo]

Sorry I couldn't get back to this thread before now.

Originally Posted by pioneer88

I like lawrence and all but I think you have what athfo meant all wrong ( or maybe not, I don't know). The idea that lawrence is a big city compared to Wichita is what is comical. While I do believe the role of small businesses, public transportation and the overall culture of Lawrence is great, Wichita has a lot of these same things and many others as well. All the while without having to rely solely on a university to make the town go. But like I said, I'm a big fan of Lawrence etc, but if you go into a new city with all of those assumptions you'll miss out on a lot of the good that is truly there. Take time to find the good in the place and meet the quite diverse population, after all there are over 350,000 of them. Good luck.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Originally Posted by MovingToWichita

Does anyone have some good opinions/information on northeast Wichita neighborhoods?

I don't have any personal opinions about Crown Heights. College Hill is obviously my favorite. Have you looked at Eastborough? It's just east of Crown Heights - it has a very established feel. I like College Hill better than Eastborough, myself. Let's see, there's Brookhollow or Forest Hills just east of Eastborough. I guess none of these are truly northeast Wichita - those neighborhoods would include Willowbend, Tallgrass, and Wilson Estates, but none of these are older, established neighborhoods like College Hill.

Originally Posted by TheDub

I don't think that any area of Wichita will be quite as "out there" as Lawrence, but what areas get close in terms of culture/arts, community, and educated populace?

Some suggestions:

Commerce Street Art District, between Waterman and Kellogg. Commerce St. lights up on Final Fridays. The district is mostly composed of art galleries with an antique shop and music venue.

Delano District, basically composed of the area between McLean and Seneca. Delano has some locally favorite coffeeshops and bars, hat shops, art galleries, bike clubs, and so on.

Riverside, which is surrounded by park and river. This neighborhood has the highest percentage of gay & lesbian people in the city, and in fact the second highest percentage in the state. Riverside has a frisbee golf park, some coffeeshops, Riverside Park, bike paths along the Arkansas River, etc. And very cool homes, condos and townhomes.

Douglas Ave. from I-135 to Douglas & Hillside. This area has music stores (albeit, most are run-down), music venues, ethnic grocery store, theaters, etc. Douglas & Hillside is basically the western edge of College Hill. There are some sweet townhomes just south of Douglas on Oakland St., just east of Hillside. There's a guitar shop right next door, I think. A new development is going in just north of Douglas and east of Hillside called Parkstone at College Hill.

And then there's obviously Old Town.

Originally Posted by Modron

I like the Crown Heights neighborhood. What I found when I was shopping for a house there - ten years ago - was that the property values are a lot like College Hill in that you pay a premium just for the location. A number of the homes I looked at at that time needed some real work. So, I would have been paying more than for a similar home than in another neighborhood and had the cost of necessary repairs (like leaking basements) and renovations on top of that. I did know someone who bought a home in need of some renovation in Crown Heights and it worked out ok -she was able to actually raise the value of the home- because a lot of friends helped her out with repairs and improvements.

A house in Crown Heights that has been kept up and updated might come with a comparatively high price tag.

I also looked at an airplane bungalow in College Hill that was very reasonably priced, except that it needed, and would continue to need -because of the structural issues with that style of home- expensive repairs.

Now, if it were me, I think the neighborhoods around College Hill and Crown Heights have some really beautiful homes that tend to maintain their property values over time. I'd buy one if it was practical for me and I wouldn't be in over my head long-term with repairs and payments. If that's what's right for you, I say go for it.

Oh, and I went to university in Lawrence. There is a difference in the two cities. And, I was not in the whole student mode while I was there. I was a somewhat non-traditional student. I attended church in town and was acquainted with people whose lives did not totally revolve around the University's student life. (Although I find any suggestion that the University really doesn't influence the town comical, as if the town is just so, so separate. That would be like saying the aircraft industry doesn't influence Wichita. It's just not even sensible to suggest such a thing.) Especially, if you were educated at KU you will notice a difference not just in people's views, but in the way they think and formulate those views. It can be somewhat breathtaking, and not in a good way, from time to time.

Best of luck to you.

Oh, and athfo, I know I'm wrong about what I've said here and -well, about everything. No need for you to tell me so.

Haha, I agree with everything you say here Modron.

[Modron]

Originally Posted by athfo

Haha, I agree with everything you say here Modron.

As long as you get the win, athfo, keeping in mind how much we all rely on you for our personal validation. I just don't know how we could survive without it. Life would seem so, so, meaningless. Oh my God! athfo agrees with me. I'm SAVED!!!!!!!!

[janelle144]

Be sure to have any house in the older districts totally inspected by a professional, even more than a newer house. Personally I did not want an older home. I call them white elephants with all the work they need. We picked Bel Aire with a home built in 2001. It's east side but I like both sides of the city and have lived in both as well as Midtown.