info on Pittsburg (Overland Park, Kansas City, Frontenac: low income, rental, crimes)

[dunkhouse]

Can anyone describe Pittsburg for me. Any info is helpful. thanks.

[Someone1515]

I don't live in Pittsburg, but I live by Joplin which is about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburg. Pittsburg is a town of about 20,000. I believe that some people probably commute to Joplin since it is the largest city in the area. It has one small mall and a few other shopping centers. Pittsburg State University is located there, and it is a pretty big college.

One thing is that most people come down to Joplin for major shopping.That is just about everything I know about the town. If theres anymore questions I'll try to help.

[dunkhouse]

Is it a safe town? a clean town? any problems you have heard about even though you dont live there? Also, I have heard Kansas has water problems. Is this an active tornado area? thanks for your help.

[prango]

judge for yourself...local online newspaper, and yes, tornadoes do come thru now and then, since it is in tornado alley.

[url]www.morningsun.net

[Someone1515]

Originally Posted by dunkhouse

Is it a safe town? a clean town? any problems you have heard about even though you dont live there? Also, I have heard Kansas has water problems. Is this an active tornado area? thanks for your help.

From what I know it is pretty safe. I don't really hear about anything bad happening there. It is fairly clean from what I have seen, but it isn't as nice as Joplin to me. I'm not to sure about the water though. This is supposed to be tornado alley, but there hasn't been a tornado for a while. This is only from my perspective though.

[GraniteStater]

This is definitely a college town for sure! Most of the jobs in the town are related to the University. Unfortunately, their are not that many jobs in the town outside of the University itself. Most of the shopping is found on the other side of the state line in Joplin, Missouri.
This town has more of a Missouri flavor as well because the climate is much wetter than most areas of Kansas and their are many more trees there compared with most areas of the state. It has more of an "Ozark" flavor compared with a "Plains" flavor that is more common in Kansas.

[LA42]

I grew up in Pittsburg and have been gone quite a while but I can tell you that it is definitely a college town. There are quite a few restaurants and bars, and Wal-Mart drove out a lot of the downtown businesses. It has an active Chamber of Commerce and a lot of banks, some accountants and attorneys. The high school alumni love their football team, and the college team is quite good and the stadium quite impressive. The college also offers theater and musical performances -- high quality for low price or free. One major change since I left has been the opening of a meat processing plant and the immigration of Spanish-speaking workers to work there. There is now a significant population of Spanish-as-a-first language people.

As for tornados, it was always explained that there is a Native American legend that Pittsburg (proper) was 'immune" from tornadoes. Apparently, the town proper is in a bit of a topographic depression. The trailer parks out toward Frontenac have been hit before, as has Arma. (Why are tornados drawn to trailer parks?!)

It's also worth noting that Pittsburg is the largest town in the county and for some distance beyond. We would frequently go to Joplin or even Kansas City for a day of shopping. KC is very accessible from Pittsburg, for specialized medical care or therapeutic shopping.

[Ksucatsfan]

Learning about the community of Pittsburg, should be best told by someone that was not raised here and is not bias about this community.
The town of Pittsburg, is a pretty decient place to live as long as you can learn to overlook many flaws about the people who run the town.
To start things off, this town is your normal college town, but does have the ability to survive without the college. Alot of college towns depend on what the college brings and most importantly the money it brings to the town.
Pittsburg does have quite a bit of industry and alot of low end jobs. The cost of living is not low by all means, compared to what the average person makes. Most people will find jobs between 8-10.00 and not much more then that. If you are looking to find a place you can make a good living? Do NOT move here.
The town is not a clean town, you may find a really cute house at a decient price but you have to deal with the slumlords that own rental property next door to you. This is bringing your property value down because for some reason most people that live in Pittsburg do not care about the appearance of their homes. We have looked and looked forever to find a place, you find a nice house, but there are trailor homes next to it, so it is like you live in a trailor court.
The city does not know how to manage their money what so ever, they talk about how much they are doing to help the communty. The only thing they are doing is helping their own pockets get fatter then everyone else. There are so many run down homes in the town, the city will not do anything about, and so they sit and rot with noone living in them. The communities around Pittsburg are thriving because their population is growing, most people are moving away from Pittsburg to smaller towns. The Morning Sun stated that Pittsburg is the fastest growing in the area... The population of Pittsburg/Crawford county has dropped 8% in the last few years. You definately cannot believe anything you read in the Morning Sun. They are called out all the time in the letters to the editor. They say the property taxes are cheep, where in fact the taxes are cheeper in Overland Park (Kansas City), the paper will out and out lie to make the town look good better the any town in the area. So you definately cannot go to the local newspaper for any info.
Then there is the crime, because of the low income, there is going to be crime. This area is known as one of the worst Meth areas in the entire United States. Theft, narcotics, abuse, and alcohol related crimes are in the paper and on the news too often for a community this small.
I would never rely on the things that a person who was born and raised here says, they will always think that their community is better then anyone around. They state that Pittsburg is ranked one of the top places in the US to live, that is not true at all, not even in the top 100. Only 2 towns in Kansas are ranked.
Pittsburg is starting to grow, they just got a new Home Depot, Goodes, and Chilis, along with a nice strip mall next to the Home Dept. When it comes to places to eat, if you dont' like fast food, chinese buffets, or fried chicken, then you better eat at home. That is all there is here. There are two chain resturaunts Chilis and Applebees, that is it, nothing else, and they are packed all the time. There are no real buffets like Golden Corral or Ryans, if you want to take in a good resturaunt you need to take a short trip over to Joplin and you have tons to choose from. I would suggest moving to Joplin, but I would not recommend moving to Pittsburg.
That is my two cents, take it from someone that has lived somewhere else during his life and knows that the grass IS greener on the otherside of the fence. I live here because I have to.

[Thylacine]

Originally Posted by Ksucatsfan

The town is not a clean town, you may find a really cute house at a decent price but you have to deal with the slumlords that own rental property next door to you.

Very True. The LandLord Association is truly a gathering of slumlords.
They fought tooth and nail against the city ordnance (pushed through by PSU for their students) which requires minimum acceptable standards in housing, such as no holes in the roof, working doors, and working locks on those doors.

The city does not know how to manage their money what so ever, they talk about how much they are doing to help the community. The only thing they are doing is helping their own pockets get fatter then everyone else.

Spot on with this comment. The city government is very bad. Example: Pittsburg has a City Manager that makes over $ 80,000.00 a year. Mr. Gill does nothing more than rubber stamp the same practices and procedures that were occurring before his position was created out of thin air. This begs the question, why does a city with a population of only 19,000 even need a City Manager?

The Morning Sun stated that Pittsburg is the fastest growing in the area... The population of Pittsburg/Crawford county has dropped 8% in the last few years. You definitely cannot believe anything you read in the Morning Sun. They are called out all the time in the letters to the editor. They say the property taxes are cheap, where in fact the taxes are cheaper in Overland Park (Kansas City), the paper will out and out lie to make the town look good better the any town in the area. So you definitely cannot go to the local newspaper for any info.

This is true also. If you want to know what is happening in Joplin then get The Morning Sun, for info on what is happening inside of Pittsburg your best bet is word of mouth.

Then there is the crime, because of the low income, there is going to be crime. This area is known as one of the worst Meth areas in the entire United States. Theft, narcotics, abuse, and alcohol related crimes are in the paper and on the news too often for a community this small.

This was the deal killer for me. I moved from P-burg, where I have lived for the since 1991, to a small town in Cherokee Co.

I am much happier here.

[djackson21]

I just visited Pittsburg KS. Its a football town for sure and Pittsburg State has a charming campus. If you do not count outright fraud as crime, well then I experienced no crime. But as to fraud the Econo Lodge in town and its related hotel, Comfort Inns know every angle of that. I had reserved a nonsmoking room at the Econo Lodge for Homecoming weekend. When I got there I was told, that is lied to, by the desk clerk at the Econo Lodge that my reservation was subject to availability. As I had no room for the nite I accepted that and was charged for the full term of my reservation unlike the practice of most reputable hotel chains to charge nitely. When I entered the room the smoke was so thick I promptly left for Joplin where I found a clean nonsmoking room. I promptly informed Choice Hotels the owner and requested a full refund. Since then I have only received cheery apologies with no notice of refund. These guys are crooks, and Pittsburg KS is responsible. It was the worst place I ever stayed. I would sleep in my car anytime before I would ever go back to this Pitt.

DL Jackson, St Paul MN