decent western and central Kansas towns... (Wichita, Kansas City: hotels, job, housing)

[FAITHFUL1]

I Have Been In Hutchinson Kansas For Appx 1 Year. I Love It Here, But I Actually Want To Live In An Even "smaller" Town. I Have Been To Newton, Park City And Wichita.
I Honestly Would Not Consider A Move To Wichita. Too Big. Park City Is Very Nice And The Great Thing Is That IT Is Growing. There Would Be A Lot Of New Job Opportunities Coming Up There. The Community Is Very Nice And Clean.
Newton Is Also Another Really Nice Smaller Town. There Is Also Quite A Bit Of Expansion Going On Here. I Hope This Helps. I Would Consider Either One Of These.

[CCEDG]

Originally Posted by dumpstermcnuggets

Don't ask me why, but as of late, I've been researching info on Kansas, for some reason. Not sure why, I guess it's just some sort of mystic about this state, that makes me interested in wondering more about this state as of late(despite the Creationism brew-haha, which seems to have mostly broiled over and died down within the last few years, thankfully, and certain other issues, such as their tradition to elect hard-line conservatives(a la Sam Brownbeck, etc.) often allied w/conservative Christians, and not say, ones who are more libertarian types, though at least they've also elected some decent politicians, such as Gov. Kathleen Sebelius....).

My rantings all aside, can anyone share me how some of the mid-size and small(but not TOO small) towns in western and central Kansas are like? I realize that much of Kansas is slowly losing population, but hey, maybe one of these days, I'll take up a town's offer of free/cheap land, as some KS towns are doing. (well, not sure if I would, but its definately an idea I wouldn't rule out doing someday...)

Particularly, I'm interested in learning some more info on these towns/cities, such as crime rate, things to do in town, etc., based on the very little I've heard about them(and also, am interested in learning of any attractions/state parks/points of interest/etc. that might be just outside of any of these mentioned cities and towns):

-Colby
-Garden City
-Dodge City
-Salina
-Hutchinson
-Great Bend
-Hays
-Oakley
-Wichita(area suburbs, or towns just to the outside, though I wouldn't mind knowing info about nice areas within the city of Wichita, either, and hope Wichita isn't as 'crime-infested', or also a 'black hole', as I've supposedly heard from some sources)

I'm preferably looking for info on areas west of US 81 and I-135, since it isn't an overpopulated area of the country, but I feel could perhaps offer a great quality of life, too. Not to mention, I'm sure the winters are likely milder than ones I grew up with in Chicagoland, for all I know. Hays and Garden City seem like interesting cities, based on what I've heard of them(and since I've read up the most about these 2, than I have other towns/cities). And of course, I've long decided that once I graduate college, I definately want to move out of Illinois for good.

I hope by starting this thread, I(and others) can learn some information about sections of Kansas that people don't often post/ask about on the Kansas board. And of course, if you know about some nice small towns located near the cities/bigger towns I mentioned, please do post about ones that are known to be excellent!

Take a second to check out Clay Center and Clay County at www.cckansas.org. Then, come spend a day and you'll stay a lifetime!

[Paul_Bettes]

I have lived in/visited quite a few of the cities in Kansas. Dodge city (ok if you can stand the smell of the feed lots and beef packing plants), Great Bend, Salina, Hutchinson, Kansas City (Ks, and Mo sides), Junction City, Lacrosse (tiny town I'm surprised you know of). I have family living in almost all of them. Oddly enough I've never been to Liberal, or Hayse.

[JD.]

I would steer clear of Dodge City and Liberal, I have heard that a lot of illegal immigrants have moved into those towns and are creating problems. This may have to do with the meatpacking plants in town which generally hire low skilled immigrant labor. Hopefully, someone from one of these towns can post something a little more detailed about it. However, outside of Liberal and Dodge City, southwest Kansas is VERY isolated but if you are looking for TRUE country living then maybe you should check it out.

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by JD.

I would steer clear of Dodge City and Liberal, I have heard that a lot of illegal immigrants have moved into those towns and are creating problems. This may have to do with the meatpacking plants in town which generally hire low skilled immigrant labor. Hopefully, someone from one of these towns can post something a little more detailed about it. However, outside of Liberal and Dodge City, southwest Kansas is VERY isolated but if you are looking for TRUE country living then maybe you should check it out.

Garden City/Holcomb area is also a meatpacking town with a large immigrant Hispanic population as well. In fact, the total population of Finney County is close to 50% Hispanic now.
Their has also been a huge debate in the state along with the KDHE about whether to allow a permit to build coal plants in Holcomb, a town which is west of Garden City. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has not reached a decision yet. Kansas has been extremely backward about developing renewable energy and wind energy in the state.

[Torn2pieces]

I just moved out of Dodge City KS - I would never live there again. There's not much there. My husband grew up there and he's glad to be gone. There's not much future for children. I have 2 youngins and I wanted better for them....

It can be very hot, humid and dry there as well. For some reason Dodge doesn't get the rain as other towns. I have Inlaws still there - Not much for jobs, unless you want to work in Meat Packing plants. Boy, does the town smell awful at times.

Dodge City - has many gangs as well as Crime. I heard on the news about 2 months ago, Dodge has about 10 Latino gangs. There's tons of illegals as well. Same for Garden City....

Dodge City is known for Boot Hill and supposely the windiest town in the country. The streets have names as Matt Dillon, Wyatt Earp, etc. Funny I suppose...

During the summer, they have what you call Dodge City Days. That's the only time there's basically something to do or going on. Concerts, fairs, Rodeos' etc.

Housing is fairly cheap. Prices of houses range. You can buy a dump and there are many for under 50k.

The people tend to be friendly. I'm originally from NY and Yes, it's a big shock. I lived In KS for 7 years. I also, lived in Great Bend KS - another town with not much.

I would not recommend Dodge City -

..........

[ljkbsb]

I moved from Wichita last year to South Carolina and have also lived in Hutchinson for 15 years. I adapted quickly to living on the west side of Wichita and if you stay in the suburbs you have a nice lifestyle with all the big city options. Hutchinson is 45 miles away and I loved living there. If my husband and I could find comparable jobs there, I would encourage the move. The people are friendly and if you like to golf, you will be in heaven. It has some of the big city stores, but Wichita is only 45 miles away and a 4-lane highway connects the two. Salina is also nice as is McPherson, though McPherson is only about 26,000 people. I miss Kansas almost every day.

[ljkbsb]

I forgot to add, I would discourage Dodge City or Garden City. They have an extremely high foreign work force due to the beef packing plants and unless you are Vietnamese or Hispanic, you would be a minority. Also, lots of gangs, etc.

[JD.]

You guys kind of have me wondering about it now maybe Sammie, Plains10, or ljkbsb can answer this. Is it really that bad? I was under the impression that it was mostly just Dodge City and Liberal that were having the big problems. It's mostly just in those cities you mentioned and not out in the country, right? I can't imagine illegal immigrants in the small towns around Dodge City...are the police doing anything to crack down on the illegal activity? Just curious...here in OK they just passed an immigration bill that's pretty tough so all the illegals are heading out of the state, the few we had, hope they don't all decide to settle in Dodge City. Just wondering about it from anyone living there currently.

[Torn2pieces]

Garden City is pretty bad. Although it has more shopping, there's alot of immigrants, illegals I might add. Wherever there's meat packing plants there they are. Along with that, comes the Latino gangs.

My hubby knew a cop and asked him out right, why do these illegals drive with no license, no insurance and get slapped on the hand and let go. The answer he got : it's out of our hands. So with that said, they have invaded many towns and do whatever.

I can't speak for the other towns that were listed. I did live in Great Bend for a year and I found it ok - not as bad as Dodge or Garden City.

Oh, Dodge City has 2 meat packing plants. Garden City has one......