decent western and central Kansas towns... (Wichita, Overland Park: houses, rent, hotels)

[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!

[JD.]

I have passed through a few of the towns you mentioned above but have only spent time in Oakley. It is a fairly small town, I think smaller than you may be looking for, about 2,000 residents maybe a few more. Predominantly agricultural related jobs out that way, not sure what you are majoring in, hopefully agricult. related. Very nice little town with a FEW shops on main street and a few restaurants, the truck stop in town is pretty good for food, just my opinion though, others dislike it. They have a few hotels, the Kansas Kountry Inn, which is pretty nice but a little dated inside and I want to say the other one was the Annie Oakley or something like that. Very friendly people, I remember driving through the town and getting gas and then a few days later stopping there again to get gas and the lady at the counter made it a point to ask me if I was new in town and then struck up a 15 minute conversation. It is a quiet, rural town in the middle of wheat fields, but a great place to live. I would also check into Scott City, KS a little to the south. Small but a little larger than Oakley and very nice, can't offer much information about it though.

P.S. If you're a liberal you may want to leave that out of conversations out there. Just kidding, I had to pick on at least one liberal today. But seriously, west KS is staunchly Republican.

[Plains10]

One of the "better" towns in western Kansas is Hays. It is home to Fort Hays State University and has a "decent" economy right now. It is a rather large town for the region with about 20,000 people. If you are looking for something smaller than maybe Concordia might be of interest. That town has about 5,000 people and is not too far away from Salina if you want big city style conveniences. I would not really recommend Garden City at all. Most of the town has been overun with immigrants, and their is quite a bit of poverty. I would avoid any town that is extremely small because they will likely lose population at a very fast rate. If you stick with a regional center in western Kansas you will be just fine because even these bigger towns retain a lot of rural flavor.

[dumpstermcnuggets]

Originally Posted by Plains10

One of the "better" towns in western Kansas is Hays. It is home to Fort Hays State University and has a "decent" economy right now. It is a rather large town for the region with about 20,000 people. If you are looking for something smaller than maybe Concordia might be of interest. That town has about 5,000 people and is not too far away from Salina if you want big city style conveniences. I would not really recommend Garden City at all. Most of the town has been overun with immigrants, and their is quite a bit of poverty. I would avoid any town that is extremely small because they will likely lose population at a very fast rate. If you stick with a regional center in western Kansas you will be just fine because even these bigger towns retain a lot of rural flavor.

Do you know anything about what the town of Salina is like? I keep wondering what the quality of life in that town is like, for some reason. Not to mention, it's has a decent central location in KS, not too small of a town, and it seems like living there wouldn't put one too far of a driving distance away from bigger towns, such as Manhattan, Wichita, and Lawrence.

Thanks for answering my question about Hays, it keeps seeming like a decent town, from everything I've read up on it so far. I'll read up more on your suggestion of Concordia, when I have the time to research that town further.

It's unfortunate that Garden City isn't quite so nice, as it first seemed like to me.... (despite that it seems to be the biggest community between Colorado Springs + Pueblo, and Wichita)

[dumpstermcnuggets]

Originally Posted by JD.

P.S. If you're a liberal you may want to leave that out of conversations out there. Just kidding, I had to pick on at least one liberal today. But seriously, west KS is staunchly Republican.

Oh yeah, I know that'll be something for me to get used to(if I do ultimately decide someday to move there), but it doesn't disencourage me one bit from considering this state. And it's ok to me if the state is somewhat different than Illinois, since I know that not all states are the same, culturally(just as long as they don't continue to try to meddle on the evolution issue for once, lol, I'll be fine with adapting to the culture of Kansas!)

Anyways, I consider myself an independent, in terms of politics, but I don't really want to get into my political stances and opinions any further, since I'd rather keep political topics out of this thread. I just want to know more info about these 2 above-mentioned regions of KS.....

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by dumpstermcnuggets

Do you know anything about what the town of Salina is like? I keep wondering what the quality of life in that town is like, for some reason. Not to mention, it's has a decent central location in KS, not too small of a town, and it seems like living there wouldn't put one too far of a driving distance away from bigger towns, such as Manhattan, Wichita, and Lawrence.

Thanks for answering my question about Hays, it keeps seeming like a decent town, from everything I've read up on it so far. I'll read up more on your suggestion of Concordia, when I have the time to research that town further.

It's unfortunate that Garden City isn't quite so nice, as it first seemed like to me.... (despite that it seems to be the biggest community between Colorado Springs + Pueblo, and Wichita)

Salina is the biggest town in north-central Kansas. It is what I would call a regional center. The town is conservative and has about 50,000 people along with a small airport. The newer parts of town are on the south side, while many of the older neighborhoods are in the northern part of town. I-70 also crosses the northern boundary of the city. It seemed like a rather average town and is obviously doing much better than some of the rural counties that continue to lose College graduates. Salina also has a local branch of Kansas State University. Also Wichita is located straight to the south via Interstate 135.

[malarkey]

I had cousins who lived in Colby, can't say I remember much about the town though, but I remember their house and it was a Cape Cod that was very charming. also had cousins in LaCrosse and remember more about it~ in particular things that were there when I was a kid, which probably aren't anymore, like a trampoline park (!!) (anyone else remember that?)

My favorite memory from there is my Aunt's house was across a field from the drive-in movie, we could sit outside and watch the movie from her front yard. Couldn't hear it, but just seeing that huge screen out there on the edge of town was very cool.

Concordia and Keats are older prairie towns with really cool old limestone houses. My sister lived in Concordia for awhile.

Great Bend has a community college (or it used to..) but last time I was there the downtown had considerably changed from when I was kid. It's slowly dying. Sad. Haven't been to Hutch in years, but loved going every year to the State Fair, and we would always go xmas shopping there in December. It seemed big city to me but I grew up very rural, so anything with a population of over 500 seemed large ;-)

[W350]

If you get back out our way and want a Salina Tour, feel free to contact me. I am pretty sure Salina is larger than Manhattan. We have a nice mix of jobs available, from industrial manufacturing to health care. We are a trade center and a health center. K-State has a campus here as does Kansas Wesleyan and Brown Mackie. Wichita is about 70 minutes south of us if you want some big town adventures. Topeka is about 90 minutes east.

[Steve-o]

Youre in for one heck of a shock moving from Chicagoland to KS, thats all I gotta say. Make sure you visit the area first. IMO, the only areas of KS that are comparable to Chicagoland are Olathe and Overland Park, and those still arent really comparable. If youre wanting a big change, KS will be perfect. :-)

I just had family move to Manhattan (military reasons) and I was, well, bored those few days. Not much to do. Like I said, make sure you visit first.

[Plains10]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Youre in for one heck of a shock moving from Chicagoland to KS, thats all I gotta say. Make sure you visit the area first. IMO, the only areas of KS that are comparable to Chicagoland are Olathe and Overland Park, and those still arent really comparable. If youre wanting a big change, KS will be perfect. :-)

I just had family move to Manhattan (military reasons) and I was, well, bored those few days. Not much to do. Like I said, make sure you visit first.

Yes, most people do not realize that Kansas is a plains state and does not really have much in common with the Midwest core areas in terms of climate, crops grown, types of people, and political attitudes. The big difference between the Plains and the Midwest is that the rural areas in the Plains are losing population much faster than rural areas in the Midwest.
By the way, Prairie Village is the closest you will find to a "Midwest" style suburb in Kansas. The older neighborhoods have huge oak and pine trees with good walkability. It seems like the sprawling suburbs do not know what a nice large shade tree looks like because they plant so many nasty ornamental trees.