Cost of living, oppurtunities and personality of Wichita (Dodge City, Maize: coupons, apartment) - City-Data Forum

MattDen · 02-19-2007, 08:40 AM

I was wondering what Wichita is like?

What is the cost of living?

Are the people friendly? Do they have some new people moving into town from other places?

Do they have any entertainment districts?

Also, I like to run alot and wondering if the drivers are very fast or reasonable speed like other cities?

janetjanetbobanet · 02-24-2007, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattDen

I was wondering what Wichita is like?

What is the cost of living?

Cost of living is pretty reasonable compared to a lot of places. I think my son's two bedroom apartment rents for around $500. Can't say I have any complaints about costs here. Gas is better than most of the rest of the country.

Quote:

Are the people friendly? Do they have some new people moving into town from other places?

We're pretty friendly, I think. But in a city this size you get all kinds. People move in from other places, but probably not in large numbers. Most of the people I work with came from somewhere else originally.

Quote:

Do they have any entertainment districts?

There is an area just east of downtown called "Old Town". I never go there myself, but that's where the younger crowd likes to go.

Quote:

Also, I like to run alot and wondering if the drivers are very fast or reasonable speed like other cities?

On residential streets where you would be more likely to run, they are pretty reasonable. You see the occasional idiot driver on the interstate or on Kellogg/highway 54/400, but drivers here are on the whole, reasonable.

MattDen · 02-25-2007, 11:52 AM

Thanks for the response. Appreciate it!

Where are the shopping areas also in Wichita?

janetjanetbobanet · 02-26-2007, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MattDen

Thanks for the response. Appreciate it!

Where are the shopping areas also in Wichita?

There are a lot of stores and malls along Rock Road on the east side of town. You'll find just about anything you're looking for there. I recently couldn't remember where Office Depot moved to and I decided just to drive north on Rock Road from Kellogg and I found it by doing that. There are several other malls and shopping areas in different places, too, but that's the greatest concentration. There's a fairly new mall in the northwest part of town and an older one at Kellogg and West Street.

ljkbsb · 03-16-2007, 02:23 PM

We moved from Wichita last summer and I miss it everyday. There is every type of shopping and restaurants you want, but you might have to travel 30 minutes, depending upon where you live. Old Town is nice and the Sedgwick County Park has great bike-running trails over a large portion of land. We lived on the west side and the housing prices were so reasonable and the public school district was great. A beautiful city.

Ellie C. · 03-20-2007, 04:52 PM

Wichita is very affordable, but homes have not been appreciating in value the way the rest of the country has, so it's a double-edged sword. It makes it hard to move to another city where the homes are so much more expensive!

death_by_hammer · 03-25-2007, 07:10 PM

well, Wichita really isn't a terrible place to live, although people from Tulsa may say so...There are alot of areas that are nice, and like any large city, there are places to avoid...The North side in particular. Downtown wichita is currently undergoing a redevelopment anchored by WaterWalk and the new arena. Which is good, because many people who live here trey to say all this is unnecessary, but those are also the ones that complian about the city. There are big shopping districts in the east and west. New Market Square at 21st and Maize is new, and is very large. The East side has many places, and Kellogg to the west at Ridge Road has a good shopping area. As i said, downtown is getting it's head back on, and the population has been increasing fairly steadily. Accroding to some, we have some of the nicest movie theatres in the country "Warren Theatres" website: www.warrentheatres.com, but yeah...its not terrible like some think, but it's not the greatest, but it can only get better when people don't have bad attitudes and try to help, so anyone moving here hopefully has attitudes of looking forward, and can help contribute to making this city a better place to live!

cloud dweller · 03-30-2007, 10:21 PM

MattDen,
If you want a safe place for your family,try Dodge City instead of Wichita.Believe me,I know.

cky_1965 · 07-18-2007, 02:09 PM

I have lived in Wichita and surrounding areas for the majority of my life. I have only been to Missouri, SC, and Minnesota so I don't have much to compare it to but in my opinion you can find the good and the bad anywhere you go. Yes we have high taxes but we have good schools Except for Wichita schools. I like the Circle school district and we just recently moved to another school district other than Wichita. I can't say where because of an ex but I have heard this is a wonderful school district. When Wichita gets control over their gangs and undisciplined children then maybe Wichita school district will be good.

I live just minutes from a great shopping area - if you can afford it. The one thing about this area that could use improvement is it is great for people with money but offers very little for people with little money. However, Wichita does offer some very nice parks. Everything else is too expensive to take the family out for a nice evening to a movie or dinner unless you go to the drive-in and order pizza with coupons like we do. Unfortunately the drive-in is a dying business but hopefully Wichita will keep its drive-in.

Wichita has congested traffic, bad drivers, not very good customer service anywhere and muggy summers. But if you can find anywhere else that doesn't have these problems then please share the info because I think it is about the same anywhere.

I was going to move out of state but its hard when you are a single parent with no family support anywhere else.

winchester2 · 07-20-2007, 09:45 AM

Wichita I would not live in for any $, just two days ago, two cops were shot and three dead on 13th and woodlawn. I would live in andover,derby or goddard. but not in wichita. I was just shown a good home in a nice area off of duglas and the realtor showd me the screen on the blind side of the home that was cut and had been broken into. the problem with wichita is if you are in a good area you are only several blocks away from a bad area.
It is nothing for you to get broken into.
Crime in the above areas are nominal. so are the minoritys for what its worth.
Some people like a mixed neigh. I do not.
Call me what you like but the facts are the facts.