Wichita--Forced to move there in the near future. I need help!

[JmanAA]

Originally Posted by Enroute2KS

I am relocating with my wife soon. She will be there in a week and I follow two weeks later. We are moving to Wichita for work, both 30yrs old and have no desire for a picket fence or shrubs quite yet. I would LOVE if she could find a place so I could direct the movers to a condo/apartment as opposed to a storage unit.

Sounds like Old Town is the place to go. Any thoughts on what $800 to $1,200 a month can grab us? I am interested in above store front apartments as well as the developed lofts in the area. It has been my experience that the best places never end up on an apartment.com or rent.com site. They get passed on from person to person that know the area. Any thoughts?

Yes, Old Town would be an ideal spot for you two. When I lived in Wichita, I lived on the far West side of town (west of I-235), and I was paying $450 a month for a nice one bedroom apartment that was over 700 square feet. The apartment complex that I lived in was nice, but it would not be what you guys are looking for. I seems like you guys want a nice, traditional urban neighborhood that Old Town provides. There's several lofts and condo's in Old Town, so you definitely have some good choices. Old Town is the entertainment and Cultural center of downtown Wichita, and there's an abundance of bars and night clubs and other entertainment venues in the Old Town area (this is relative to what you'll find in Wichita overall), a few independent coffee shops, a nice bike shop (bicycling is becoming more and more popular in Wichita), a Warren theater (that plays mainstream Hollywood flicks and also serves full course meals right to your theater seat), one or two museums, a farmer's market on certain days, some nice restaurants (I've heard very good things about the food scene in Old Town), a couple of nice hotels, and so forth. Old Town is actually a nice area, and I'm sure you'll enjoy what it has to offer.

Another good place (that doesn't really have the types of housing you're looking for, but a great spot nonetheless), is the Delano district, which is located immediately opposite the Arkansas River (which has a really nice river walk, by the way) from downtown Wichita. Delano seems to be a smaller, more independent, more laid-back version of Old Town. The main strip in the Delano district along Douglass Ave. is interesting.

Another area you might like, is College Hill, particularly down Douglas, right around Hillside. That area is more urban, and has some nice urban style shops and such. Infact, the area along Douglas, between downtown Wichita and College Hill (specifically, between Washington and Hillside) is pretty built up. I think much of it is known as Artists Row, or something like that. That area has some good stuff going on.

Hec, even the College Hill neighborhood itself, though not as dense as Old Town, does have the feel of a traditional urban family neighborhood, and has some very beautiful old mansions. There's also alot of trees in College Hill, and the neighborhood is situated on an inclined hill, giving you some nice views of downtown Wichita. The areas East of College Hill feel pretty urban as well: East of Oliver, from Douglass all the way up to Central Ave.

Again, the area I would recommend as far as where to live, would be Old Town by a good margin. But, for the urban experience, I think those other areas I listed would certainly be good spots to check out in addition to Old Town. There are other nice areas in Wichita that I will post later on.

[Kansarado]

edit.

[PierreWY]

Originally Posted by kasbell4

I'm not a hillbilly, tattooed biker. What the hell is there to do for a normal person who isn't a gang member or inbred?

Obvious troll is obvious.

[Gypsy74]

So I recently moved here from Albuquerque, NM. I've lived in Utah, Colorado, and Connecticut, as well as abroad...I don't find this "There's nothing to do in Wichita", that true or compelling. Besides being able to go skiing/snowboarding...I don't really see the difference in things to do. I mean, Wichita has museums...it has a quaint "old town" that could be expanded and improved, but it's got restaurants, bars, and a movie theater. There's open spaces and parks for the outdoorsy types; the YMCA's here are AMAZING...I mean talk about a gym gone...BAD (bad as in Good)...I've never encountered a gym so expansive and big...and that's coming from someone from a fitness-centered state such as Colorado! There are stores and shopping malls...I really, honestly, don't get the whole...there's nothing to do here...yes, Wichita doesn't have mountains nor coast, and therefore there's no mountain activities nor coastal activities, but that's a lot of places in the U.S., so what are people looking for beyond that? I don't get it. For a city it's size, a fairly small city, it's got a lot going on for it...so what's the problem?

[allyaz40]

LOVE the title of your thread!! lol. That's exactly what I would title mine if I had to move there.

I have lived in Phoenix, Az my whole life, and was also forced to live in Wichita for about 6 months about 10 years ago for a job. LUCKILY....the job fell through, and I was gifted the opportunity to move back to Phoenix, lol. Never was I so happy to move back to the furnace temperatures of the valley of the sun! I never liked Wichita, and I really can't put my finger on why. Homesick? maybe, but it just wasn't the same. For one, I was an avid hiker, and try and find a mountain to climb there.....not happening, ha!

But, I do agree with some of the other posters....Old Town would be a great area to explore for young single people.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by Gypsy74

...the YMCA's here are AMAZING...

I agree. They really are nice. I thought our local Y in fort worth was nice but it had nothing on some of them here. The Y over on the east side by HBC is nothing spectacular but most of the others are amazing.

[knrstz]

Originally Posted by Gypsy74

So I recently moved here from Albuquerque, NM. I've lived in Utah, Colorado, and Connecticut, as well as abroad...I don't find this "There's nothing to do in Wichita", that true or compelling. Besides being able to go skiing/snowboarding...I don't really see the difference in things to do. I mean, Wichita has museums...it has a quaint "old town" that could be expanded and improved, but it's got restaurants, bars, and a movie theater. There's open spaces and parks for the outdoorsy types; the YMCA's here are AMAZING...I mean talk about a gym gone...BAD (bad as in Good)...I've never encountered a gym so expansive and big...and that's coming from someone from a fitness-centered state such as Colorado! There are stores and shopping malls...I really, honestly, don't get the whole...there's nothing to do here...yes, Wichita doesn't have mountains nor coast, and therefore there's no mountain activities nor coastal activities, but that's a lot of places in the U.S., so what are people looking for beyond that? I don't get it. For a city it's size, a fairly small city, it's got a lot going on for it...so what's the problem?

There is a big stigma about living in Kansas for some people. Wichita isn't perfect but its not nearly as bad as people want to make it out to be. Although not on the same scale as okc or kc, you can find most anything here as you can there. It might be on a smaller scale and less options but with the internet that's not as big of a deal as it was 20 years ago.