Preferable State: Kansas or Mississippi (compare, market, states, beautiful)

[jas75]

Originally Posted by SonySegaTendo617

Also, you could say a lot about DeSoto County's development, as far as Mississippi counties go. Like how Madison County has gotten a lot of development in the Jackson area, DeSoto County(MS) has gotten a lot near Memphis, TN. And if wikipedia is right for its population, DeSoto increased from 161K in 2010 to 185K(estimated) in 2019. Wyandotte County(which contains Kansas City, KS) is estimated at 158K, and as of 2019 estimated at 165K. So while DeSoto(MS) has gotten ahead in population over Wyandotte(KS), Wyandotte is still well ahead of Madison County(MS).

That said, DeSoto isn't quite as comparable to the amount of development and population Johnson County(KS) has gotten.

DeSoto County is definitely seeing significant residential growth, but it is not particularly affluent like Johnson County. Only 25% of DeSoto adults have a college degree vs. 56% in Johnson and the national average of 32%. The "Johnson County" type communities in metro Memphis are the Germantown and Collierville area in eastern Shelby County, TN, which accordingly have much higher real estate values than DeSoto.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by BlueRedTide

Season Finale: Maybe new comparisons for another time. Let's End this Season of Preferable States with A Bang, Mississippi or Kansas. Give Your opinion say how you feel and let's get to the Results. Can The Underdog finally achieve the impossible and Win A Poll??



Preferable State: Kansas or Mississippi

- Preferred Location
- Brighter Future
- Best Major Cities
- Best Secondary Cities
- Topography & Landscapes
- Economy
- Higher Education
- Weather
- The State I Prefer is?

Preferred location: Mississippi. Even though, as a Central Plains and Kansas City native, I think the denizens of the coast sell the landlocked interior short, and I think that Kansas' location at the center of the 48 contiguous states is actually economically advantageous, Mississippi has a coast and Kansas doesn't.

Brighter future: Kansas, pace that coast and the casinos.

Best major cities: Well, as has been noted elsewhere over the years, Kansas' biggest major city is actually in an adjacent state, but it does have one with the same name within its borders. And the metropolitan area containing both is not only the most economically important part of the state and home to about one in every four of its residents, but it also outranks anything in Mississippi. Unfortunately, I didn't stop in Jackson on my travels through the state, so can't really do a good comparison with Topeka, but I did note that on the Interstates, Jackson had a blink-and-you-miss-it quality about it while there's no doubt you're in a city as you pass through downtown Topeka on I-70. Wichita I can take or leave, but Mississippi has no equivalent within its borders.

Best secondary cities: I've heard good things about Oxford, but on the whole, I think Midwestern college towns are livelier and more interesting than their Southern counterparts, and Lawrence — midway between Kansas City and Topeka — is one of the best. Manhattan, home to the state's flagship agricultural university, is no slouch either, and Emporia, Garden City and Hutchinson are all very nice places. Then there's Dodge City, which is also the stuff of Old West legend. This one also definitely goes to Kansas.

Topography and landscapes: West of Manhattan, Kansas turns flat and featureless, but Manhattan's about 100 miles into the state headed west, which leaves a good bit of more interesting topography and landscapes headed east. On my trip through Mississippi — we were headed from Kansas City to Mobile, Ala., in the early 1970s — I noticed when we entered Mississippi at night that I-55 was lined with evergreen trees on both sides. I thought this interesting, but when we passed through the same territory on the way back during the day and noticed what lay behind the pine trees, my reaction turned into one of sadness. Kansas City, Kansas, looks rundown in many places, but nowhere in Kansas looks as desperately poor as that rural Mississippi landscape did.

Economy: Kansas strikes me as having the more diversified economy, though truth to tell, I don't know enough about Mississippi's to make a really informed judgment here. Both states have large agricultural sectors, but Kansas also has some heavy industry in the Kansas City and Wichita areas and mining in its southeast corner. Mississippi has more interesting tourist sites, especially Natchez and along the Gulf coast.

Higher education: Rock Chalk Jayhawk! (And Go Wildcats!) I'd rank both of Kansas' flagship state universities above Ole Miss. (Full disclosure: I'm the son of a Jayhawk mom: BSN 1954, MSN 1970, the first Black woman to receive both nursing degrees from the school.)

Weather: Mississippi winters are milder than Kansas ones, and both states can get pretty hot and sticky in the summer. I could once give Mississippi the edge over Kansas in the springtime, when things fire up in Tornado Alley, but the Southeast has caught up with the Midwest for funnel clouds. Still, slight edge to Mississippi.

The state I prefer is: It should be clear by now that the answer to that is Kansas. (Its yellow-sunflower state highway markers are also among the country's best and most distinctive, up there with California's miner's spades and Washington State's busts of George.)

Originally Posted by 2000_Watts

If they were smart, they would. Although it's not really the worst thing that they don't. Kansas subsidizes Johnson county at the expense of the rest of Kansas and KCMO.

Originally Posted by jas75

Usually affluent areas contribute more funds to the remainder of their state than they get back, so that is surprising. I am aware that there is a lot of cross-border competition between Missouri and Kansas within the KC metro that has not been constructive for the area.

The "border war" actually did serious damage not only to the Kansas City metropolitan economy but to the budgets of most of the municipalities on the Kansas side, especially in JoCo, and on the budgets of the best school districts in the metropolitan region and the state of Kansas, Shawnee Mission Unified (which serves northeast Johnson County) and Blue Valley, the district to S-M's south.

I don't know why Gov. Sam Brownback thought that the workers at a Missouri firm he lured across State Line Road would move to Kansas with the company; commuting in the Kansas City area is a breeze relative to other large US cities. But because he didn't, he also cost the state, JoCo, the cities (especially Overland Park, Kansas' second-largest city) and the school districts the tax revenue they had been paying to Kansas when the firm was located in Missouri as well as any revenues the Missourians would have paid for working in Kansas. Brownback's "job creation" strategy merely rearranged the furniture while costing Kansas real money; things got so bad that at the end, the Legislature, which was controlled by the Governor's own party, finally overrode his veto of a tax hike, and when he resigned to take a post in the Trump administration, his successor lost to a Democrat in the fall election. That Democrat finally accepted the olive branch the Missouri General Assembly had offered repeatedly to bring an end to the "border war."

[Phil P]

Farming makes money, a lot of it. Wind and solar generate a decent chunk of income too. And Kansas is not the preferred state to hang out in if you're just chillin collecting a check cause it's cold and windy, so there's not a lot of deadbeats in trailers.

I think Mississippi has better scenery and more public land than people give it credit for, being in such a long growing season area is a definite plus, though weather wise it seems to be as bad as Kansas for tornadoes, big storms, and hurricane potential. Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia are better situated for weather in this regard.

In a nutshell, I think Mississippi is an example of a good piece of American real estate that flopped below its potential due to attitudes and governance of it's people while Kansas is a showpiece of a not very desirable piece of land being developed into something pretty great!

That being said, I think from 2021 onward, both have potential. Kansas just has to keep doing what it's doing. I think all the plains states are doing a pretty good job of making cities that are planned for good space efficiency and have above average downtowns. If Mississippi can make the town and city life decent, people will jump on it because of the real estate and weather, like they have for other southern states.

[prospectheightsresident]

I'd prefer Mississippi. Easier access to places I'd like to visit, food more to my liking, on the coast, better weather, etc.

[zenith32]

Mississippi ranks pretty low, if not rock bottom, on far too many metrics to make it a super appealing option when compared to pretty much any other state. Compared to Kansas, though, it does have a lot of charm and history that Kansas simply lacks, plus the Gulf Coast has been, in my experience, a generally pleasant place to at least visit along with generally better food and overall a much more tolerable year-round climate for me.



That being said, Kansas still wins in a landslide for me. As a storm chaser, Kansas has by far the better geography and road network for such. Kansas has the more vibrant larger cities and has the bonus of being right in the middle of the country, meaning relatively easy access to anywhere not directly along the coasts. I've also always been a fan of the Midwestern/Great Plains aesthetic, especially in the smaller towns.

[Sharif662]

[quote=MarketStEl;61141961]Best major cities: Well, as has been noted elsewhere over the years, Kansas' biggest major city is actually in an adjacent state, but it does have one with the same name within its borders. And the metropolitan area containing both is not only the most economically important part of the state and home to about one in every four of its residents, but it also outranks anything in Mississippi. Unfortunately, I didn't stop in Jackson on my travels through the state, so can't really do a good comparison with Topeka, but I did note that on the Interstates, Jackson had a blink-and-you-miss-it quality about it while there's no doubt you're in a city as you pass through downtown Topeka on I-70. Wichita I can take or leave, but Mississippi has no equivalent within its borders.

Best secondary cities: I've heard good things about Oxford, but on the whole, I think Midwestern college towns are livelier and more interesting than their Southern counterparts, and Lawrence — midway between Kansas City and Topeka — is one of the best. Manhattan, home to the state's flagship agricultural university, is no slouch either, and Emporia, Garden City and Hutchinson are all very nice places. Then there's Dodge City, which is also the stuff of Old West legend. This one also definitely goes to Kansas.

Topography and landscapes: West of Manhattan, Kansas turns flat and featureless, but Manhattan's about 100 miles into the state headed west, which leaves a good bit of more interesting topography and landscapes headed east. On my trip through Mississippi — we were headed from Kansas City to Mobile, Ala., in the early 1970s — I noticed when we entered Mississippi at night that I-55 was lined with evergreen trees on both sides. I thought this interesting, but when we passed through the same territory on the way back during the day and noticed what lay behind the pine trees, my reaction turned into one of sadness. Kansas City, Kansas, looks rundown in many places, but nowhere in Kansas looks as desperately poor as that rural Mississippi landscape did.

Economy: Kansas strikes me as having the more diversified economy, though truth to tell, I don't know enough about Mississippi's to make a really informed judgment here. Both states have large agricultural sectors, but Kansas also has some heavy industry in the Kansas City and Wichita areas and mining in its southeast corner. Mississippi has more interesting tourist sites, especially Natchez and along the Gulf coast.[/QOUTE]

Excluding KS City; Jackson metro's GDP isn't that far lower than Wichita. I strongly disagree with the blink-and-miss it quality. You can't miss it on I-20 & especially I-55.

College towns are going to be lively regardless of region. Other cities im thinking of is Gulfport/Biloxi/Meridian/Laurel /Tupelo/Columbus.

You should do more drives through rural KS than come back to this topic. Pine trees heavy area is on I-59 so I'm not certain what you saw on I-55. Then again your speaking 70s and I'm speaking 010s.

Mississippi have major industry in manufacturing ( Auto parts / Vehicles, Military Drones, Furniture,) , Stennis Space Center, Software Tech, & 3rd largest Casino industry in the country.

[kdb05f]

Kansas wins this on the OP's criteria and Kansas is overall better, but if I were going to live in one of these states, it would probably be the MS Gulf Coast.
Then when a hurricane approaches, off to KC Metro!

[Sharif662]

@MarketStEl,

I also want add that the interstate doesn't go into downtown Jackson.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Sharif662

(oops, a mistyped end-quote tag caused my post to be included here as part of the previous poster's text)

Excluding KS City; Jackson metro's GDP isn't that far lower than Wichita. I strongly disagree with the blink-and-miss it quality. You can't miss it on I-20 & especially I-55.

College towns are going to be lively regardless of region. Other cities im thinking of is Gulfport/Biloxi/Meridian/Laurel /Tupelo/Columbus.

You should do more drives through rural KS than come back to this topic. Pine trees heavy area is on I-59 so I'm not certain what you saw on I-55. Then again your speaking 70s and I'm speaking 010s.

Mississippi have major industry in manufacturing ( Auto parts / Vehicles, Military Drones, Furniture,) , Stennis Space Center, Software Tech, & 3rd largest Casino industry in the country.

Thanks for filling me in on the last part.

The two cities I boldfaced are on the Gulf Coast, which is the best tourist destination in either state. I assume here you were talking secondary cities in general, not just college towns.

55 had just been completed through much of northern Mississippi when we drove down it. The landscape, and Jackson, may have changed significantly since then. If it has, then it's perhaps also worth noting that the Topeka you see passing through it on I-70 today is pretty much the same Topeka I saw riding through it on the same highway as a child. (My grandparents had friends in Abilene, in the state's featureless western two-thirds. That town is home to the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, the only Presidential library in either state and probably Kansas' most popular tourist destination apart from those in the Kansas City area.) It was also the northern end of the Chisholm Trail, the path up which Texas cattle ranchers drove their herds in the 1860s to reach the railroad (the Kansas Pacific, which soon became a subsidiary of the Union Pacific) that would take them to slaughter in ... Kansas City. Kansas State Route 15, which passes through Abilene, was signed with "Chisholm Trail" markers from there south when I was young and may still be today.

I do, however, think that no city in Mississippi, not even Jackson, dominates the state the way the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area dominates Kansas. Wichita is a major city in its own right, but it doesn't have the influence KCMo has on the state's media (the lead NPR station for the statewide Kansas News Service is KCUR, housed at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, for instance) or culture. If you ever read William Least Heat-Moon's PrairyErth: a deep map, a book-length examination of the history, economy and culture of Chase County [seat: Cottonwood Falls] near the central part of the state, you would learn that there's a good deal of resentment of Johnson County among rural Kansans, or at least some of those in Chase County.

I do, however, get your point about maybe needing to drive around rural Kansas more. The small rural towns of the Plains states have largely emptied out since the 1980s, and what I might see there today might not resemble what I saw as a child. Horton, the town in northeast Kansas where my mother grew up after her family moved there from Omaha, reached its peak population of 4,049 in 1930 and has lost residents ever since; it now has 1,685 of them (2019 Census estimate). It had a small hospital when I was young; I'm sure that's long gone.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by kdb05f

Kansas wins this on the OP's criteria and Kansas is overall better, but if I were going to live in one of these states, it would probably be the MS Gulf Coast.
Then when a hurricane approaches, off to KC Metro!

Then back to Mississippi for tornado season.