Lawrence - family friendly? spiritual climate? (Kansas City, Topeka: best neighborhood, sex offenders, crime) - (KS) - City-Data Forum

raney03 · 11-25-2011, 10:18 PM

We visited Lawrence last week to see if it is where we would like to move to. LOVED the city. Great vibe. Really loved the area.

Question. We have four children, six years old and younger. We did feel a bit out of place as a young family in Lawrence. We didn't see many children at all at any of the stores. We currently live in the suburbs of Fort Worth so we are surrounded by kids everywhere. Guess it was strange for us to have the only kids in the stores/restaurants we in to. I know it is a college town but one thing we are hoping for is to have a community with young families as well. Did we just miss seeing the families or are young families rare in Lawrence? Will we stick out like a sore thumb?

Another question... can you describe to me the religious culture of the town. Good or bad. Just wondering what it would be like as we come from the Bible belt and assume Lawrence is going to be different.

Thanks so very much!

GraniteStater · 11-26-2011, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raney03

We visited Lawrence last week to see if it is where we would like to move to. LOVED the city. Great vibe. Really loved the area.

Question. We have four children, six years old and younger. We did feel a bit out of place as a young family in Lawrence. We didn't see many children at all at any of the stores. We currently live in the suburbs of Fort Worth so we are surrounded by kids everywhere. Guess it was strange for us to have the only kids in the stores/restaurants we in to. I know it is a college town but one thing we are hoping for is to have a community with young families as well. Did we just miss seeing the families or are young families rare in Lawrence? Will we stick out like a sore thumb?

Another question... can you describe to me the religious culture of the town. Good or bad. Just wondering what it would be like as we come from the Bible belt and assume Lawrence is going to be different.

Thanks so very much!

Lawrence has a mixture of religious and secular residents like any other place. Most churches are mainline Christian or Catholic. Many live in Lawrence and work in the KC metro area or Topeka. During the summer, the population drops by 20-30K as many of the college students leave. In terms of demographics, Lawrence is very similar to other college towns in the Midwest. I don't know how you could compare it to a large metro area like Ft. Worth. Texas has one of the youngest average ages of its population in the US so most other states are going to have an older population by comparison.

hanger · 11-27-2011, 09:28 AM

I've known several young families in Lawrence.........I think you missed the family oriented events. If you decide to move to Lawrence you'll find all kinds of things to do as a family once you get settled into the life.

denverian · 11-29-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raney03

Another question... can you describe to me the religious culture of the town. Good or bad. Just wondering what it would be like as we come from the Bible belt and assume Lawrence is going to be different.

Thanks so very much!

Well, "good or bad" is pretty subjective. I lived in Lawrence for 2 or so years during college and there seemed to be an average number of churches, but I don't recall there being much of a "Bible Belt" vibe, or "Bible literalist" types. The city is the most (if not only) liberal and gay friendly city in Kansas. I also knew of Pagan organizations, and there were a lot of Atheists/Agnostics. Mainline Protestant churches are probably more liberal/gay friendly in Lawrence.

AnywhereElse · 12-01-2011, 05:14 AM

This is from the main page: //www.city-data.com/city/Lawrence-Kansas.html It would be my last choice in cities to live in here. You also need to check the sexual offenders list on that city: KBI: Offender Registry - Search Help (http://www.accesskansas.org/kbi/offender_registry/help.html - broken link) which will give you an idea of the types of offenders you have there.

hanger · 12-03-2011, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnywhereElse

It would be my last choice in cities to live in here. You also need to check the sexual offenders list on that city which will give you an idea of the types of offenders you have there.

REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU SAY THAT ABOUT LAWRENCE FROM ONE ARTICLE????????????????????

Your going to find evil people whereever you live!!!!!!! That is why CCP's where reinstated-at least that's my excuse!!

.............AND WHERE DO YOU LIVE AT "ANYWHEREELSE"???????????????

AnywhereElse · 12-05-2011, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanger

REALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU SAY THAT ABOUT LAWRENCE FROM ONE ARTICLE????????????????????

Your going to find evil people whereever you live!!!!!!! That is why CCP's where reinstated-at least that's my excuse!!

.............AND WHERE DO YOU LIVE AT "ANYWHEREELSE"???????????????

Do you live in Kansas? I surely did not get it from any one article since the city is in the news quite often. I am familiar with many cities in Kansas and have lived in a few of them and Lawrence would be my last choice and Salina, KS my first choice especially for "family" friendly. True, that you find "evil" people, if you mean child molesters and other criminals everywhere, but it is the type of crime and number of individuals that one looks at when they have children and want to try to gain a little edge on helping to protect them. A lot of people take into consideration the number of people convicted of child molestation and want to know where the people are living and this is easy enough to compare if using the listing, to establish a "safer" choice. Other crimes count also. I was shocked at the statistics on Lawrence! If you want a family-oriented city where people from the Bible-belt would feel comfortable, really I think there are probably a few better choices here than Lawrence.

GraniteStater · 12-05-2011, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnywhereElse

Do you live in Kansas? I surely did not get it from any one article since the city is in the news quite often. I am familiar with many cities in Kansas and have lived in a few of them and Lawrence would be my last choice and Salina, KS my first choice especially for "family" friendly. True, that you find "evil" people, if you mean child molesters and other criminals everywhere, but it is the type of crime and number of individuals that one looks at when they have children and want to try to gain a little edge on helping to protect them. A lot of people take into consideration the number of people convicted of child molestation and want to know where the people are living and this is easy enough to compare if using the listing, to establish a "safer" choice. Other crimes count also. I was shocked at the statistics on Lawrence! If you want a family-oriented city where people from the Bible-belt would feel comfortable, really I think there are probably a few better choices here than Lawrence.

What does being from the Bible Belt have anything to do with being family friendly? You do realize that statement is making lots of inferences as well as pigeonholes a certain viewpoint, correct?

denverian · 12-05-2011, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

What does being from the Bible Belt have anything to do with being family friendly? You do realize that statement is making lots of inferences as well as pigeonholes a certain viewpoint, correct?

I was going to say the same thing. I live in a very family friendly neighborhood, but it's not at all "Bible Belt". The majority of people in my neighborhood/city don't go to any church at all. Yet I have good schools for my kids, lots of kid activities, and lots of other kids for my kids to play with. And families who help out other families.

midwesterneratheart · 12-11-2011, 06:05 PM

I wonder what area of town you primarily spent your time in Lawrence at? I agree there would be many small families there, but Lawrence is much smaller than Ft. Worth and you said you live in the suburbs which are usually full of families. There are your many kinds of churches there and getting involved in one you know I am sure is a good way to meets other families. I guess one can make it as "bible belty" as one wants.

You would be close to Kansas City too which would provide more things to do since you are used to being in a metro area, but you wouldn't have to live in one.

About all this sex offender stuff in the couple of posts. I grew up in Salina and when I was in grade school, a man tried to lure me into his car. This was in my neighborhood which was the best neighborhood my parents could afford. I said no and ran which is what I had been taught. Teaching your children some street smarts is better than worrying about the number of sex offenders some town has in my opinion...And I even went to college in Lawrence so I have it all covered...Can't say anyone came up to me in Lawrence now if that's the way it works....

Besides that, there really isn't that much to do in Salina compared to Lawrence. And we were involved in church and me in sports. Fortunately, I did well enough in a sport where I got to travel to other places. That saved me until I could make my own choices...and I left. I think Lawrence would be a fun choice!