Any Info about Manhattan, Kansas.... (Kansas City, Highland: apartment, rentals, movers)

[SubeeDoobee]

Will be moving to Manhattan, KS soon and wanted to get an idea of the area. I am looking for a neighborhood away from the college atmosphere and more family oriented. Would love to hear from current residents of Manhattan.... List top 5 schools (elementary, middle, or high school). List top 5 neighborhoods or areas to live. I hear west Manhattan is a nice area. I know I may get all kinds of opinions but anything is better than nothing. Thanks!

[Klue]

Have loved living in Manhattan for 15+ years. Major downside is that it is much more expensive than other Kansas cities and similar cities in the midwest. The recommended family-oriented neighborhoods would depend on your budget. What is your home price?

There are only 2 middle schools and one HUGE high school (aptly named Manhattan High School). So, not much to recommend there. I'd say the top public elementary schools are:

1. Amanda Arnold
2. Bergman
3. Marlatt

Keep in mind that every school has wonderful facilities, as the district just did major renovations to every school.

Regardless, my highest recommendation is for the Manhattan Catholic School. It's an old building, but it has an enthusiastic community of families and incredibly dedicated teachers. It usually has the best test scores in the city. The Manhattan Catholic School kids usually excel at the public high school, saying that it is too easy.

[SubeeDoobee]

Thanks for your response Klue. Yeah I've noticed Manhattan is a more expensive city thats why renting is out the option. My price range is around $215,000. From my research I was thinking more around West or East Manhattan around Turtle Creek highway/road(???). Not sure if East Manhattan would be too far from base during the morning rush. Is traffic really bad in Manhattan? I am coming from Austin, TX and no matter what highway/backroad way you go to get downtown its going to take an hour if your 25 miles or more away.

[Klue]

I'd recommending focusing on West Manhattan, because you will have easier access to K-18 to the Fort. K-18 is the only reasonable way to get from Manhattan to the Fort, and unfortunately it is undergoing major construction. It will be expanded and quicker to drive when it is done, but it is a nightmare now. It is always busy. If you lived in East Manhattan, you'd have to cross Manhattan first before you get to K-18. Depending on where you live, that may add 10 to 15 minutes to your commute. And one of the major benefits of living in this size of a town is LESS DRIVING! The streets are congested at certain times, but really, you can get from one edge of the town to the other in 10-15 minutes most of the time.

The neighborhoods on the Westside of Manhattan are more desirable and more expensive, but there are several areas that have a lot of military families and thus good turnover.

[ZTeam]

+1 on Klue's thoughts. However, there is a large difference in costs between the West side and East sides as well. I recommend looking at houses in several neighborhoods and then weighing the cost benefits of the East side vs the other benefits of the West side.

As for top-5 family oriented neighborhoods:

The Grand Mere village and Miller Ranch/Lee Mill additions are probably the top rated new additions, however that is reflected in their price also. Based on the budget you stated I would say these are probably out of the question.

The Highland Ridge/Stone Pointe and Scenic Meadows additions off of Scenic Drive are a nice, new neighborhoods that are more affordable. My personal opinion of that addition is that they are all "cookie cutter" type homes, however they do seem to have a good family feel and have the best access from Manhattan to the Fort (15-20 minute drive to main post). If you're wanting a newer home in west Manhattan then Highland Ridge might be the best choice. Be sure to check on the school distric boundaries first--part of that area is bussed to Riley County schools.

I would also highly recommend that you check out the "States Streets" addition. This is an older (1960-1970s) neighborhood between Seth Childs, Kimball, Browning, & Dickens that seems to have a good community & family feel. My daughter has several friends that live in that area and whenever she visits they all walk together to school, walk to each others houses after school, and there's always a ton of kids out & about playing & riding bikes. Many of the homes there are smaller and of course 30-50 years old, however they're also much more affordable and have the benefits of established yards with big, beautiful trees.

Another suggested area would be the Candlewood addition. candlewood is a little newer (and a little more expensive) than States Streets but with a similar family feel.

The central part of town between College Ave and Tuttle Creek Blvd is the college area. While there are some very nice, older homes in that area that have a ton of character--particularly to the south and west of City park--it is likely that one of the neighboring homes is a college rental property. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but by your statement of wanting to be away from the college atmosphere that may not be the best location.

East of Tuttle Creek and your back in the family neighboorhoods. The area around NorthView park is inexpensive, but rather dilapidated and run down compared to other parts of town. Further east, across the river off of Green Valley road, there are several more new additions which may be the best value in the area (nice, new homes for a lower price and lower taxes). However, this is in a different school district and will be a rather long drive to the post, so that is where you will have to weigh the difference in value vs the difference in drive time & school district.

[SubeeDoobee]

Awesome. Thanks for the useful information. It was what I was looking for.

[m1a1mg]

If you drew a line use Browning Ave all the way through town, I'd stay west of that. All the other info you've been given has been good. No one mentioned the Amherst Avenue area. Nice, well built homes. If you are a USAA member (military) try the Movers Advantage. I used it to sell my house here. Strange thing about this place. The housing market barely suffered at all and our house sold in 5 days.

New homes in Northview tend to be slab homes. Don't buy a slab home in KS. We had a tornado that hit the west side of town a couple of years back. No one was killed due to it hitting the west side where all the better homes (with basements) are.

[sdprncs24]

Hi All,

My boyfriend and I will be moving to Manhattan mid Jan. I will be a civilian employee at Ft Riley so we are looking to rent a home fairly close. Ive heard the west side of town is the most "family oriented" and quiet. Is that the case? We are 32 and 25, no kids. We do like to eat and grab some drinks after work or on the weekends so we would like to be close to these options as well. Can someone point me in the right direction? I will be visiting next week!! Thanks so much!

[m1a1mg]

As a Fort Riley civilian, welcome.

I like Manhattan a lot. Just the weather stinks.

I'd definitely suggest the west side if you're going to work on post. What are you looking for, house or apartment? Houses on the west side will be pretty high for rent.

Manhattan prices for rent are simply too high. But, unless you like country life, it's the best place to be in the area.

My wife and I just sold our house as we are leaving the area in June. We found a decent apartment on the west side in Candlewood for $880 a month. There are plenty of ways to search for rentals. Be wary of the rental management places. Some are good, more are ripoffs.

I've used Trulia and Apartment Finder. Craigslist can help, but make sure that the person you are dealing with actually owns the place. There have been a few instances of people getting ripped off on CL. Mainly Soldier's moving from overseas.

[sdprncs24]

Thank you so much. Actually we have been using manhattan property management, have you had experience with them? We are definitely in need of a home as we have two dogs. I found a couple of homes for rent in our budget, with the max being around $1400. I see that the rental prices are much higher but we are moving from Norfolk,va so it's not too shocking for us. It appears we would prefer the west side of town from the research and visit we had. It appears to be a challenge to find a home thats pet friendly however. My only uneasiness about the move lies in the fact that the surrounding areas seem so desolate and that will take some getting used to. Guess we will be planning a lot of trips to Kansas City to get a taste of "big city" life thank you so much!!