The Future of Rural Kansas Towns (Wichita, Hutchinson: mortgages, how much, houses)

[MackOnMack]

I used to live out in a small rural Kansas town a decade ago. I've recently gone out there again to see some old friends, but I also explored a lot of rural Kansas. My destination was Sterling. I came into Kansas from Joplin, followed US 166 to Coffeyville, then north on US 169, and then 400 all the way to Wichita. Explored Wichita, then went to Hutchinson, explored that, then headed to Sterling. Left for Lyons, headed east towards McPherson on US 56, to K-150, to US 50, to the freeway. Some other towns that I explored include Fredonia, Baxter Springs, Pitcher Oklahoma, Treece, Cottonwood Falls, Chetopa, Independence, Neodesha, Haven, Yoder, Hillsboro, Marion, and Emporia. Every city mentioned I did some exploring, yeah I know, I'm Crazy. I enjoy exploring, and I really, really enjoyed seeing Kansas, I forgot how pretty the rolling plains were, but at the same time, I'm glad I'm not living there anymore. That leads me to, my thoughts:

Positives:

The state that I live in, Indiana, seems a lot flatter than Kansas.

The tri-state mining area in the southeast corner of the state, mostly in Oklahoma, is up there with the most interesting regions I've explored. I didn't say scenic or progressive, I said interesting, and that's just as cool.

The Flint Hills are gorgeous.

Many of the small towns I traveled through were just really pretty, Fredonia and Cottonwood Falls especially.

Wichita has more interesting freeways than Indianapolis.

The speed limit of 65 on the two lane rural highways is awesome.

Other things:

There is absolutely nothing outside of Hutchinson and Wichita from the areas that I explored. The "larger small towns" like McPherson, Independence and Coffeyville only had a walmart to offer.

Many of the small towns seemed to rely on colleges within the city limits of the towns. How much longer will these colleges be reliable for?

The housing looked really old, and many of them didn't look to be well taken care of. There aren't many options for houses in the rural areas of Kansas that have been built since 2000, or even the 90's maybe.

I've looked up census data for many of the counties and towns that I drove through and all of the rural areas are loosing population. Some counties have lost more than half of their peak.

Are all of these special rural places going to be forgotten about in 30 years?




Like I said, I really, really enjoyed getting away and going out there. It's been 10 years since I've lived in Sterling, and some things do look different, but not in the way that shows growth. Hutchinson has gone roundabout crazy, as have many Mid-western cities, and it doesn't look like it's grown at all either. Other than the US 50 freeway and the K-61 freeway nothing seemed different. The mall looked even more vacant than what it used to be. We would go to Hutchinson at least twice a week when we lived there. Wichita has definitely grown. I have a feeling though that many small colleges are going to start shutting down. It won't happen that soon, but it will hit us like the housing market collapse did. All of the mortgages went out of control, I think that we'll see the same thing with small colleges. It seems that in a lot of these areas in rural Kansas, the only place to work besides a fast food restaurant, department store, a local school system, or a farm is at a college. Where do people that live in Fredonia work? Where do people that live in Cottonwood Falls work?

Rural Kansas is pretty and all, but the lack of modernization and the lack of convenience and quality of life would not sit well with me at all if I were forced to live there again. I'm a city guy though so that's a little biased, but even in Indiana when you go through small towns of about 2,000 people, things seem a lot more modern out in Indiana than in Kansas. Any reason why there's a lack of modernization?

Anyone that lives in rural Kansas I would love to hear what your response might be, and feel free to bash me if I might've rubbed you the wrong way, if I didn't, then great.

[MackOnMack]

Not everybody at once now....

[grs1]

i don't know what you expect. every store front on mcpherson is occupied, they have a local business community. look at the help wanted ads in the hutchinson paper, does that look like what you'd expect from a shrinking community? these small colleges will survive as long as their is federal funding for students to go to school. they don't have the enrollment standards anywhere near as strict as even the state schools. they have small class sizes with actual professors with quality experience. (not part time grad students) they already meet all of obama's proposals. do you think a chemistry or biology major from mcpherson college isn't respected? if we're going to educate as much of the population as is being proposed, they'll have all the business they can handle. i would love to here about your small town in indiana. you should have seen huntington indiana in the 80's, talk about a rust belt ****hole. i don't know if your trying to make yourself feel better about moving away or what, so let me assuage your feels bro: somehow, someway, sterling will survive without you.

[itsMeFred]

but even in Indiana when you go through small towns of about 2,000 people, things seem a lot more modern out in Indiana than in Kansas. Any reason why there's a lack of modernization?

In Kansas, a town of 2000 is a large, important community. In Indiana it's a small, quiet town.

The difference isn't so much the population of the individual community but rather the density of the population surrounding it, as well as the total population (tax base) of the state as a whole.

Indiana, population 6.5million in an area of 36,417sq miles:


Kansas, less than half that at 2.8million in an area of over double at 82,276sq miles:


You're comparing apples and oranges. Kansas is a large state on the Great Plains. There was never much for manufacturing or any other types of industry outside of ag.
Indiana, OTOH, has a significantly higher population, so not only are there more varied industries, but there is also a large population base to attract new ones.

[MackOnMack]

Originally Posted by grs1

i don't know what you expect. every store front on mcpherson is occupied, they have a local business community. look at the help wanted ads in the hutchinson paper, does that look like what you'd expect from a shrinking community? these small colleges will survive as long as their is federal funding for students to go to school. they don't have the enrollment standards anywhere near as strict as even the state schools. they have small class sizes with actual professors with quality experience. (not part time grad students) they already meet all of obama's proposals. do you think a chemistry or biology major from mcpherson college isn't respected? if we're going to educate as much of the population as is being proposed, they'll have all the business they can handle. i would love to here about your small town in indiana. you should have seen huntington indiana in the 80's, talk about a rust belt ****hole. i don't know if your trying to make yourself feel better about moving away or what, so let me assuage your feels bro: somehow, someway, sterling will survive without you.

LOL you're taking this way to personal buddy, classic city-data forums. If you look at all of the rural counties in Kansas, most of them have lost their peak population. This isn't Indiana vs Kansas, I am seriously concerned for the future of Kansas as the rural counties have lost half of their peak populations. I don't live in a small town in Indiana btw I live in Indianapolis, and I do not like Indiana at all so this isn't Indiana vs Kansas. And Fred, what you said about a 2,000 population town being more important than a 2,000 town in Indiana, which I agree with. How is it that towns in Indiana that size are more MODERN? They have newer schools, newer houses, and more businesses and shops here than they do in Kansas towns.

[MackOnMack]

And how will Kansas survive if they're losing all their people?

[grs1]

kansas is not losing people. we are gaining people.

[grs1]

oh and another thing, could a mod remove a forum rule about state vs state, and have kansas vs indiana? good fun will be had by all. every rule is proved by its exception sirs.

[MackOnMack]

Once again my friend this isn't state vs. state. Read my post. You're putting words in my mouth. My first post was pretty long, and only in one small little paragraph did I make a comparison to Indiana, and I was using it as an example more than a state vs. state competition.

If Kansas is full of people like you than I can see the decline in population in much of the state.

Johnson County and the Wichita area are growing, but all of the rural counties in Kansas are shrinking, look up the stats or continue to live in denial. Even Reno county, where Hutchinson is, has declined in population. I'm not attacking Kansas, I'm just curious how a lot of the state will look a few decades from now. Unless you have something meaningful to say I'm not responding to you on this thread anymore.

I did mention that people could bash me but if you're speaking nonsense and getting personal or taking things out of context that's a little unnecessary.

[grs1]

yeah i read your post, you complained repeatedly about how its not modern enough. we don't care. the podunk hogsheds you have in indiana are nowhere near getting you to a net agricultural state. you have no idea what modern ag looks like. you think your feeding yourself? guess what people waiting for kansas economy to fail, its not about to happen.