Considering Hays, Kansas...the good, the bad, the ugly (Wichita: hotel, custom home)

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Jayhawker434

There are new houses and buildings in west and east Hays. Everything west of the golf course is pretty much less than 20 years old. There's new buildings on the east side of town around the hospital.

Its a small town with a solid but relatively low growth rate so its not going to look like metro KC. I grew up in the Hays area and always thought the west side of town was pretty nice, at least for the great plains. If you decide to take the job, I'd buy a modest house with plans to evaluate Hays and your career there for a year or 2. If you like it you can upgrade and if you don't you won't be trying to sell a big/expensive house. You could always look in the surrounding towns like Plainville, Ellis, etc too.

And most of those new builds were shoddy constructed and have issues already. I have several friends who rent in those areas and know families who bought into the new subdivisions in NW Hays and they're all crappy homes to be frank.

[GraniteStater]

Hays is okay if you're very comfortable with small towns/cities. Otherwise, I would strongly advise to stay where you're at in the KC metro area. Hays is anchored by FHSU, hospital, schools, and is a regional trade center for a very large surrounding rural area that is declining. Get used to dealing with bad weather there all the time as KC has "nice" weather by comparison...

[empires228]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Hays is okay if you're very comfortable with small towns/cities. Otherwise, I would strongly advise to stay where you're at in the KC metro area. Hays is anchored by FHSU, hospital, schools, and is a regional trade center for a very large surrounding rural area that is declining. Get used to dealing with bad weather there all the time as KC has "nice" weather by comparison...

Except we have a lot less snow, ice, and severe storms than KC. The summers are fare more bearable with the relative lack of humidity too.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by empires228

Except we have a lot less snow, ice, and severe storms than KC. The summers are fare more bearable with the relative lack of humidity too.

Wind, extreme temperature swings, and drought are more common in Hays.

[Jayhawker434]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Wind, extreme temperature swings, and drought are more common in Hays.

As I said earlier, I grew up in the Hays area and currently live in KC. I think Hays has a better summer but worse winter. The dry wind makes summer feel pretty good overall, it definitely cools off quite a bit more at night. The wind is awful in the winter though. Hays area has more sunny days year round so that's one thing western KS has as a positive in the winter but again the wind sucks. KC probably has slightly better fall and spring, it seems like spring is the windiest time of year in western KS.

Hays is a pretty nice place for the high plains. It shouldn't be compared to KC or even Lawrence but its far better than Dodge City or Garden City and at least equal to places like Kearney, North Platte, etc.

[SOS1]

Originally Posted by empires228

And most of those new builds were shoddy constructed and have issues already. I have several friends who rent in those areas and know families who bought into the new subdivisions in NW Hays and they're all crappy homes to be frank.

There are only 2 or 3 builders I can find in Hays charging exorbitant $/sq ft for new construction (about 50% more than average $/sq ft for homes currently on market). I've never seen this before. Like new car pricing, the new house is worth 50% less on the resale market once you take the keys? And the quality is bad on top of it?

Are all the builders bad?
What's the option to build a house with a fair profit margin and good materials in Hays?

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Jayhawker434

As I said earlier, I grew up in the Hays area and currently live in KC. I think Hays has a better summer but worse winter. The dry wind makes summer feel pretty good overall, it definitely cools off quite a bit more at night. The wind is awful in the winter though. Hays area has more sunny days year round so that's one thing western KS has as a positive in the winter but again the wind sucks. KC probably has slightly better fall and spring, it seems like spring is the windiest time of year in western KS.

Hays is a pretty nice place for the high plains. It shouldn't be compared to KC or even Lawrence but its far better than Dodge City or Garden City and at least equal to places like Kearney, North Platte, etc.

Lol Hays has nothing over GC except for the university. Without FHSU Hays would be just as bad as Great Bend. The university props up everything in this town from the singular good museum, the arts, and the Encore series. The City of Hays itself provides next to nothing for its citizens. The parks are bad with the best park being leased from the Kansas Historical Society, the local historical museum doesn't have much in it, but they're one of few in the state that charges an admission fee, and even the private sector entertainment is bad with the theater being outdated and dirty and the bowling alley not being much better. Kearney is in a different league from its Kansas Counterparts of Emporia, Pittsburg, and Hays. I'd arguably say that while Emporia is a worse college town, it's still a better town than Hays based on its offerings and what you can do within an hours drive.

Originally Posted by SOS1

There are only 2 or 3 builders I can find in Hays charging exorbitant $/sq ft for new construction (about 50% more than average $/sq ft for homes currently on market). I've never seen this before. Like new car pricing, the new house is worth 50% less on the resale market once you take the keys? And the quality is bad on top of it?

Are all the builders bad?
What's the option to build a house with a fair profit margin and good materials in Hays?

The people I know who have built custom homes out here here mostly brought in people from out of area. The local contractors are building the expensive and cheaply constructed messes.

[Mattks]

Originally Posted by empires228

Lol Hays has nothing over GC except for the university. Without FHSU Hays would be just as bad as Great Bend. The university props up everything in this town from the singular good museum, the arts, and the Encore series. The City of Hays itself provides next to nothing for its citizens. The parks are bad with the best park being leased from the Kansas Historical Society, the local historical museum doesn't have much in it, but they're one of few in the state that charges an admission fee, and even the private sector entertainment is bad with the theater being outdated and dirty and the bowling alley not being much better. Kearney is in a different league from its Kansas Counterparts of Emporia, Pittsburg, and Hays. I'd arguably say that while Emporia is a worse college town, it's still a better town than Hays based on its offerings and what you can do within an hours drive.



The people I know who have built custom homes out here here mostly brought in people from out of area. The local contractors are building the expensive and cheaply constructed messes.

Hays can't do anything about its location, and location is one of the few things Emporia has going for it. Emporia in the last few years has started to make positive changes, but overall, I prefer Hays over Emporia as far as the actual towns go. Considering its isolation and geographical location, Hays is a pretty decent town. I agree, FHSU makes Hays, whether someone ones to admit to it or not.

Hays doesn't offer much for its citizens, and I was always surprised by the lack of any decent park. Hays has somehow managed to keep its downtown fairly alive and active, but a nice park within a block of downtown would be a great addition to the town. Hays must have decent revenues coming in with all the local businesses, so I can't imagine thats the problem.

I think a near model town is McPherson, I love how they have the 2 park areas connected by the small river, not sure if its genuinely a river as I never noticed any water movement. They also have the waterpark right on the edge of the parks, and downtown its just 2 blocks to the west. On the SE corners of the parks they have baseball fields, and other sporting areas. They have tennis courts, volleyball courts, etc. A nice walking/jogging/cycling path that circles the 2 ponds and parks entirely. Not to mention, its almost entirely circled by residential areas. I would imagine a large percentage of the town population is within just a handful of blocks.

[Jayhawker434]

Originally Posted by empires228

Lol Hays has nothing over GC except for the university. Without FHSU Hays would be just as bad as Great Bend. The university props up everything in this town from the singular good museum, the arts, and the Encore series. The City of Hays itself provides next to nothing for its citizens. The parks are bad with the best park being leased from the Kansas Historical Society, the local historical museum doesn't have much in it, but they're one of few in the state that charges an admission fee, and even the private sector entertainment is bad with the theater being outdated and dirty and the bowling alley not being much better. Kearney is in a different league from its Kansas Counterparts of Emporia, Pittsburg, and Hays. I'd arguably say that while Emporia is a worse college town, it's still a better town than Hays based on its offerings and what you can do within an hours drive.



The people I know who have built custom homes out here here mostly brought in people from out of area. The local contractors are building the expensive and cheaply constructed messes.

Thank you captain obvious. Taking a college of about 10,000 students out of a town of 20,000 people makes a big difference in that town. Groundbreaking commentary there. Kearney would probably look a lot different without UNK too.

I haven't spent much time in Great Bend, Kearney, Garden City, Emporia or Pittsburg but I've been to each a couple times over the last 30 years. I don't remember Kearney being in a different league by any means. Maybe it is but I don't remember it that way. I also think Hays is better than Garden, Emporia or Pittsburg but whatever.

[empires228]

Originally Posted by Jayhawker434

Thank you captain obvious. Taking a college of about 10,000 students out of a town of 20,000 people makes a big difference in that town. Groundbreaking commentary there. Kearney would probably look a lot different without UNK too.

I haven't spent much time in Great Bend, Kearney, Garden City, Emporia or Pittsburg but I've been to each a couple times over the last 30 years. I don't remember Kearney being in a different league by any means. Maybe it is but I don't remember it that way. I also think Hays is better than Garden, Emporia or Pittsburg but whatever.

I would say your opinion doesn't carry as much weight since I've been in Hays for almost eight years now but I guess you know best.