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Hi everyone I am hoping someone can help lead me in the right direction. We have the opportunity to move to Kansas for my husbands job but he will be working from a handful of locations.
Kansas City
Emporia
Augusta
Newton
Wellington
Can anyone reccomend a town somewhat centralized between those areas to live? We would ideally like to find a smaller town around 10,000 population max that is good to raise kids. We don’t want to spend much over 200k for a house on atleast an acre.
Also this may be random but can anyone inform me on the bug situation out there? I am terrified of bugs and the last time I drove through Kansas I had an alien looking bug stuck in my windshield wiper. After that I swore I’d never live in Kansas but here I am now haha. Thank you
Can anyone reccomend a town somewhat centralized between those areas to live? We would ideally like to find a smaller town around 10,000 population max that is good to raise kids. We don’t want to spend much over 200k for a house on atleast an acre.
Also this may be random but can anyone inform me on the bug situation out there? I am terrified of bugs and the last time I drove through Kansas I had an alien looking bug stuck in my windshield wiper. After that I swore I’d never live in Kansas but here I am now haha. Thank you
Take a look at this Google map All of your husband's cities, other than Augusta are near I35 of I135, 4 lane highways => 75-mph routes other than within city limits; congestion not a major concern. From Augusta, he would need to go N to El Dorado, or W to Andover to get to a Turnpike Entrance.
Several C-D posters from KS give Emporia a thumb's down. I have ~ 17 members of my BIL's family who have chosen to live in Emporia, from a Ph.D. at Emporia State University, biologist @ the dog food plant, nurse, Hoppy's, Kansa, Diddy's (now defunct), Caterpillar, & 2 @ Flint Hills Technical College. The pop. is 24,816. Not knowing where you're from, 24K might seem similar to 10K where you're at. I'm not familiar with Wellington, but it's on the extreme S end of his list. Of those listed, Emporia would be my suggestion. Note: my relatives have kids in school; AFAIK, the CD naysayers do not. There are a lot of activities a family with kids can be involved in. That # declines, as a rule, with lesser pop. Americus, pop. 885 is much smaller, but pretty close to the Turnpike, & rural acres/houses would be available.
I would chose to live in an area of the Flint Hills (Emporia) as there is significantly less agricultural dust than in areas of KS where farming is the major land use. There aren't many KS towns of ~ 10K; Augusta is one. I'm from Andover, ~ 8 miles W, where $200k would likely not get you what you're looking for. Might in Augusta, but I vote thumbs down due to the refinery heritage of my youth (now closed, but it is/was an oil town). Same likely goes for El Dorado, 13,141 pop., 2 Turnpike entrances. The N end of town has newer properties that might meet your wants. Not sure if the refinery odor (to the SW) is foul in that area. Could look @ rural properties E of town, El Dorado reservoir is out that way.
Insects? CHIGGERS. Never sit directly in the grass. That is a sign of your ignorance of chiggers & that you're likely not a native Kansan. Apply DEET around ankles/socks & waistline/underwear, Flowers of Sulfur in your socks, & keep out of the grass from April until at least first frost. Always an honor to be the first/last to have chiggers to scratch @ the workplace.
Chiggers are tiny larval mites. Although the larvae are extremely small in size, their bites pack a powerful punch. They’re so tiny that you probably won’t notice when they jump from that tall blade of grass onto your skin. You won’t feel it as they hitch a ride right into your home. When you eventually do feel them, however, they can be extremely itchy.
They'll make a beeline for points where your clothing is tight against your skin => underwear waistband, especially love private parts, socks/ankles. Once you've had chiggers, you'll know better!
McPherson, pop. 13,164, slipped my mind. It's on 135, N. of Newton. Take 2-lane highways 56, 150 & 50 to Emporia. The other 3 cities can be reached on 4-lanes. KC is a long stretch.
We lived there from 1986-1992. It's known for its baseball diamonds. Good schools; McPherson College has a good teacher ed program. Lots & lots of churches. Very few liquor stores. But, mostly cropland => dust. You do know Kansa means people of the wind?
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond that is very helpful. The only red flag I’m seeing now is the chiggers. If we get a home with land we will definitely be outside often and from reading up on them it sounds terrible. Are they everywhere in Kansas or more prominent in certain areas? If we keep up with our yard work is that enough to keep them away?
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond that is very helpful. The only red flag I’m seeing now is the chiggers. If we get a home with land we will definitely be outside often and from reading up on them it sounds terrible. Are they everywhere in Kansas or more prominent in certain areas? If we keep up with our yard work is that enough to keep them away?
Being out in your lawn is not nearly as dangerous as crossing an unmowed ditch. I'm not an advocate of lawn chemicals, & chiggers were not mentioned when I took Insects of Home, Lawn & Garden @ KSU.
An application of insect repellant around your ankles (could spray on socks before putting on) would be the first line of defense. We don't worry about them in our mowed yard. BUT, we don't lay down in the grass to tempt them. My recall of childhood chiggers seems to correspond with being in the weeds. I don't recall ever applying repellants as a kid.
Chiggers need shade and moisture. Close cropped lawns are, at best, a marginal habitat for them. They much prefer brush and long grass or weeds. If you care for your yard diligently, over time you will have fewer and fewer chiggers in your lawn.
WELCOME TO KANSAS. If you find that there's some activity/or social interest missing, ask around. We don't typically go out of the way to think others would be interested in how we pass the time (we have X-country skis & snowshoes, infrequently used in KS, but fun & could get you on the front page of the local newspaper).
Burlington might be a good place for you. I would also live in Newton, McPherson, Hesston, and possibly, El Dorado. I used to spend a lot of time in Newton and it seemed very family oriented.
I wouldn’t live in Emporia itself, but it’s surrounded by beautiful rolling hills which stretch north of Manhattan, east to KC, West to about McPherson, and south to el dorado. I consider that the most beautiful and interesting area of Kansas and I live in that region myself. The land is very fertile, but some areas of the flint hills can be very rocky. Getting south of McPherson and around Wichita the land can get fairly sandy as well.
For $200K or less, you can definitely find a good home and an acre or more. Just do your research on the town you are moving to, make sure it’s not losing population at a fast pace. Hillsboro, Marion, McPherson and a handful of other towns are great options. But many towns under 2,000 people are losing population. The exceptions are small towns that can be bedroom communities for Wichita, Topeka, or KC.
CAUTION re: Hillsboro & Hesston => these 2 towns have a predominance of Mennonites. Their public presence is pretty obvious, but the men likely rule the roost in both towns.
Hesston violence a theological dilemma for Mennonites | The Wichita Eagle
Until moving to McPherson (1982-1992) I was only aware of their benign attributes. Then a former McPherson College (Brethren) co-worker went to work for Prairie View, which provides Marriage & Family Therapy. She was astounded by the # of Mennonite women clients. She grew up in Newton, so she was pretty familiar with their public presentation; not spousal abuse. She gave no particulars, but IF you know what careers a woman is permitted to pursue, you might not be overly surprised to hear of abuse.
At least they can now go to Prairie View in Hillsboro!
And yes, that was 2018-1992 = 26 years ago. But Tabor College, Hillsboro, continues to espouse this way of life "The primary value of Tabor College is its desire to be a Christ-centered school. All activities and programs flow out of this value and are evaluated in reference to it." Ditto for Hesston College, a 2-year Mennonite college in Hesston.
HOW ABOUT THE AMISH, you say? Well, AFAIK, boys are still permitted to mount a stereo on the steel-wheeled tractors, but it must be removed @ age 16. In the summer, Yoder area girls in white t-shirts rode on a wagon pulled by a steel-wheeled tractor down to a creek on the Cheney Lake Wildlife area for a swim. The Wildlife area manager was surprised one day to come upon them swimming in what were now transparent t-shirts => a wet t-shirt event if there ever was one.
congregations at Yoder, Kansas, are rather progressive, permitting technology use other Amish do not, such as driving tractors as part-time road vehicles. An article in the Hutchinson News looks at a change which occurred in recent years– allowing tractors with air in tires rather than the steel-wheeled .
Rather than take their kids to the KS State Fair, they offer this alternative every September:
Community mourns child’s accidental death
By Mennonite Weekly Review staff
PARTRIDGE, Kan. — The Amish Mennonite community mourned the death of a child in a tractor accident at a Sunday school picnic last month.
Seth Miggiani, 12, was killed Sept. 5 when he fell out of the tractor’s front-end bucket in front of the vehicle’s wheels.
Four children fell from the bucket when the joystick that controls the bucket was accidentally moved, according to a news release from Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder.
Two of Seth’s siblings, Magdalena, 8, and Hadassah, 11, and a third child, Derek Schmucker, 11, were injured. Hadassah suffered the most serious injury, a broken pelvis, The Hutchinson News reported.
Seth’s death was ruled an accident, and no charges were filed against the tractor driver.
“However, the death of this child demonstrates why it is a bad practice or custom to allow anyone to ride in the front bucket of a moving tractor,” Schroeder said.
Lee Nisly, lead pastor of Cedar Crest Amish Mennonite Church, said it had been a tradition for several years for children to ride in the bucket of the tractor during a hayrack ride at the Sunday school picnic.
Perhaps the reason there are a higher amount of Mennonites at prairie view is because there are more Mennonites in the region then other places.
I personally have a lot of respect for Mennonites and my best friend went to college at Tabor and is himself Mennonite. You make it sound like Mennonite husbands are mistreating their wives to the point they need mental help, and I have a really hard time believing that.
Perhaps the reason there are a higher amount of Mennonites at prairie view is because there are more Mennonites in the region then other places.
I personally have a lot of respect for Mennonites and my best friend went to college at Tabor and is himself Mennonite. You make it sound like Mennonite husbands are mistreating their wives to the point they need mental help, and I have a really hard time believing that.
higher amount of Mennonites
This was @ the Prairie View location in McPherson. Mennonites weren't abundant in McPherson County @ that time. I see there's an "extension" of Journey Mennonite Church now in McPherson (on Euclid, in the old Dillons store), First Mennonite Church, McPherson began in 1945, another in Canton (Conservative dress not out of the ordinary in Canton). Very seldom saw them on the streets of McPherson. Usually only women wearing prayer caps & in print dresses (solids = "fancy") + kids, any boys were pretty young. For several years, I had my Dodge pickup serviced at the dealership in Hillsboro; spent some time walking around town.
The woman who spoke of this was Brethren, a graduate of Newton HS & McPherson College.
Does your best friend's wife have an occupation, outside of the home, other than teaching or nursing? What level of education did she complete (or was she not Mennonite)? Feel free to ask him about this. Perhaps he knows why Prairie View extended to Hillsboro? Did your friend sign the "behavior contract" to attend Tabor? The last time I saw one, there were a # of NO-NOs that most McPherson (Brethren), Bethel (Mennonite) & Bethany (Evangelical Lutheran Church) students would've balked at. Those colleges, Tabor & Sterling, are members of the Associated Colleges of Central Kansas (ACCK), students can benefit from expanded departmental offerings and special programs at any of the consortium's member colleges. I took several ACCK education courses @ Bethel & Bethany, we had many ACCK students in ed classes @ McPherson. I saw lots of blondes from Lindsborg; never recall seeing women wearing prayer caps (Conservative Mennonite) on any ACCK campus/event.
Wife has a nephew who graduated from Emporia SU. He was serving as a Baptist minister when he completed a masters in Ministry Entrepreneurship and Innovation @ Tabor (that name may have changed, as I read it is on-line now). Would your friend, an anabaptist, take the word of a baptist?
Some years back, I spoke with an old friend (1969 - 1975, timeframe) who worked as an inhalation therapist @ Wesley Hospital in Wichita starting in 1976. He told me he'd dated a woman from Hillsboro he met at work. She suddenly disappeared. He found out years later, that he had a son. I'm sure many Menonnite woman don't have sex before marriage.
I'm sure Tabor's "behavior" contract listed alcohol & partying @ 4:00 am as NO NOs. Do you recall this (happened in Sept, 2012, 5 years ago):
McPHERSON - Prosecutors say an intoxicated 26-year-old Tabor College football player was picked out as an “easy target” last year at a McPherson party and allege it was a rival player from McPherson College who “out of nowhere sucker-punched him,” starting an attack that ultimately led to his death.
McPherson County Attorney David Page told jurors Monday that former McPherson College football player Alton Franklin spotted Brandon Brown outside of a party around 4 a.m. Sept. 16 at a McPherson duplex and attacked him, at one point punching him twice in the head while another McPherson College football player, DeQuinte Flournoy, held Brown down.
Brown, a Tabor College red-shirt defensive lineman from Sacramento, Calif., died Sept. 22 from the injuries sustained in the altercation at the Sept. 16 party. A medical examiner testified during a preliminary hearing in January that Brown died from blunt-force trauma to the head, with alcohol poisoning a contributing cause.
Harger told jurors they would hear evidence that Brown and two other Tabor College players were disruptive, fighting with each other and others, during the Sept. 16 party at the home of Demarcus Trotter, captain of McPherson College’s football team.
Both the prosecution and the defense agree people at the party told the Tabor players to leave, and Harger said Brown and another Tabor player, Ilai Eteaki, were forced out of the residence near McPherson College. Once the door was closed, though, partygoers heard banging from the door being kicked and stabbed nine times, Harger said.
But both sides agree Brown had a blood-alcohol content of 0.3, nearly four times the legal limit of .08.
Alton Franklin found not guilty in beating death of Tabor Football player
McPHERSON, Kansas – Jurors on Tuesday found 20-year-old Alton Franklin not guilty of murder and manslaugther in the death of 26-year-old Tabor College football player Brandon Brown.
Brown was attacked outside of party in McPherson back in September.
He died six days later from head trauma.
Two witnesses testified they saw Franklin hit Brown. But the defense said there was no evidence that Franklin had struck anyone.
Franklin’s co-defendant, former McPherson player DeQuinte Flournoy, pleaded no contest earlier to aggravated battery.
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Chigger avoidance
