Between Lawrence KS and Dover NH (Wichita, Overland Park: houses, transfer to, high schools)

[askask]

Hi all,

I would appreciate your valuable inputs in deciding between Lawrence KS and Dover NH as living place.
I have got 2 job offers, one from Dover and other from Topeka. We are considering these two places due to their proximities to kansas city/overland park and boston resp. In NH favor, There are lot of jobs for my spouse in boston as compared to kansas city though not sure if it matters as much as he can work from home too. We have some community ties with kansas city which we wont have in NH. I see lot of diversity in kansas city as compared to NH which can be another factor raising our kids. We are not that outdoorsy or have not got chance to discover that part of us so not sure if NH features are going to matter to us alot. I see NH comes up as one of the best states to live but I find it cold from outlook itself. I seem to be missing what makes NH so desirable over so called midwest. Lawrence we decided based on either way commutes to overland park and topeka. Still not sure what would be best place between dover and boston. Weather is another factor, one is moderately cold and other very cold in winters

Assuming both of my jobs are similar in other respects, I am not able to decide which one would be better.

Thanks in advance!

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I doubt there are very many people in Lawrence, Kansas who are well knowledgeable about Dover, New Hampshire. You would probably get better response if you post your question in the General forum or City vs City forum, located after the state of Wyoming below.

[thriftylefty]

Lawrence might be a nice place but its kind of an island. Lawrence was settled by New Englanders and in the early days, Kansas was thought of as a New England out post. Yes the Winters are for real out there (NH) but the driving distances are short. I spent a lot of time driving up 95 and all points north as far as Rutland in the Winter. They seemed to be pretty serious about snow removal.

Sometimes diversity is not as important as you think. Its one thing to just see a lot of minorities and its another thing to see a few but many of the few are in positions of authority or middle and upper class. Lawrence prides its self on being a liberal town but they probably still have a black side of town. All of my kids have lived there at one time.

That strip of Highway from Washington to Boston has been referred to as "the cultural corridor." IMO From Lawrence KS One would have to first drive to Denver Co.( 8 hrs away) to even begin a drive with any comparable culture.

[KSinmyrearviewmirror]

I'm a Native Kansan, but the state has been in Reverse for a # of years. When I first voted, IF there was a Democrat on the ballot, it was someone whose beliefs would likely align w/Republican majority (Kansans haven't elected a Democrat as senator since 1932) other than on one issue.

KS is 98% privately owned => 50th in per capita public lands. Locals fought establishment of the Tallgrass Prairie Nat'l Preserve https://www.nps.gov/tapr/index.htm because it would take land off the tax rolls. Keep in mind that the majority of land in Chase Co. was owned by non-residents. The town of Strong City lost one of 2 "dining" spots, Pizza Hut (founded by Carney brothers of Wichita) during that timeframe. The county seat, Cottonwood Falls, < mile to the S, has at least 3 due to increased tourism.

Some years back, (we live in Manhattan, home of KSU, aka Silo Tech) we found ourselves in line @ Walgreen's pharmacy, behind a young woman w/Minnesota sweatshirt. As wife was considering a transfer to MN, I asked what it was like. She smiled, & said first off, there are 2 political parties . . . . laughter followed. She & husband were PHds, relocated to MN for expanded horizons. A common brain drain scenario for Kansas.

On education, I can tell you that in a job interview for science teacher, the superintendent admitted that he really needed a coach, more than a biology/chemistry/physics teacher. Most larger districts manage to accommodate education & SPORTS. Browse https://www2.ljworld.com , there was a recent article on sexual assault/harassment in High Schools being ignored, as athletes were the source.

Lawrence is an Island. Former Gov. Brownback used a defamatory term to describe it as a "Democrat (derogatory term)."

Caution on commuting, whether East or West, you're going to face the rising/setting Sun. There is nothing anywhere in Kansas to block the sun. People live in Lawrence, because of its Island nature, but lower-paying jobs => Commute.

Total balance of Federal Govt payments to KS: $2.5 billion

Per capita balance of payments: $797

Total balance of Federal Govt payments to New Hampshire: -$749 million

Per capita balance of payments: -$558

https://www.businessinsider.com/fede...19-1#hawaii-11

Kansans are averse to paying taxes, but eager to accept USDA/DHS $$$$ for ~345 Jobs @ the world's largest BSL-4 pathogen laboratory (no treatment, nor vaccine) for the containment of large animals. Basement has 3 "digesters" capable of consuming cattle, with room for more. Should a pathogen escape, the "cull zone" is a 250 mile radius.:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/kans...ility-aka.html


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtD8S5SnViQ&t=1s

[chiluvr1228]

Kansas has tornadoes; New Hampshire doesn't. That would be all I need to know. :-) Plus I don't think I would ever want to live in the Midwest. I want more of a variety in the topography. My son just drove from Florida to Colorado and he said Kansas was the most boring part of the long drive.

[KSinmyrearviewmirror]

Originally Posted by chiluvr1228

he said Kansas was the most boring part of the long drive.

You have to know when to stop.

https://www.amazon.com/Driving-acros.../dp/B0722KS1WX

Think of the journey when it was a "Sea of Grass" & your team of oxen pulled your wagon . . .

You can see forever on most of I70. Learn to gauge distances by estimating how far away the next grain silo is. Imagine the expansive view you have of any approaching thunderstorm . . . or just a sunrise, or sunset.

https://sternberg.fhsu.edu The Sternberg Museum of Natural History houses over three million paleontology, zoology, and geology specimens that document life and environments in the Great Plains region of North America.

At the age of nine, Sternberg accompanied his mother and younger brother to a site along Beaver Creek in Logan County where his father was working. There Sternberg made his first discovery—a nearly complete plesiosaur from the Cretaceous Era. https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/geor...ternberg/17251

By the way, Denver is named after James W. Denver, a governor of the Kansas Territory; the Western boundary was the Continental Divide. Kansans had little interest in tourism/gold/silver/recreational marijuana & ceded all that to less knowledgeable future Coloradans./snark

[Okey Dokie]

Lawrence has some of the steepest hills in Kansas. I am not technologically savvy to do it, but someone should post a Google Street View of 11th and Ohio looking west.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Okey Dokie

Lawrence has some of the steepest hills in Kansas. I am not technologically savvy to do it, but someone should post a Google Street View of 11th and Ohio looking west.

The view from atop Jayhawk Blvd on Campus is stunning. KU is a really stunning campus.

A lot of Kansas is boring and ugly but the part around Lawrence is really pretty. And Lawrence is accessible to the nicer areas of Kansas.

IMO Lawrence is one of the nicer college towns in the country (maybe the nicest in the midwest) and when you throw in that it is still a college town but at the same time is an exurb of KCMO it is a nice spot because you get the best of both worlds.

I'm sure Dover, NH is nice as well and I've heard that Durham is a nice little college town next door with sort of the same dynamics to Boston as Lawrence has to KC.

[springfieldcollegealum]

Lawrence is almost 100,000 people and Dover just around 30,000. Kansas City itself is racially more diverse than either Lawrence or Dover. Cost of living is slightly higher in Dover but NH has no state income tax I'm pretty certain. With Dover, you would be driving distance to Boston and the rest of New England and culturally there would be a lot more to see. Providence, Portland, ME, NY have many interesting things to see. Kansas City has a lot of attractions as does KU cultural offerings as well. St. Louis is about 4 hrs from KC, there's Omaha, and not many other larger cities. More snow I'm sure in Dover than Kansas. I lived in MA and actually thought it was warmer in the winter than KS. 2 very different areas-you just have to pick which one appeals to you most. Lawrence is more liberal than the rest of KS. 2 very different places.

[RadioSilence]

We in Lawrence have often been referred to as the "blue dot in the red state" although neighboring Johnson County (Overland Park) has become much more purple.

In Kansas, you have to be accustomed to the idea of driving long distances to places, unlike the northeastern U.S.. But, the volume of traffic won't be anywhere close in Kansas. K-10, between Lawrence and Overland Park/Lenexa/Olathe, is like a race track. Lawrence to Topeka takes about 25-30 minutes on I-70.

If weather is a factor, you have to get used to the concept of wild swings in temperature in the central U.S.. One day in January the temperature might hit 65. 12 hours later the temperature might be 10 and the wind blowing at 40 mph. Remember the unrelenting cold snap that overwhelmed the power grid in Texas last February? The lows in northeast Kansas in the same cold snap dropped to -15 to -20. The all-time record low is -23, I think. As much as New Englanders like to complain about their winters (snowy, clammy), I don't think they would trade with the plains.