Is Fredonia, Kansas a good place to live? (Wichita, Salina: house, to buy)

[pattypaw]

Hi,
I'm thinking about moving to Fredonia. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the area??
You can only get so much information online - I'd rather hear about it from actual people.
What is the weather like? Are summers humid? How bad are the winters? Does it get big duststorms?

Right now I'm living in a small town in upper Maine. I did live in Cheyenne, Wyoming many years ago. We also took a trip through Kansas to get to Nebraska in 2018 but it was fall at the time. I've been looking at a house in that area to buy.

Thank you, Patty

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by pattypaw

Hi,
I'm thinking about moving to Fredonia. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the area??
You can only get so much information online - I'd rather hear about it from actual people.
What is the weather like? Are summers humid? How bad are the winters? Does it get big duststorms?

Right now I'm living in a small town in upper Maine. I did live in Cheyenne, Wyoming many years ago. We also took a trip through Kansas to get to Nebraska in 2018 but it was fall at the time. I've been looking at a house in that area to buy.

Thank you, Patty

Fredonia is a fast declining town in southeast Kansas that has lots of poverty and general dysfunction. I would definitely not recommend it at all. Housing is cheap for many reasons, better to be closer to a larger metro area within 45 minutes to an hour as those areas have far better healthcare. The weather in Fredonia would be bad much of the year, way too much heat and humidity in the summer, too windy and dry in the winter, spring much too short, and fall being the only salvageable season. Coming from Maine, the Upper Midwest is a much less of a drastic shift in terms of climate and culture.

[Okey Dokie]

I’m curious as to why Fredonia? SE Kansas is definitely a declining area.

[AnywhereElse]

Originally Posted by pattypaw

Hi,
I'm thinking about moving to Fredonia. I was wondering if anyone could tell me about the area??
You can only get so much information online - I'd rather hear about it from actual people.
What is the weather like? Are summers humid? How bad are the winters? Does it get big duststorms?

Right now I'm living in a small town in upper Maine. I did live in Cheyenne, Wyoming many years ago. We also took a trip through Kansas to get to Nebraska in 2018 but it was fall at the time. I've been looking at a house in that area to buy.

Thank you, Patty

Other than weather, what are you looking for? I guessing less expensive homes, which SE KS does offer. We lived in Fort Scott, so I am somewhat familiar with the area in general. The weather there is all over the place just like it is in many places. We are now in a town just off I-70, and we found it much colder in the winter than the far areas of SE KS, and also the wind is much worse. No dust storms, as that is more the NW or SW, mostly SW KS, as it is quite barren out there. SE KS has quite a few trees and also grasses/weeds.

Fredonia did have a pipeline leak in 2010, which sent property values down. They fought over it, and got a clean up, but some were still not happy. I am not sure where it all went. It was an area that we were looking at during that time.

I did like the SE, as we were able to have a garden, as they got more rain than where we are, where you can't grow anything but weeds.

KS, all parts, has illegal drug issues, which cause most of the issues with crime. Fredonia is most likely economically repressed due to the closure of an Amazon warehouse that was about 50 miles south in Coffeyville, which was thriving when the warehouse was open.

So, it just really depends on what you are looking for. If you need a job, there wouldn't be much there at all, and if that is the case, check https://www.kansasworks.com/ I would not buy a house without seeing it first, as we learned with realtors that they tweak their photos, which I feel is very dishonest. Maybe see if Fredonia has any sort of FB page, as that can be helpful to learn about an area.

I do wonder why you are looking at Fredonia, maybe less expensive homes, and still able to go into the Wichita area for goods and services? People in the smaller towns here can be standoffish in the beginning, but warm up over time.

NOTE: A lot of the big city people have no use for smaller towns, but I like them, as big cities - YUCK!

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by AnywhereElse

NOTE: A lot of the big city people have no use for smaller towns, but I like them, as big cities - YUCK!

I prefer plenty of rural areas, southeast Kansas would be a poor choice overall. Nemaha County (Sabetha, Seneca) is one of the nicest stand-alone rural counties in the state. I’m partial to rural northern US counties that have high caliber lakes, woods, and snow, Kansas has very little of those three attributes.

[AnywhereElse]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

I prefer plenty of rural areas, southeast Kansas would be a poor choice overall. Nemaha County (Sabetha, Seneca) is one of the nicest stand-alone rural counties in the state. I’m partial to rural northern US counties that have high caliber lakes, woods, and snow, Kansas has very little of those three attributes.

The cost of housing is a major consideration for many people. Southeast Kansas isn't all that bad. We lived in Fort Scott for about 8 years, and Emporia, KS for about 8 years. I actually preferred Fort Scott over Emporia.

I recently priced housing in Nemaha County as we were looking at a program for our son with developmental disabilities, and there was no way that we could afford a home even close to that area, and frankly, with the contact I had with the people I did there, I thought they were "snobby". Yeah, most of the metro areas are going to be "snobby" about the rest of the state.

We enjoy camping at the lakes here in KS, maybe not high enough caliber for you, but with the crowds, I think many seem fine with them. Woods? I grew up in MI, so I could understand someone from a treed area being ready to give it up. SE KS has trees. Snow, again if one grew up in an area with snow, it is not unusual to be done with it.

If OP can be more specific in her needs/desires, I can give her more advice. I did a lot of research on different towns in KS, and have resided in: Wilson, KS - Salina, KS - Manhattan, KS - Junction City, KS - Emporia, KS - Fort Scott, KS.

My state of preference is Alabama. If I could split my time, I would spend summers in AK and winters in AZ (both which places I have resided).

[pinebluestem]

I used to lived in Fredonia. It’s quite, clean, town but not a whole lot to offer if you are looking for something to do. They do have small town festivals, two lakes that are 15-20 min away by driving, and Fall River just outside of the town. You are only hour and 15 mins from Wichita, Ks or Bartelvile, Ok.

I won’t say it’s dying quickly either. Being the county seat, Fredonia is not going anywhere.