Tell Me: What Does the State of Kansas Look Like? (Wichita: live, shop)

[AnywhereElse]

I am from Michigan near the Indiana border and have lived in a few states and visited even more. If you are thinking that Kansas will be even remotely like Indiana in being welcoming and friendly or beautiful - think again. Except for the college or military towns, people in Kansas are not open to outsiders with the exception of a few towns that desperately need people to survive and I doubt they will be that thrilled that you are really there. My husband is from Kansas and we are more or less stuck here for the time being because of the economy. It's a nice to place to visit for the views but think twice before relocating - also, beware of people telling you how friendly a place is when they are natives since, well, you can figure that out. Indiana used to be such a clean state with beautiful green fields and friendly people - has that changed? I'd take Indiana over Kansas in a heart beat!

[popcorn247]

Originally Posted by AnywhereElse

I am from Michigan near the Indiana border and have lived in a few states and visited even more. If you are thinking that Kansas will be even remotely like Indiana in being welcoming and friendly or beautiful - think again. Except for the college or military towns, people in Kansas are not open to outsiders with the exception of a few towns that desperately need people to survive and I doubt they will be that thrilled that you are really there. My husband is from Kansas and we are more or less stuck here for the time being because of the economy. It's a nice to place to visit for the views but think twice before relocating - also, beware of people telling you how friendly a place is when they are natives since, well, you can figure that out. Indiana used to be such a clean state with beautiful green fields and friendly people - has that changed? I'd take Indiana over Kansas in a heart beat!

I never said that I wanted to move there, just go for a visit! Why would a person be unfriendly just because you're not from the area? I don't understand this at all!

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by plantlover

I never said that I wanted to move there, just go for a visit! Why would a person be unfriendly just because you're not from the area? I don't understand this at all!

Well, lots of places tend to be unfriendly to outsiders, including probably some in Kansas. But specific to Kansas, the reality is that it has a lot to do with the outsider. Visitors who are polite and friendly, and understand that a certain reservedness is generally the rural Kansas style (most take a little bit to form an opinion, which seems fair to me), will find lots of nice people. Southern-style exuberance isn't very common, but the more subdued Kansas style is its own form of helpful friendliness.

You see it in many ways, especially when you really need it. Like if you get a flat along some road in the Flint Hills. It'll take you twice as long to change it, because people will want to stop and help, and even if you don't need the help, it'll seem unthinkable to just blow them off, so you'll visit with them for a while (probably about the weather or the ranching, etc.), and then you'll be partway through when some more people stop and want to help, same situation. It just wouldn't occur to most people there to pass you in a cloud of dust. I know because I have personally experienced this exact situation.

Of course, the Flint Hills is beef country, so it might not be the favorite venue for vegans. Very vocal vegans, especially, go over like a ***** in church there. But if you like good steaks, the Flint Hills can hook you up. Some of the best you'll ever have in the United States, in my personal and only slightly biased opinion as a lifelong omnivore.

[kansas sky]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

You see it in many ways, especially when you really need it. Like if you get a flat along some road in the Flint Hills. It'll take you twice as long to change it, because people will want to stop and help, and even if you don't need the help, it'll seem unthinkable to just blow them off, so you'll visit with them for a while (probably about the weather or the ranching, etc.), and then you'll be partway through when some more people stop and want to help, same situation. It just wouldn't occur to most people there to pass you in a cloud of dust. I know because I have personally experienced this exact situation.

As have I.

Of course, the Flint Hills is beef country, so it might not be the favorite venue for vegans. Very vocal vegans, especially, go over like a ***** in church there. But if you like good steaks, the Flint Hills can hook you up. Some of the best you'll ever have in the United States, in my personal and only slightly biased opinion as a lifelong omnivore.

I've had no trouble as a vegetarian here. I'm sure being in Manhattan with all the college folks helps. I'm not militant about my diet choices, I don't expect anyone else to eat like I do or to cater to me, and I've had no problems with even the most dedicated carnivores.

[popcorn247]

Jkk, I understand what you are saying. I remember a couple years after moving down (1975) to the Miami area, I was driving to Naples, FL to visit some friends. About 1/3 the way across the state, my car started overheating. I had to pull over and wait for it to cool down. Even though my hood was up, no one stopped to help me. I eventually came to Monroe Station where there is a bar & gas pumps. I called AAA, but no one would come that far to help me!!! (remember 1970's). My friends from Naples helped me and a guy who was spending the weekend at Monroe Station put a new hose on my car. I felt so helpless and this was in the day before cell phones. BTW, I am a petite female. I live in south Florida, but it sure 'taint' the south!!!! I would be delighted to be helped and enjoy learning about people, love agriculture (I have a BS degree in Ag from Purdue) and would love to have a real good steak! Perhaps you could pass along names of a few places where one can get a nice steak dinner!

[kanhawk]

Originally Posted by lilred0005

Any thick forests in KS?

While most of Kansas has few trees, one area near where I grew up near Toronto Lake in SE Kansas has a small thick forest made mostly of black oak trees which are small oak trees and they grow on some of the rolling hills around that area. They grow very close together in some areas and can even be a bit hard to walk through.
Some of the hills surrounding Lawrence also have some rather heavily forested areas.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by plantlover

I would be delighted to be helped and enjoy learning about people, love agriculture (I have a BS degree in Ag from Purdue) and would love to have a real good steak! Perhaps you could pass along names of a few places where one can get a nice steak dinner!

One of my personal favorites (for food as well as ambience) is the Hays House in Council Grove, which is in Morris County just north of Chase. However, in general, steakhouses in that part of the world will serve good beef, for the same reason that Chinese restaurants in Seattle will serve good Chinese food. The population is accustomed to a high standard of quality and cookery in steaks, and it's hard enough to get people to part with their money as it is even for good ones--getting them to come back for mediocre steaks, simply not feasible.

As for the ones in Strong and Cottonwood, I am not usually up on which ones are best unless I've just been back home; they change owners now and again, it seems. Some restaurants around Kansas serve a great breakfast including a sweet roll, which means an enormous cinnamon roll. Fantastic.

With a background in ag, you will surely have little trouble connecting with people in most of Kansas. Of course, in the larger cities there are plenty of people who would be lucky to tell a steer from a dairy cow, much less know how to milk one; Wichita is aerospace/engineering country, for example, and KCK has its urban life good and bad.

I suggest searching around the net for pictures of the Chase County Courthouse, the Z-Bar and K-177 (which is the scenic route southward, now somewhat supplanted by the turnpike). Those will give you a taste for the area. Older buildings there are typically built out of Kansas limestone (I think most of the K-state campus is), which ages in a very appealing manner.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by kansas sky

I've had no trouble as a vegetarian here. I'm sure being in Manhattan with all the college folks helps. I'm not militant about my diet choices, I don't expect anyone else to eat like I do or to cater to me, and I've had no problems with even the most dedicated carnivores.

Therein lies the secret of getting along most places. It is one thing to be, and another to evangelize. Those who just are as they are, but who don't look down on others for different choices, should be fine.

[janelle144]

There were no trees here until the farmers planted them, now there are millions but no forests. They needed them for wind breaks, etc.

Kansas is farm country, miles of wheat mostly. Yes, Western KS can be boring to travel through but IMO Eastern CO is worse. It may be I am looking for the mountains in CO to appear is why I feel that way though. I also would not want to live in Goodland or Dodge just because they are on the high plains and get the worse weather in the state.

KS is 400 miles across so lots of terrain to chose from. I am in flat Wichita. When I go to the KC area I am always amazed by how hilly it is.

I like the Eastern half, more trees, etc.

[pioneer88]

If you're looking for areas with trees I'd go to google or bing maps and do an aerial view. You'll see there are a decent amount of spots in eastern Kansas with areas of thick trees. The thing with Kansas is that anywhere that it is feasable we till the land or use it for livestock. So you won't have a ton of huge areas of just trees with no breaks because there is some good soil in between the rocky hills or river bottoms.