Possible move to Chanute, KS (Wichita, Kansas City: real estate, mortgage, house)

[davidhaile]

I expect to be offered a job in Chanute. I'll be coming from Colorado. Being 50 years old electronic engineer with 5 kids (two grown), I expect to live the rest of my life in Chanute if I make the move. I spent a day looking around and noticed that the population is mostly farmers and retired people who smoke like chimneys. I expect the older folks who were part of Chanute's rise will be gone in 10-20 years. Downtown will be a pile of dust and nails in 10 years. The farmers will not completely disappear. Chanute has invested in a new high school and elementary school and a great little water park for swimming. They are trying to attract younger families. Will this be successful? What jobs would people have in Chanute if they aren't farmers? The RV place has had many cutbacks. They specialize in 5th wheel trailers. They'll stay in business only as long as gas prices stay low.

My biggest worry is finding some like-minded folks for friends! Though my wife is an avid Beck/Limbaugh fan, I've drifted further and further towards the left and can't stand sitting around talking politics all day with those people. If I find myself in a situation where someone is grousing about President Obama, I get up and leave as soon as possible.

I can handle the real estate fluctuations and know that it is only getting cheaper in Chanute. I love the idea of not having a mortgage payment if we moved. It means that someday I can retire! I expect my oldest to graduate college and live near North Carolina. It is easier to drive to NC from Chanute than it is from where I live in Colorado.

Thoughts will be appreciated!

[Samantha S]

Sounds like you have pegged the place pretty well. The only question is, will you be able to stand it there?

[thriftylefty]

I think there are many people in Southeast Kansas who relocated there just for the money, especially in the higher paying jobs. People typically live in a multi-county community. Pittsburg being the "big City" for folks out there. Kansas City, Wichita, Tulsa would be weekend trips but some kids do it all the time to go to concerts. So if your 16-17 year olds say we're going to a concert 100 miles away on a week night it is not that uncommon .

It seems I remember a company used to be there that made Guitar Amplifiers and processors that were popular with many big named rock bands in the 70's, I thought Radar detectors were developed there too.
As far as economic prospects, SEK (Southeast Kansas) got a 8.2 Billion highway bill passed. I'm sure they told you all about if you got the tour (175,000 Jobs).

Pittsburg used to be the only solidly Democratic area from what I understand, but that may be changing. At one time Crawford County had over 50 different languages being spoken on the street due to the Coal mines. I would guess Chanute would have some of the Sante Fe boys there making good money for SEK, Parsons used to be a Railroad town also, (maybe Burlington Northern or KT)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

I think there are many people in Southeast Kansas who relocated there just for the money, especially in the higher paying jobs. People typically live in a multi-county community. Pittsburg being the "big City" for folks out there. Kansas City, Wichita, Tulsa would be weekend trips but some kids do it all the time to go to concerts. So if your 16-17 year olds say we're going to a concert 100 miles away on a week night it is not that uncommon .

It seems I remember a company used to be there that made Guitar Amplifiers and processors that were popular with many big named rock bands in the 70's, I thought Radar detectors were developed there too.
As far as economic prospects, SEK (Southeast Kansas) got a 8.2 Billion highway bill passed. I'm sure they told you all about if you got the tour (175,000 Jobs).

Pittsburg used to be the only solidly Democratic area from what I understand, but that may be changing. At one time Crawford County had over 50 different languages being spoken on the street due to the Coal mines. I would guess Chanute would have some of the Sante Fe boys there making good money for SEK, Parsons used to be a Railroad town also, (maybe Burlington Northern or KT)

How in the world would a highway bill create 175,000 jobs? Source please.

[grassnsky]

The amplifier company was "Kustom". Very popular in the 70's. CCR, Led Zep, etc., etc. Actually, Jimmy Page from Led Zep used to fly in somewhere and hand pick his amps. Not that that matters one bit now, because it doesnt. I have been there a few times. Blah.

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

How in the world would a highway bill create 175,000 jobs? Source please.

Wheels in motion - Pittsburg, KS - Morning Sun

This calulation has to be direct jobs and jobs created by better access to the region over many years.

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by grassnsky

The amplifier company was "Kustom". Very popular in the 70's. CCR, Led Zep, etc., etc. Actually, Jimmy Page from Led Zep used to fly in somewhere and hand pick his amps. Not that that matters one bit now, because it doesnt. I have been there a few times. Blah.

All the small towns out there have airports capable of landing private jets. quite as its kept I believe most of those towns have at least one or two Lear jets owned by some wealthy individual. Another bit of trivia is the major talent agency who booked Roy Clark as well as most of the stars on Hee-Haw was based in Coffeyville, KS in SEK

[BuckeyeBroad]

Why don't you move to NC?

[cindyks]

I don't know if one day in Chanute can justify the kind of analysis you've given it. I grew up in Chanute, then moved away for over 30 years, and returned in 2005 to take care of my folks. I see a thriving town that cares for itself now more than it did 30 years ago.

The Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum is Kansas' #1 museum. Main Street Chanute promotes and supports our town through several events each year. The Chamber of Commerce is quite active. The new schools are a testament to our dedication to our town, and the new Aquatic Center (opening tomorrow) looks more and more to be the huge success the city hopes it will be.

Add to that our incredibly enthusiastic bid to be one of Google's ultra-high-speed towns (see Chanoogle), and you'll see that we are far from dead or dying. We're actually number one city in community support trying to win the Google Fiber Race: Google Fiber - Who's Winning the Online Race?

My fiancé just moved to Chanute from Washington State and within a month had a job with Kustom Signals (http://www.kustomsignals.com/)- (broken link) one of the high-tech companies here. They are one of the largest manufacturers of speed radar and have been in Chanute for 40 years. Sierra Midwest is a company that makes PC boards. Everbrite designs, manufactures, installs and services exterior and interior signs and displays (Welcome to Everbrite). The Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center has recent additions and is more state-of-the-art than ever (Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center).

I don't think we've considered ourselves a farming community for many years. Downtown is not what it used to be because of WalMart and the strip center, but it now has some wonderful specialty stores and it will probably continue that way past the "dust and nails" ten year mark.

It actually isn't getting cheaper in Chanute. We made it through the recession and are back on our feet. The housing is going up, although there are some incredible housing bargains, especially compared to Colorado. We just bought a house for 75,000 with four bedrooms, a finished attic and a basement. Hard to beat!

And not everyone in Chanute is a smoking Republican, although there are WAY too many smokers (One smoker is way too many in my book) and there are way too many Republicans in the world in general... LOL.

I believe that on July 1st, the restaurants and businesses will be non-smoking by Kansas law, which will vastly improve the dining experience. Unfortunately, there is no Kansas law banning Republicans (just joking!... kinda... LOL)

I miss the restaurants of a bigger city. I miss the anonymity that a bigger city gave me. I miss being closer to a big city (it's a 1 1/2 to 2-hour drive to any big city from here). I don't miss the traffic, the polution, and the cost of living. I can live here for about 1/2 to 2/3 of the income I had in Kansas City.

The first year I moved back, I overheard someone on his cell phone talking to a friend about moving here from California. He said (quite loudly), "They aren't as backward as I thought they'd be here."

Nope, we're not... and we're also not that rude.

I've seen towns that haven't made it. Chanute isn't one of them, and isn't going to be one of them. If you move here, it might take a while to see the benefits and find your niche, but they're here. If you want to be an observer, you can be. If you want to be a participant, you can be that, too.

I wish you well in your decision-making.

Cindy

[ashleycat]

Cindy put things quite well. I also grew up in Chanute, left and came back. I would add that within the past severall years, we have had a number of young people (25 - 35) return home to Chanute, including two doctors and a CPA. One of our city commissioners is in his early 30s and our city manager is young also. So, I would say we do have a younger generation ready, able and willing to work with the older generation to lead Chanute into the future. I hope you do move to Chanute and grow to love it as many of us already do. We will welcome you into our community.