wichita, ks?

[mayfair]

Can anyone tell me about this area? Are there acreages available within commute distance? Cost? What is the water/weather situation? Crime? Thank you.

[gccrook]

Originally Posted by mayfair

Can anyone tell me about this area? Are there acreages available within commute distance? Cost? What is the water/weather situation? Crime? Thank you.

Yes there are. Of course, that depends on how long you want to commute. Within 30 minutes, probably around $5000 - $8000/acre bare land. Weather is, well, Kansas. Completely unpredictable, and always changing. Wind blows like crazy most of the time. Water is usually available in either rural, or well. Our well is great some are not so great. Crime? Don't know, I'm not into crime. OK, where we are at, about 30 mins out, we haven't had any problems. A friend that is in another direction, has had some problems with robbery. Same as any other place probably.

[TedH71]

I moved to Wichita 5 months ago. It took me a long time to be able to land a job..part time job, that is. In Jan, I will be working another part time job teaching American Sign Language at a local community college. You will be able to get a job very quickly if you have a degree of some kind or manufacturing degree since the vast majority of jobs here are working for aerospace companies or for the city of Wichita...there are quite a few farming jobs out there and what I like about this town is you'll be right on rural acreage just out of town. They're not necessarily that expensive...I've seen $1000-3000 per acre. Keep in mind, western KS is undergoing a severe drought so Wichita has been pretty much insulated from that since we're in the eastern part. Housing can be extremely cheap but it depends on if you're willing to fix the house up. Lots of houses seem to be on small lots but almost every house has a basement. My fiancee has a 2 bdrm house with a fairly large basement for $58k and a fenced yard. Our goal is to have me get a degree and move to a bigger house with acreage so that our unborn son will have space to play and I can try my hand at having a vegetable garden. There are many Mennonite and Amish farmers in the area bec land is cheaper than in PA or Ohio. There are several thriving farmers' markets in the area. Winter? Let me get back to you on that one after I've gone thru my 1st one!

What are you looking to do in Wichita? What kind of jobs and housing are you looking for? I have to admit I've not seen a town that has really embraced art like this one. Parks tend to have lots of artwork in them here.

[Windy in Kansas]

Tough for me to say much good about Wichita since I came from a small western Kansas town and don't care much for any big city.

Wichita and St. Louis proper are about the same in population, which is about 300,000. The outlaying areas are the difference between the two.

With size comes problems and it seems that there are more and more shootings and stabbings in Wichita each year. There is some gang activity but I really don't know how much.

It seems like there is road construction going on almost continually which gives those outside of Wichita a challenge when driving there. It seems lunacy to me but the city leaders are planning an arena near downtown which will add even more traffic problems as well as tax burden.

When you speak of commuting you don't mention anything about how long of one. To me more than five to ten minutes is a commute while many where I live commute to Wichita to work. I expect the drive from Hutchinson to Wichita would be about one hour. There are quite a number of smaller cities surrounding Wichita most of which would provide cheaper living but you would still have the gasoline for a commute.

Cheney Reservoir to the west and a little north of Wichita has quite a number of properties for sale near it since a storm hit last year and since the price of fuel has climbed. Haven would have a small town feel to it and not be too great of a drive. Yoder, west of Haven provides living among the Amish which use both tractors and horses.

Hutchinson has about 40,000 population. It is home of the Kansas State Fair, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Discovery Museum, annually hosts the NJCAA basketball tournament playoffs, has Fun Valley softball complex which hosts many tournaments each summer, and will soon be opening the only salt museum in the western hemisphere. Hutch as it is known has quite a number of grain terminals with shipping done by truck and rail.

While a few businesses in Hutch are expanding there are others that are downsizing.

McPherson north of Hutchinson always seems to be needing workers in a number of different industries. It is smaller and is of a really nice size in my opinion.

Land in Reno County (Hutch area) is still fairly reasonable. Two 80 acre parcels sold within the month for less than $1200 per acre. Of course the smaller the parcel the higher the per acre price.

Weather---well I'll speak more of Hutchinson since I live there/here. We have two or three snows yearly where one must scoop the sidewalks off. Other snows melt rapidly. On occasion we have some ice, but not as much as Wichita it seems. It usually is melted off within a few hours after sunrise.

Hutchinson has an average wind speed nearing 11 mph which would provide some wind electrical generation capabilities.

Normal historic average temperature is 50 degrees for this date and 27 overnight. Temps will dip below zero a few days of the year, but most January days are bright and sunny and in the 30-40s. Nothing real miserable for the most part.

Summers can yield some 100 degree days but usually have some breeze and not real high humidity. Most evenings will cool into the 70s.

Soils are pretty good in the general Wichita/Hutchinson area. Sandy around Hutch, but will grow great gardens with water and fertilizers. Some red clay a little further south.

Water isn't really a problem in most areas and is about 50 to 150 feet down. Water maps at: http://www.environmentalcareer.info/...mployerID=5101
If need be I can also provide you with will drilling permits and the results of wells or dry holes. The url I have bookmarked is at my place of employment otherwise I'd provide it now.

For the most part Kansas has some excellent roads and keeps them pretty well cleared in the winter.

Utilities are pretty reasonable compared to other areas according to what I read on homesteadingtoday. Propane around Hutch is about $1.50 per gallon currently.

Rural Reno county doesn't currently have building regulations according to an article I read recently.

Farmers markets twice weekly in Hutchinson, at Yoder, I think in Haven, Lyons to the NW, and possibly McPherson. Wichita has a farmers market but I don't know the operation to provide more info. There are a number of orchards in Kansas so the weather can't be all bad. lol.

For some local Hutch classifieds-- http://www.hutchnews.com
Hutch police blotter here to determine crime: http://www.hutchpd.info/
Hutch area has a home schoolers association, but I don't know more.
Chamber of Commerce http://www.hutchchamber.com/
Public library http://hutchpl.org/
Reno County web site: http://www.renogov.org
Governmental agencies job listings: http://www.hrepartners.com/
Kansas climate report: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/ks/climate.html

Kansas folk are really pretty friendly. Hutch hosts many conventions each year at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in part because of the local attitude.
Hutch has hosted both the LPGA and PGA tournaments at Prairie Dunes Country Club.

Anyway--welcome if you decide to head this way from Washington.

[big rockpile]

My Inlaws moved from Hutch a couple years ago.Said the Taxes were really high.

big rockpile

[Windy in Kansas]

The mill levy shown on page 6 of this pdf file show that Reno County is lower than some nearby counties and higher than others. Seems pretty well in line with the others overall.

http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/financ...et_process.pdf

What someone from another state must realize is that we have personal property taxes on vehicles. Not cheap and it is continual not just at first purchase. Sales tax is about 7.25% in Hutchinson and includes groceries unlike some other states.

Also one must realize that the cost of living is a lot cheaper than elsewhere,
but as well salaries are less.

Further, Kansas is a right to work state meaning that unions are not the norm. You can be hired and fired at will, basically without reason.

mayfair I read another post of yours and you spoke about rattlesnakes. Yes, much of Kansas indeed has them. I have been told that Reno County does not and I have never seen one. However when doing my job I do tend to keep my guard up.

[mayfair]

Thanks for the info. everyone. I'll check out those links, Windy- thank you for the great information. We're researching places with a lower cost of living, employment opportunities (and sunshine)--Wichita came up as a possiblity. I would not want to live in the city-- for reasonable commute was thinking 30 minutes. The jobs dh would be qualified for would most likely not be found outside Wichita.

[Ol'Reb]

I grew up in the area, if you are looking for smaller communities to commute from check the areas of Mulvane, Udall (if you don't mind a lot of zoning laws), Belle Plaine (sister in law lives there), Winfield (mother, and 2 sisters live there) or Oxford. I would stay out of towns like Derby and Arkansas City (my old home town). North of Wichita and south of Hutch is a little town I absolutely love called Yoder, but they are very cliqueish (Amish and Mennonite)

[randy in central missouri]

what we hated about wichita

1. tornado
2. hail as big as tennis balls
3. high taxes
4. worked at aldi's and we got robbed several times
5. the wind blew all the time hard
6. all the abortion protest when we lived there

what we liked about wichita

1. we met alot of nice people
2. thats it

[Mutti]

I worked there for a year and I liked the town. So easy to get around with the streets laid out in a N-S-E-W grid. We rented a really neat house a block from a great park for $400 a month. Lots of parks....and trees. Great library system. Friendly people. Good shopping. Just don't try to get anywhere near the aircraft plants when they are letting out from work!!!!! Only one tornado warning while I was there...heck, we get more than that here in so.MO. Had a nursing job they day I started looking. DEE

[Kshobbit]

Hmmm well I love Kansas. I have lived many other places but as they say "there's no place like home."
Good things about Kansas
very very nice friendly folks live here
lots of great scenery
lots of wildlife for hunting
property is pretty affordable esp. "fixer uppers"
not much in the way of zoning or the need for permits esp the rural areas

Bad things about Kansas
Taxes, not as bad as Illinois or California, but high and they tax everything
Stupid laws past by even more stupid legislatures
Republicans!!
Rednecks!
the weather: we are in the midst of a drought and not just western Kansas but here in southeast Kansas too.
Okay so we some some stormy weather but you can get away from a tornado if you are paying attention

PS
If you look east of Wichita you will find more tiny towns with much cheaper places to buy.

[Windy in Kansas]

It doesn't take many miles either east or south of Wichita before you start picking up more humidity which makes for discomfort.

As to the wind blowing hard I'm baffled. I guess "hard" is a relative term that each individual sets. Coming here from western Kansas I really noticed the lack of wind velocity. Besides we need a little wind to cool us during the summer, and a little wind in the winter to add enough chill to humble us.

As to hail, what place doesn't get hail? I would certainly agree that Wichita seems to get more than their fair share of hail. Hutchinson on the other hand very rarely gets anything more than a little pea sized hail. Having said that the storms seem to come as close as 8 miles before they dissipate or veer further southward. On the thread on micro-climates I also spoke of this.

One thing anyone should note when thinking about Kansas is the size of the state and rapid changes of terrain. Western Kansas received about 19 inches of average rainfall whereas south central Kansas receives about 30. This is very evident when you drive across the state. I haven't checked the rainfall amounts further east of here as I consider the humidity too uncomfortable for me to live there, at least not without air-conditioning as I do now.

Thank goodness that we all have varying opinions about nearly everything. If we didn't we would all want to live in the same place, in the same house, have the same spouse, the same employment, etc. Opinions are good so that we get a wide range of responses for us to consider. Good or bad, we should consider all.

Good responses with lots of opinions which is super. The bottom line is that one must use many resources to see if an area will fit their desires and needs.

[DownHome]

2 years ago we purchase 3 1/2 acres about 45 minutes from our house to my husbands work on the eastside of Wichita. It had a fairly new 30x30 workshop and a large 100 year old 4 bedroom home with a cellar for tornado weather. We paid just over 100k for it and I think that was reasonable. It takes my father-in-law 30 minutes to commute from the west side to the east side every morning to work. Literally you couldn't pay me enough money to live IN wichita or near it for that matter.

We live 15 minutes from a superwalmart and several other grocery stores. Taxes are not as bad outside of Sedgwick county and even better a couple of counties away which is what we are. Newton is 25 minutes to Wichita or Hutchinson. I personally think East (Butler co) and South (Derby) of Wichita are overpriced and high taxes. When we were looking we found the best deals the Cheney direction and way north of wichita. We found our home on Realtor.com. It hadn't sold because whoever took their pictures just didn't do it justice and I'm sure few people drove to the boonies to see it.

I personally think crime is a serious problem in Wichita. There are certain areas you just don't go unless you live there or have a death wish. Friends of ours had a random drive by shooting several years ago. They lived in a decent neighborhood. The bullet went through 2 of their outside walls, grazed one interior wall, went into their neighbors house and landed in her bathroom!! I had no idea a bullet would travel so far through things. kinda scary. Just something to consider. Alot of the nice nice neighborhoods are obvious targets for vandalism and usually come with large sums to pay to the local homeowners association along with a bunch of rules to follow.

We had to water our garden and I think that is just something to expect if you want to get produce. gotta run maybe more later hope you consider it it is a great place.

[Terri]

I see that you live in Washington. I have driven through Washington, along the coast.

Every July and August out here tends to be dry. VERY dry!

The springs are windy, but then so is Washington near the ocean. The wind DOES die down some after the spring.

We have a better idea of the weather, because the weather USUALLY comes from the west, excepting when it doesn't.

The winters ARE colder, but the sun often shines in the middle of winter, which is lovely for us people who are used to grey and rain. It IS grey and rainy for a bit every spring and every fall.

Land near the cities is expensive, but, if you follow a main road out of town you can travel fairly quickly. This brings the more affordable land within commuting distance.

The main roads are cleared of snow first. We like mud/snow tires for better traction, but, I have never seen people use studded snow tires and I almost never see chains.

If folks out here have a hot new ideas, they are not likely to talk about it untill they have chewed it over VERY well! And, if you talk about YOUR great ideas without first looking over every angle, folks will think you are too impulsive and likely to run off half-cocked.

By the same token, if you give advice it had better be something you have done yourself, because if they try it and it doesn't work they will remember who gave it to them. Likewise, they remember who gives good advice. Folks in Kansas are more cautious than folks along the west coast.

I came here from San Jose many years ago. It is easier to be a hobby farmer, here. Just remember, anything less than 1000 acres is likely to be seen as a hobby farm!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't take it personally!

LAstly, it really IS flat here! Thousands of miles of gently rolling hills, with NO! MOUNTAINS! If you want to see mountains, go south to the ozarks, which are beautifull but lacking in spectacular peaks and redwood trees. Forests, yes, and some pretty steep land, but not as many cliffs and crags. There are a FEW, though!

Living is good, here. I am in the general area of Kansas City, Kansas.