Your Idea of the Best Small Town

[Liese]

Hi Everyone, Scattered as we all are I thought it might be interesting and enlightening to get your ideas of the best small town to retire to. I'm thinking that 10 or so more years of homestead farming might be all I'll be able to physically handle - so am wondering about buying a small home or duplex to "retire" to but where? I want a place where one can still walk out the door, catch a bus or even better yet, walk a couple of blocks to a nice grocery, the library, maybe someday I might not want or can't use a car. If this town had a college then having a duplex means having not only a little rent money but contact with younger people to keep me young. Otherwise I might like to run a little B&B, for the people contact, not sure there's much money in it. So, where does this town exist other than in my fantasies? Do you know any places you think are holding up well to "suburbanization"? Meanwhile, best to all, hope you are having a great weekend. Liese

[SolarGary]

Hi,
You might have a look at Livingston Montana.

Gary

[Triffin]

One in a temperate climate with
water access and rail service ..

Just in case the PO people are right ..

Triff ..

[Alice In TX/MO]

Look at the maps on the Amtrak website. I was hoping to use train travel regularly to commute, but getting back and forth from our place Texas to our place in Missouri via Amtrak isn't easy!! It's a three hour drive to a station at the Texas end, and a two hour drive at 2:00 AM in Missouri.

[Farmerwilly2]

I don't really want to live anywhere but where I am. There will come a time when I can't farm anymore, but I will still have a greenhouse, garden and critters of some sort. I figure if I get to the point where I can't do that what matter where I am. I can listen to music till I'm deaf, read and watch film till I'm blind, or whittle till I can't hold my knife. That still leaves sex.

[chickenista]

A little guest cottage in a college town is a good idea. That way visiting parents can have a place to stay if they come up for a birthday weekend. Especially if you can provide fresh food out of the backyard garden.
And a good point about AMTRAK.
There are some reasonable (read cheap) places left in the small towns around Greenville,SC. Nice area and Greenville itself is huge now with really nifty shopping..I don't have any money, but I like to drive by and drool over the names of the stores.
Also, very cultural with concerts and the arts...big park in downtown that has a waterfall. All in all pretty cool place and still fairly inexpensive within 30 minutes of the hub.

[tinknal]

One where everyone knows one another but minds their own business.

[cheapskate]

Hesston Kansas is a truly nice town. Excellent services, people, businesses. If I was thinking about a move, Hesston would be considered.

http://www.hesstonks.org/

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by cheapskate

Hesston Kansas is a truly nice town. Excellent services, people, businesses. If I was thinking about a move, Hesston would be considered.

http://www.hesstonks.org/

Is that where they make the great haying equipment?

[Liese]

OKay, Livingston, MT and Greenville SC area - will look into these areas. Please keep the ideas coming but Triffin what you posted has sort of flown over our heads, don't get it - sorry. By the way we have a 40 acres , to my way of thinking there will come a time when it would be better to see it in the hands of younger people who will/can steward it with care.

[cheapskate]

Originally Posted by tinknal

Is that where they make the great haying equipment?

Yes it is. Still going strong. Now the facilities belong to AGCO and they are producing hay and forage equipment for the Hesston, Massey, Agco names. I think there are other names too but can't think of them. I also think they are making some combines there too.

Hesston is just a really nice town with thriving businesses, forward thinking leadership and good people. I don't live far from there and my older brother lives there with his wife and young boys.

[Triffin]

but Triffin what you posted has sort of flown over our heads, don't get it - sorry.


If you have any concerns about the eventual decline of
fossil fuels then locating in a small town that has adequate
rail service and/or with a navigable body of water ie river or
coastal area will ensure that supplies can still be made available to you

Triff ..

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by cheapskate

Yes it is. Still going strong. Now the facilities belong to AGCO and they are producing hay and forage equipment for the Hesston, Massey, Agco names. I think there are other names too but can't think of them. I also think they are making some combines there too.

Hesston is just a really nice town with thriving businesses, forward thinking leadership and good people. I don't live far from there and my older brother lives there with his wife and young boys.

We bought a swather and 6 ton stacker back in the 70s. I was just a kid but I loved operating the swather with the trim steering.

[Windy in Kansas]

What exactly is your definition of a small town. For me that means a town under a population of 1,000. I don't know any towns that size that would have bus service let alone a college.

I guess I question if any small town would have bus service? I guess it all has to do with the definition.

To me a population center becomes a city if over 1,000.

Hutchinson, Kansas has had bus service only a few years and has a population of 40,000 plus. Amtrak service both westbound and eastbound.
It has a junior college, several grocery stores, a Super Walmart, Target, Super K-mart, a lot of independent shops and stores, some tourist attractions, farmer's markets two days per week,nice tree lined streets, a great hospital and medical services in several locations. Home of the Kansas State Fair and a lot of nice friendly residents that welcome visitors. Not far from Wichita if you like a taste of the larger city once in awhile. Closer is an Amish settlement of Yoder, Kansas

Now open, the only underground Salt Museum in the western hemisphere.

Does any of this pique your interest?

[Liese]

Okay, Hutchinson - will check this out. Gary, Livingston's sunshine numbers look kind of low would you agree with the city data website? For definition sake I would say that to us a small town is about 5-8k, at 1k I would call that a village and therefore I wouldn't expect much in the way of services. But you know, when you are older and would rather walk or bus then drive it's great because then independence is still there rather. Our county is quite rural, the town dried up and people really have to rely on family to schlep them around which is great... if there is family. I want to be vital and independent right into my 90's just like my grandmother. Take classes, volunteer and be an active member of society - not stuck at home watching the tele like the folks I take meals to.

[Sand Flat Bob]

Originally Posted by cheapskate

Hesston Kansas is a truly nice town. Excellent services, people, businesses. If I was thinking about a move, Hesston would be considered.

http://www.hesstonks.org/

I second Hesston, Kansas. My sister lived there till she passed away. Very clean town and close to major medical and shopping in Wichita. Would be an excellent town to retire in.

Bob

[stonykill]

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

What exactly is your definition of a small town. For me that means a town under a population of 1,000. I don't know any towns that size that would have bus service let alone a college.

agreed, to me a small town wouldn't be a place that had amtrak or bus service.

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by Liese

Okay, Hutchinson - will check this out. Gary, Livingston's sunshine numbers look kind of low would you agree with the city data website? For definition sake I would say that to us a small town is about 5-8k, at 1k I would call that a village and therefore I wouldn't expect much in the way of services. But you know, when you are older and would rather walk or bus then drive it's great because then independence is still there rather. Our county is quite rural, the town dried up and people really have to rely on family to schlep them around which is great... if there is family. I want to be vital and independent right into my 90's just like my grandmother. Take classes, volunteer and be an active member of society - not stuck at home watching the tele like the folks I take meals to.

I'll start off by saying that Kansans don't use the term village as other regions do. Having said that there is Prairie Village not far from Kansas city. It has a population of $20,000+.

Here is a link to the city's new web site. http://hutchgov.com/
Here is one for the Chamber of Commerce. http://www.hutchchamber.com/community/healthcare.htm
Another, this one for the volunteer center. http://www.hutchcc.edu/rsvp/voluncent/ http://www.visithutch.com/
http://www.cosmo.org/visitorinfo/whyhutch.php
http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php
http://www.funvalleysports.com/index.shtml
http://www.kansasstatefair.com/
http://www.lasr.net/pages/city.php?H...07024a002&VA=Y
http://www.njcaa.org/sports.cfm?sid=...ender=m&slid=2
http://www.81speedway.org/HNationals
http://h-r-p.tripod.com/
Post card of world's largest grain elevator---later amended to the world's largest grain elevator under one head house (where the convey belt moves grain into individual bins). http://www.worldslargestthings.com/i...n_elevator.jpg
South Hutchinson which is a separate city. http://www.southhutch.com/
http://wwwcms.hutchcc.edu/www/index_home.aspx
http://www.hutchrec.com/
Public Library http://www.hutchpl.org/
Police blotter to give you an idea of the crime rate. http://www.hutchpd.info/Bulletin.htm
Local newspaper. http://www.hutchnews.com/
Prairie Dunes Country Club which has hosted PGA & LPGA tournaments.
http://www.prairiedunes.com/contact_us.shtml
If golf is your thing there are a lot of courses to play here and within a short distance.
Water Park http://www.hutchrec.com/pages/scs.html
Church list. http://www.churchangel.com/WEBKS/hutchinson.htm
http://skyways.lib.ks.us/counties/RN/
http://www.renogov.org/
Bus service, fares 80¢. New bus facilities by end of 2008, bids already let.
http://www.renogov.org/rcat/
http://www.renogov.org/
Walk to stay fit if homesteading isn't enough. http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/reno/FACS/w...renocounty.htm
The north end of this lake is in southern Reno in which Hutchinson is located.
http://www.lasr.net/pages/lake.php?Lake_ID=KS09lk001
Sandhills State Park http://www.naturalkansas.org/sandhill.htm
Dillon Nature Center http://www.naturalkansas.org/dillon.htm
http://www.hutchinsonhospital.com/
http://www.wesleytowers.com/
http://www.mennonitemanor.org/ourtradition.htm
http://www.seniorhousingnet.com/seni...tml?pid=552663
http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/current/KHUT.html
http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...refer=&s=72437
http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/USclimate/
http://www.kansas-outdoorsman-guide....nsaslakes.html
http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/
http://www.kgs.ku.edu/HighPlains/index.shtml
Indoor motel water park available via admission or stay.
http://www.grandprairiehotel.com/

There are a couple of low income high rises, which for us means maybe 6 floors.

I'm not familiar with the sunshine rating you mentioned but did give links for a couple of weather almanac sites. I would like to mention that Hutchinson has slightly different weather than Wichita so you shouldn't use that data. Hutchinson is often a couple of degrees cooler in the summer and a couple of degrees warmer in the winter. We also have less severe weather than Wichita and less ice/snow to cities even a few miles north. We set in kind of a valley and I call what we have a micro-climate. Annual rainfall is near 30 inches, this year we are already ahead of yearly normal by about 15-16 inches.

Close in the soils are sandy and great for growing as long as you provide water and fertilizer. Agriculture is the main enterprise for the county and often leads Kansas in total wheat production or is number two.

Reno County has more state highway miles than any other county in Kansas and will get more in the fairly near future, i.e. by 2010 another 4 lane to the northeast. Gravel roads criss cross the county on section lines one mile apart for the most part. About every 5th road is paved instead of gravel.

The aquifer below us is said to contain enough water for 100 years WITHOUT ANY FURTHER RECHARGE.

One downside is that we do have a correctional facility of about 1200 or so. On occasion there will be an escape but no escapee has ever take a hostage or broken into a home in the last 25 years that I remember of. Most want to get as far away as they can and as fast as they can.

Hutchinson does have some drug activity, especially meth manufacturing. It seems to be on the decline since one now has to ask to purchase cold remedies.

Another downside is that Amtrak has no station. Westbound leaves around 2 a.m. and the eastbound at about 5:30 a.m. The couple of local taxi cabs that we do have shut down before either of those times. Oh, the buses shut down at night too (just before we roll up the sidewalks for the night and blow out the candle in the traffic light). lol

There are a few annual parades down Main Street each year. Christmas, July 4th, and Emancipation Day and bands marching daily during the state fair. Perhaps others that I don't remember.

Feel free to private message me if I can assist any of you further.

[Up North]

Windy might you be so kind to post directions to:
Hutchinson Commission Co.
811 N. Main St.
South Hutchinson, KS 67505

Would a person travelling NW out of Wichita be better served to come up the 96 Highway or I35 to the 50 Highway?...Any Landmarks would help, I'm not from 'round these parts .

[sugarbush]

South Royalton VT has amtrak service and it is a town of maybe 1200 year around residence. You will need to be very athletic to catch that train though as it slows to 10 mph headed through town

Its hard to say anything about a small town 20 years from now.....some of them will not be small anymore and others will no longer exist. I think we will see a shift away from country life in alot of areas of the country within that time frame. Small town America is hemoraging their best and brightest right now and all that is being left are the old timers and returning retirees. Small town life will be very different. Just look back at the last 100-150 years at the history of some of these town.....most of them where alot larger than they are right now.