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I have been in Wichita for many years due to family circumstances. Previously, I lived in large coastal cities. I am going to be stuck here at least a few more years, and all I can do is hope I don't go completely insane before then. If you are thinking about moving here, consider the following.
1 - There is not much here in the way of things to do. No major league sports, limited shopping and dining, very few cultural opportunities. You'll have to drive to Kansas City or Oklahoma City if you want to attend a popular concert. Also, there seem to be monopolies on grocery and drug stores. There is only one decent enclosed shopping mall.
2 - People tend to be conservative, narrow minded, and not motivated to do much about changing point 1 above. They seem perfectly content with what little is here, or they are OK with making road trips to get those things.
3 - Speaking of road trips, the closest "real" city, Kansas City, is two and a half hours away. Between here and there is a whole lot of nothing.
4 - Your choices of direct flights out of the local airport are very limited as far as destinations and frequency. And the flights you can get are ridiculously overpriced. To fly somewhere like Denver or Chicago will normally cost over $300 round trip. Just because you're smack in the middle of the country doesn't mean easy access to anywhere.
5 - The weather sucks for the most part. Summer is sunny, windy, and hot. Winter is sunny, windy, and cold. Spring and fall last about two weeks each. It hardly ever rains, so if you have a lawn, you'll have to water it frequently. Mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere. If you have allergies, plan on taking meds nearly year-round.
6 - Most people here are from here originally, or moved to Wichita from even smaller towns, and they are not very interested in making new friends as they are often busy with their local families and the friends they grew up with. Moving here, you will always be an outsider. And if you don't care about KU or K-State, you won't have anything to talk with them about anyway.
7 - If you love being outdoors, you won't find much to do here. There are of course parks, but no real "wild" areas within a short distance of town or public lands. For example, you have to drive a couple of hours to find some decent hiking trails and forested hills. Otherwise, it's flat and featureless here.
8 - The city skyline is pretty lame. For a city that claims to have a population of 300k+, it looks smaller. When (if) someone comes to visit you, good luck finding something interesting to show them or somewhere fun to take them. Old Town is kind of fun for a date night, but can be dangerous and often seems like a ghost town. The zoo is nice, but since it's usually too hot or too cold outside, you won't want to stay long.
9 - The local house style is dull, particularly new houses. Sure, new houses in other cities are cookie-cutter too - but at least they often have some attractive features. Example: In the south, there is a traditional look; in the southwest, there is a southwestern look. Houses here are often plain boxes. Also, many people don't fence in their yards, so their kids and dogs roam free.
10 - You can't buy alcohol where you buy your groceries, unless it's "near beer' or similar. And liquor stores cannot sell mixers or snacks.
I could probably go on, but 10 is a good place to stop my rant. You have been warned.
Where did you move to Wichita from? I lived there 3 years moving from a smaller town in Central Kansas. Now I'm in Kansas City.. I think with ANY city before you consider moving there you should make many visits and get to know your surroundings and listen to everything good and bad said about the city. I actually miss Wichita in many ways but realize (for now and probably for a while) that its employment situation is pretty poor and I don't see how I'd get a decent job there. Its frustrating but I'll let Kansas continue to hurt itself and hope it changes its ways eventually if I want to return
You make a lot of exaggerations/generalizations that aren't necessarily true about Kansas in general - like the weather. Yep, winter is cold and summer is hot. Isn't that what summer and winter are? We have Indian summers sometimes that last way into November, so I'd say that is a pretty long fall. Spring can be pretty variable. Sometimes short and sometimes long. But two weeks each for spring and fall? Not true.
I live in Kansas City. I've never had a desire to live in Wichita, but the question is why are YOU there if you hate it so much?
Wichita has over 500k people. Not 300k. I've lived here over 8 years. We do get rain. This year and the years before that..it was either drought or extremely rainy. I actually don't think the snow isn't bad here. It may have a few blizzards but the snow is usually melted away within 1-5 days compared to both ends of the state where they get more snow than we do. As for outdoor activities, true. However there are some parks you can go hiking in. There are also several places where you can ride horses if you want to have them. I will say this for the Wichita school district, they really enforce the non-bullying thing compared to before that girl killed herself. As for cultural opportunities, there's plenty of peoples from out of the state from other countries and also there is a very healthy Native American presence in the city. I participate in cultural activities from time to time. As for housing, I'm on the fence. We do need to have a house with a basement in case of a tornado and again, the Wichita school district is really good because virtually every school building has a storm shelter built in compared to Oklahoma which has ZERO school districts with storm shelters built in.
Disclaimer -
Lived in Wichita Area since about 10 years of age, in 40's now.
I am married - no kids, we have a bit more free time then couples with kids - able to get out more and do things.
I like to travel. I have visited and been to many of the mid-western, rocky mountain and southern/eastern states.
1. There is not much here in the way of things to do. No major league sports, limited shopping and dining, very few cultural opportunities. You'll have to drive to Kansas City or Oklahoma City if you want to attend a popular concert. Also, there seem to be monopolies on grocery and drug stores. There is only one decent enclosed shopping mall.
1. Yes no major league sports. But the shockers bball, vball, Wichita Wranglers, NBC Tournament, and Thunder games are quite enjoyable. Butler CCC & Hutch some of the best teams in CC football in the country. I don't like shopping that much so I cannot speak to that... As far as dining you are completely incorrect. Especially ethnic foods, vietnamese, thai, hispanic, & lebanese/mediteranean communities are prolific, lots of independent eateries. As well as grocery stores for those foods. I realize our seafood restaurants are limited, but considering where we are located, what do expect. When you are talking steak - we have some pretty good steak restaurants. But we prefer to buy meat at some of the better butchers, I love Douglas Avenue Chop Shop, we are lucky most places don't have access to red wattle. Cause my hubby makes a damn fine steak.
I have enjoyed the ballet, the symphony, music theater and museums all in Wichta. I love City Arts. And the different crawls. Admittedly i don't go to major concerts. I like smaller music venues, more intimate and that community is quite active. I love our independent coffee shops and local roasteries. And yes Town East is the best enclosed mall, but I much rather shop at Bradley Fair or New Market. All Malls are boring. There all the same.
2 - People tend to be conservative, narrow minded, and not motivated to do much about changing point 1 above. They seem perfectly content with what little is here, or they are OK with making road trips to get those things.
2. Yes people are conservative, but not everybody is...
3 - Speaking of road trips, the closest "real" city, Kansas City, is two and a half hours away. Between here and there is a whole lot of nothing.
3 I think Lawrence has nice night life.
4 - Your choices of direct flights out of the local airport are very limited as far as destinations and frequency. And the flights you can get are ridiculously overpriced. To fly somewhere like Denver or Chicago will normally cost over $300 round trip. Just because you're smack in the middle of the country doesn't mean easy access to anywhere.
4. Your completely on the nose
5 - The weather sucks for the most part. Summer is sunny, windy, and hot. Winter is sunny, windy, and cold. Spring and fall last about two weeks each. It hardly ever rains, so if you have a lawn, you'll have to water it frequently. Mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere. If you have allergies, plan on taking meds nearly year-round.
5. Your completely on the nose - you just have to get used to it. But I like seasons. And if you like to sail we have plenty of wind....But really its interesting if you acclimate.
6 - Most people here are from here originally, or moved to Wichita from even smaller towns, and they are not very interested in making new friends as they are often busy with their local families and the friends they grew up with. Moving here, you will always be an outsider. And if you don't care about KU or K-State, you won't have anything to talk with them about anyway.
6. You could talk to me and several several thousands of other people about the shockers.
7 - If you love being outdoors, you won't find much to do here. There are of course parks, but no real "wild" areas within a short distance of town or public lands. For example, you have to drive a couple of hours to find some decent hiking trails and forested hills. Otherwise, it's flat and featureless here.
7. Wild areas - try Great Plains Nature Trails and Center. And if you are looking for forested hiking trails, get a clue, your in Kansas, your on the great prairie. When I go to Denver I don't expect to see Amber Waves of Grain, of course I expect Purple Mountains Majesty. Check out our Sunrises and Sunsets.
8 - The city skyline is pretty lame. For a city that claims to have a population of 300k+, it looks smaller. When (if) someone comes to visit you, good luck finding something interesting to show them or somewhere fun to take them. Old Town is kind of fun for a date night, but can be dangerous and often seems like a ghost town. The zoo is nice, but since it's usually too hot or too cold outside, you won't want to stay long.
8. Very much true. Except Old Town isn't dangerous(maybe a couple of spots to avoid) and when I go it seems quite lively. And again the zoo is rated one of the best in the nation - you just have to acclimate to the weather. Its not that bad, but its not southern California. Plus if you count the metro area it is more like 600,000.
9 - The local house style is dull, particularly new houses. Sure, new houses in other cities are cookie-cutter too - but at least they often have some attractive features. Example: In the south, there is a traditional look; in the southwest, there is a southwestern look. Houses here are often plain boxes. Also, many people don't fence in their yards, so their kids and dogs roam free.
9. Yes the new homes are like that, but check out College Hill, Delano, Riverside, & Old Town. As far as dogs and kids. No they're not afraid to roam, but I think that's a good thing, they feel safe. The kids that is - not dogs.
10 - You can't buy alcohol where you buy your groceries, unless it's "near beer' or similar. And liquor stores cannot sell mixers or snacks.
10. This is a positive to me - I like to support small business, I don't like support the big box stores like Walmart. There would be lots of small biz liquor stores that would close if the big boxes could sell liquor. I like buying at the micro breweries & small winery's. The big box stores probably wouldn't sell the local micro brews and small local winery offerings.
In many places I think its about really exploring where you live. Often people will explore places that they are visiting, but not they're own hometown. Act like your a visitor - use your hometowns visitor resources. You never know what you will experience.
Last edited by Lifes2ShortEnjoy; 01-27-2015 at 12:22 PM..
I am no fan of Wichita. We are currently in the process of moving for my job. I will say though, that was some of the most over-exaggerated opinions I have read in a long time. If you are trying to come across as realistic, I would like to offer some advice. Try being honest and posting genuine critiques.
Some examples...
"Wichita never gets any rain... blah blah blah..." This is a straight out lie. Wichita has been seeing above average rainfall, quite recently in fact (rained 3 inches a few days ago). After we had that drought, we received so much rain that the Arkansas River went from dry to overflowing in a weeks time.
"People are conservative, narrow minded". Wow you live in a red state in the middle of the bible belt, welcome to reality bud. You can apply this to every state. Oregon is so liberal they might as well elect the homeless dude around the corner as senator... equality after all, etc...
"Nothing to do outdoors". Wichita has a top 10 rated zoo in the country. There is also Botanical, Nature Center, Butterfly reserve, and flint hills.
Again, Wichita is nothing to brag about. However, lying and exaggerating like a child doesn't prove anything.
Well, say whatever you want, but to me, Wichita sucked 30 years ago, so I am sure, it is worst now, whether you like it or not. Thank God I moved out of that butt hole many moons ago and I hope I dont ever have to go back there.
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