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We lived just north of Pittsburg for 6 years. It has gotten very run down. As you probably know, they have lost some major employers during the years we were in the area, not long ago, couple of years. They are getting quite a number of illegals in the area with the dog food plant. One of the employers that closed about 6 years ago had over 800 employees so you can see what that would do to a city that size. Also, SE KS is the more humid area of the state. Poverty is also an issue and I am sure that many in Pittsburg were probably driving in for work at Amazon which just closed its doors in February this year.
I doubt many people in Crawford County drove an hour and a half down a two lane highway to work at Amazon, and poverty rate in Pittsburg is no worse than it is in the majority of the state.
I have friends who have lived in Pittsburg for around six years, and cousins who have for over twenty and not only did they agree that Triple L doesn't employ enough people for there to be an illegal problem in Crawford County, but that anyone who thinks there is a problem is probably scared of immigrants. Unless the area has been flooded since the census was taken, then I highly doubt there is a problem with illegal immigrants.
Crime is what you make it. The trend in Kansas as a whole has been that it's going down, and the statistics for Pittsburg imply the same thing. The only reason Hays has such a low crime rate is because crimes don't get reported. Here it's just accepted that the police are semi corrupt and withhold info to make the community look better than it is.
The illegals started coming in heavily after the census. They were commuting for work in the other nearby cities as several usually carpool together. I am very familiar with issues with illegals in KS. Distance from Pittsburg to Coffeyville is 76 miles and many people do commute that far. When Superior closed its doors, that put a lot of people out of work. Some go into Joplin to work at Pillsbury. The town really isn't very clean either. I never liked shopping there for that reason. Coming from the east, it really is culture shock.
The illegals started coming in heavily after the census. They were commuting for work in the other nearby cities as several usually carpool together. I am very familiar with issues with illegals in KS. Distance from Pittsburg to Coffeyville is 76 miles and many people do commute that far. When Superior closed its doors, that put a lot of people out of work. Some go into Joplin to work at Pillsbury. The town really isn't very clean either. I never liked shopping there for that reason. Coming from the east, it really is culture shock.
Illegal immigration in KS: Kansas is number one destination for illegal aliens You will find that this is an issue for many people since it does burden the system and contributes to high taxes and out-migration.
I loved living in Hays for the 4 years I did. For the size of the community, it is one of the cleaner and nicer ones in the state period.
I have always considered Hays the gateway to Northwestern Kansas and to some that means to much open space but then again I'm use to western Kansas as a whole. With that said Hays is not super far from Great Bend (similar size) or Salina (bigger than Hays) in reality.
With it being a college town, there is a lot more options compared to most western Kansas communities. Imo it is the nicest of the bigger communities of western Kansas.
I loved living in Hays for the 4 years I did. For the size of the community, it is one of the cleaner and nicer ones in the state period.
I have always considered Hays the gateway to Northwestern Kansas and to some that means to much open space but then again I'm use to western Kansas as a whole. With that said Hays is not super far from Great Bend (similar size) or Salina (bigger than Hays) in reality.
With it being a college town, there is a lot more options compared to most western Kansas communities. Imo it is the nicest of the bigger communities of western Kansas.
I don't know where you got the impression of clean, but I haven't got that in over four years of living here plus several years of visiting for events before moving here. Most of the houses in town have peeling paint, cracked and uneven. sidewalks, yard makeup of overgrown weeds and trash, and this includes in the neighborhoods away from the college. The only "clean" part of town is the country club. We have businesses that had their windows broken years ago and still haven't replaced the boards, and don't get me started on the condition of the roads. Hays is no cleaner than Great Bend or Dodge. We've got Liberal and Junction City beat out in that category, but we're definitely below the likes of Garden City and Winfield, and way below Newton, McPherson, and Derby. Another thing that infuriates me about Hays is the lack of willingness to invest in the public schools. The school buildings are literally falling apart because of decades of defeated maintanence, and the voters still womt pass the bond issue. Hays High wasn't even constructed with an auditorium so they have to use the decrepit theater at the old high school that has structural issues and requires a portable generator to run equipment because the wiring is too dated to handle modern sound and lighting systems. I don't see the bond passing anytime soon bebause the public opinion is "well, my children attend TMP so that's not MY problem." There also isn't anything here for the college students to do once they graduate unless they want to teach in Hays Public Schools, or if they majored in agriculture.
The one good thing I can say about Hays is that the Encore series brings in some pretty good national tours from time to time, and usually finds one really good broadway touring musical as well.
I don't know where you got the impression of clean, but I haven't got that in over four years of living here plus several years of visiting for events before moving here. Most of the houses in town have peeling paint, cracked and uneven. sidewalks, yard makeup of overgrown weeds and trash, and this includes in the neighborhoods away from the college. The only "clean" part of town is the country club. We have businesses that had their windows broken years ago and still haven't replaced the boards, and don't get me started on the condition of the roads. Hays is no cleaner than Great Bend or Dodge. We've got Liberal and Junction City beat out in that category, but we're definitely below the likes of Garden City and Winfield, and way below Newton, McPherson, and Derby. Another thing that infuriates me about Hays is the lack of willingness to invest in the public schools. The school buildings are literally falling apart because of decades of defeated maintanence, and the voters still womt pass the bond issue. Hays High wasn't even constructed with an auditorium so they have to use the decrepit theater at the old high school that has structural issues and requires a portable generator to run equipment because the wiring is too dated to handle modern sound and lighting systems. I don't see the bond passing anytime soon bebause the public opinion is "well, my children attend TMP so that's not MY problem." There also isn't anything here for the college students to do once they graduate unless they want to teach in Hays Public Schools, or if they majored in agriculture.
The one good thing I can say about Hays is that the Encore series brings in some pretty good national tours from time to time, and usually finds one really good broadway touring musical as well.
Actually I have a really good impression of Hays as well. I've never really lived there, but my wife lived there almost 5 years. I spent a lot of time in Hays when we first got married 5 years ago and we go to Hays probably 2-3 times a year to visit friends and "family." It does seem like a clean city. The downside is that Vine which is the main retail street turns into an industrial area at the south side of town. The area east and directly north of the University is not very nice, terrible is a fitting word, and almost entirely student housing, but most of the other residential areas seem nice and well kept. A lot of the retail stores are showing their age, but for the size of the town there is a good selection of businesses and especially restaurants. You guys have more Asian variety then Topeka and a better Asian market. You guys also have some good local restaurants and a couple good steakhouses. I'm not big into nightlife, but the dance club and bar selection isn't bad either.
I can't comment on the public schools, everyone I know there sends their kids to TMP. My wife worked for a small manufacturer that built telecommunication equipment and you guys do have a decent manufacturing base and many regional contractors are based in Hays. Your little airport isn't too bad either.
With the university, hospital, agriculture, manufacturing, oil fields, wind farms, etc.. Hays is doing pretty good really. More good things then bad and those cities you compare Hays to are all some of the best towns in the state.
If Hays had a better climate it would be a great place to live. We've talked about moving to Hays before, but not sure if that will happen, most likely not.
Anyway, just my personal opinion really. I'd choose Hays over Salina, Junction City, Emporia, Pittsburg, and most of the towns in the SW part of the state.
Hey, empires228 and Mattks - what d'ya think of tiny Quinter, KS? Any data or information on it, other than it's the gateway to Castle Rock? It's 15 miles south of Quinter off of I-70. I am looking for a new job and have always been in contact with HR at Quinter's hospital, starting with the time period of the Dodge hospital job. Well, Monday morning an e-mail drops in saying the boss wants to interview me. She follows with "I assume this would be a phone interview?"
We had the interview in the car in the Sears parking lot on Metcalf Ave. in OP yesterday. It went well - duties sound do-able for my Medical experience, and, it would be going back to dayshift. Night shift is a tough deal. 3 12-hr. days on per week, or, if the other tech. wants, 6 12-hr. days on and 8 off. Whoa - that's possibly not a bad gig.
I just need some help with Quinter - for one thing, we might need to rent in Hays or Colby or Hill City. We have 4 animals and sometimes that presents a problem for us. The HR lady said something about contacting various city admin. contacts to help in getting housing. I would drive 45-55 minutes each way with a dayshift job, but not night shift, for safety reasons. I am going to call the HR lady back today and tell them what I want to do. The Boss man sounds laid back and reasonable. Duties are within my scope of practice and pay is good. Benefits sound very good.
What do you guys think? Any input for me, good or otherwise? A search on rental housing in Hays brought up two or three hits - Colby not so much. Nothing in Quinter itself, or Hill City.
We lived just north of Pittsburg for 6 years. It has gotten very run down. As you probably know, they have lost some major employers during the years we were in the area, not long ago, couple of years. They are getting quite a number of illegals in the area with the dog food plant. One of the employers that closed about 6 years ago had over 800 employees so you can see what that would do to a city that size. Also, SE KS is the more humid area of the state. Poverty is also an issue and I am sure that many in Pittsburg were probably driving in for work at Amazon which just closed its doors in February this year.
No matter what the topic is you always seem to manage to work something into your posts disparaging immigrants. Absolutely pathetic, it must suck to live your life so filled with hate.
Hey, empires228 and Mattks - what d'ya think of tiny Quinter, KS? Any data or information on it, other than it's the gateway to Castle Rock? It's 15 miles south of Quinter off of I-70. I am looking for a new job and have always been in contact with HR at Quinter's hospital, starting with the time period of the Dodge hospital job. Well, Monday morning an e-mail drops in saying the boss wants to interview me. She follows with "I assume this would be a phone interview?"
We had the interview in the car in the Sears parking lot on Metcalf Ave. in OP yesterday. It went well - duties sound do-able for my Medical experience, and, it would be going back to dayshift. Night shift is a tough deal. 3 12-hr. days on per week, or, if the other tech. wants, 6 12-hr. days on and 8 off. Whoa - that's possibly not a bad gig.
I just need some help with Quinter - for one thing, we might need to rent in Hays or Colby or Hill City. We have 4 animals and sometimes that presents a problem for us. The HR lady said something about contacting various city admin. contacts to help in getting housing. I would drive 45-55 minutes each way with a dayshift job, but not night shift, for safety reasons. I am going to call the HR lady back today and tell them what I want to do. The Boss man sounds laid back and reasonable. Duties are within my scope of practice and pay is good. Benefits sound very good.
What do you guys think? Any input for me, good or otherwise? A search on rental housing in Hays brought up two or three hits - Colby not so much. Nothing in Quinter itself, or Hill City.
Sorry. I'm not really any help on Quinter. I've only been there twice going to Castle Rocks. It's a tiny town. It would be a tough move (for me) after living in KC with all the amenities there. I personally hate commuting, so if you want to live in Hays, that's up to you. I hate driving more then 15 minutes to work. Lol. Just seems like such a waste of time, fuel, and energy.
If you move out there and don't like it, you can always move again once your lease is up.
Sorry. I'm not really any help on Quinter. I've only been there twice going to Castle Rocks. It's a tiny town. It would be a tough move (for me) after living in KC with all the amenities there. I personally hate commuting, so if you want to live in Hays, that's up to you. I hate driving more then 15 minutes to work. Lol. Just seems like such a waste of time, fuel, and energy.
If you move out there and don't like it, you can always move again once your lease is up.
Mattks - nah, that's all right. I will just wait and see what anyone wants to share on here about Quinter. I wonder what empires228 thinks about it. I'm coming over to Quinter with my wife on Tuesday so I can see for myself - it's too important of a decision to not look at the area first. It's not a must-take situation, nor do I know I will get a job offer, but it does sound like it's a pretty good professional opportunity within my scope of work skills, that's all. We'll see. Thanks for your input.
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Coming from the east, it really is culture shock.
