Why do people hate Topeka? (Wichita, Overland Park: crime, credit, houses)

[GraniteStater]

Kansas doesn't know how to invest in its actual cities, they subsidize and dump massive amounts of spending and corporate welfare into suburban Johnson County, where most of the jobs already are, at the expense of other parts of the state. I don't see this changing much at all.

[Floorist]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Kansas doesn't know how to invest in its actual cities, they subsidize and dump massive amounts of spending and corporate welfare into suburban Johnson County, where most of the jobs already are, at the expense of other parts of the state. I don't see this changing much at all.

Johnson county has to import workers. Most of the residents are rich and they and their kids, don't work regular jobs.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Floorist

Johnson county has to import workers. Most of the residents are rich and they and their kids, don't work regular jobs.

Kansas put all their economic eggs into the Johnson County basket, they even have massively subsidized retail TIF districts with sales taxes of 10-11%. Cities like Topeka, Wichita, Salina, Hutchinson, have seen very little job growth over longer periods of time.

[Floorist]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Kansas put all their economic eggs into the Johnson County basket, they even have massively subsidized retail TIF districts with sales taxes of 10-11%. Cities like Topeka, Wichita, Salina, Hutchinson, have seen very little job growth over longer periods of time.

At one time, some of the business owners in Johnson county imported workers from downtown KCMO. They ran a bus back and forth. They had to quit because of claims it was racist because they were hiring mainly black kids.

[AnywhereElse]

I something on Shawnee (in Johnson County) voted to stop co-living:

https://www.businessinsider.com/kans...illegal-2022-5

"Shawnee, Kansas unanimously banned co-living in some zoning districts, targeting unrelated roommates who split the cost of rent."

There are a couple of counties (places not many people would choose to live due to no services, no jobs, etc.) where people carpool in from, many I believe are illegal aliens as they are recruited to the area by a meat production facility, and they can only handle so many.

[Steveareeno5]

Originally Posted by AnywhereElse

Since Topeka is the capital, you would have more security, and probably the educational level would probably be higher there also. I think probably an older population also, so not so many meth heads. Springfield has a poverty rate of 22.9% which is higher than most areas. Median household income is fairly low. I have been in SW MO some years ago, and it does not have the "feel" of Topeka for sure. Topeka is on death row, and Springfield seems to be growing. When we lived in SE KS, a lot of people considered Springfield a great place to vacation.



When Wichita lost most of the aircraft industry, it went downhill very quickly. Often I am looking for info, and end up at their "newspaper" site, and it is always filled with tragic stories, some really extra cruel crimes.

One needs to know what areas to avoid in these bigger cities, as a mistake can be deadly.

from the research I have done. People are still moving there despite the ridiculously high crime rates.
It also has a rep for having some of lowest paying jobs of any city, yet the rents appear to be going up up. The higher education level of Topeka doesn't seem to help, the entire City seems to be inhabited by dead heads. It's so bad they have to try to bribe people to move there. The vacancy rates for rentals is high but the prices are also high. I think maybe part of this is due to the populace being heavily gov't workers but that might just be my prejudice.

[2020's YouTube Vlog]

Originally Posted by GraniteStater

Kansas put all their economic eggs into the Johnson County basket

This is true about most states with one major urban center/area: NY, Massachussetts, Georgia, etc.

States with multiple centers are more balanced: Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Florida.

[KStoNYtoILtoTX]

There are nice places in Topeka and you can walk around and not be a victim of violent crime. I have family that have lived there for years and there has been some positive changes. The NOTO Arts District is impressive given what the area was like 20 years ago. There are a couple of breweries and the downtown area is reviving.

[eddie gein]

I always "hated" Topeka because the oil company in our town used to have an AAU basketball team and a tournament in our town that attracted AAU teams from all over the midwest. Every year a team full of Black guys that were sponsored by a little owned Black owned service station called Hughes Conoco in Topeka would run rough shod over our Conoco Oilers and everybody else in that tournament.

Hughes Conoco's team had nation wide fame in those old AAU basketball circles. They were great.

Mr. Hughes was a native Oklahoman and apparently a great athlete in his own right. He ran his service station in a white part of Topeka during the last years of segregation and on through many years. He is an icon in Topeka. He never missed bringing his team to our tournament and brought a few future NBA players along the way.

The AAU basketball of those days 1960s kind of went away over time. But the State of Kansas put the old Hughes Conoco building (a 1920s vintage building) on the list of historic places

https://www.kshs.org/natreg/natreg_listings/view/1351

[InSearchOfHappy]

I've always called Topeka the toilet bowl of America. Its one of those places where yes, there are good things and good people. But all too often I find myself actually wondering if there is something in the water


All your typical retail, construction & medical jobs and nothing more. Lots of meth. Nothing open after 9pm. And don't even get me started on the roads and drivers!