Lawrence, KS (Kansas City, Topeka, Lenexa: best city, crime, school)

[Darbro]

I used to live in Lawrence from 1994-1996. Haven't been back there since. Have good memories of it being a nice, safe city close to the big city. How has the city changed? Is it still safe? Have a lot of people moved there since? I also remember Lawrence having a nice lively downtown with lots of shops and people. Is it still the same? Thanks in advance.

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by Darbro

I used to live in Lawrence from 1994-1996. Haven't been back there since. Have good memories of it being a nice, safe city close to the big city. How has the city changed? Is it still safe? Have a lot of people moved there since? I also remember Lawrence having a nice lively downtown with lots of shops and people. Is it still the same? Thanks in advance.

I lived in Lawrence in the early-mid 1980's. Haven't made it back much in the past 10 years but spent a day touring about old haunts in August. It has changed tremendously and is HUGE. No more small town feel, even on Mass. Street. Lots of traffic and KU wasn't even back in session. Lawrence has suburban sprawl big time, IMO.

[Blue Earth]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

I lived in Lawrence in the early-mid 1980's. Haven't made it back much in the past 10 years but spent a day touring about old haunts in August. It has changed tremendously and is HUGE. No more small town feel, even on Mass. Street. Lots of traffic and KU wasn't even back in session. Lawrence has suburban sprawl big time, IMO.

Sprawl compared to where? Lawrence has a population of about 90,000. That's bigger than it was in the 80s, for sure, but it's not sprawl compared to places like Houston, where the commenter is from. Lawrence is only 5 or 6 miles from one end to the other, beyond that it's all farmland. There are not any suburbs that sprawl between Lawrence and Kansas City or between Lawrence and Topeka. It's farmland. That's not sprawl. Sprawl is places like Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, etc. Places where uninterrupted suburban development goes on for 30-40 miles in all directions.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by FreeStater

Sprawl compared to where? Lawrence has a population of about 90,000. That's bigger than it was in the 80s, for sure, but it's not sprawl compared to places like Houston, where the commenter is from. Lawrence is only 5 or 6 miles from one end to the other, beyond that it's all farmland. There are not any suburbs that sprawl between Lawrence and Kansas City or between Lawrence and Topeka. It's farmland. That's not sprawl. Sprawl is places like Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, etc. Places where uninterrupted suburban development goes on for 30-40 miles in all directions.

I had no idea Lawrence was at 90,000 now.Is the gap in Lawrence and Topeka's population closing in or has Topeka grown alot as well?

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

I lived in Lawrence in the early-mid 1980's. Haven't made it back much in the past 10 years but spent a day touring about old haunts in August. It has changed tremendously and is HUGE. No more small town feel, even on Mass. Street. Lots of traffic and KU wasn't even back in session. Lawrence has suburban sprawl big time, IMO.

Wow!

[bocifus]

Originally Posted by Darbro

I used to live in Lawrence from 1994-1996. Haven't been back there since. Have good memories of it being a nice, safe city close to the big city. How has the city changed? Is it still safe? Have a lot of people moved there since? I also remember Lawrence having a nice lively downtown with lots of shops and people. Is it still the same? Thanks in advance.

The west side is more developed and there are always new restaurants/businesses around town but not really any earth shattering changes in the last 15 years. Lawrence is still safe, but there seems to be more crime the last 5-10 years. Much of that crime seems to come from Topeka or KC though. Mass St. is still a thriving, old school downtown.

Lawrence is still awesome.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by bocifus

The west side is more developed and there are always new restaurants/businesses around town but not really any earth shattering changes in the last 15 years. Lawrence is still safe, but there seems to be more crime the last 5-10 years. Much of that crime seems to come from Topeka or KC though. Mass St. is still a thriving, old school downtown.

Lawrence is still awesome.

Glad to hear that Lawrence is growing and that the downtown is still going strong! As for the crime, is it like thefts or assaults? When I lived there hardly anything happened. There was one shooting death in the 2 years I was there and that was because a suspect led cops on a high speed chase through the city and was shot when he pointed a gun at an officer. Do you remember that?

[RadioSilence]

The increase in crime is generally property crime, though KU and Lawrence have been investigating a serial rapist for nearly a decade. People have moved in from small towns around Northeast Kansas, can't find work, and resort to theft.

Being a Lawrence native (mid-70s to 1999), I'm surprised the city hasn't grown more. When I was a kid, the population was around 48,000 to 52,000. 30 years later, the population is around 90,000. Lawrence barely extended beyond Kasold Rd. when I was young. If Lawrence had a major employer besides the university, I'm sure the population would have increased greatly. Downtown is still lively.

[kcmo]

Lawrence is by far the best city in Kansas. But it is becoming more of a suburb of KC both in commuting patterns and how it's developing. The west half of Lawrence looks like Lenexa.

The city does maintain a vibrant and active downtown core and the younger population keeps the vibe in the town more energetic (as with most college towns).

But one drawback is that Lawrence is sprawling west with almost no growth on the KC side of Lawrence. I think that sort of keeps it from truly booming into a larger city that is more tied to the KC metro (like what has happened to Boulder) and the highway corridor between Denver and Boulder.

[Darbro]

Originally Posted by kcmo

Lawrence is by far the best city in Kansas. But it is becoming more of a suburb of KC both in commuting patterns and how it's developing. The west half of Lawrence looks like Lenexa.

The city does maintain a vibrant and active downtown core and the younger population keeps the vibe in the town more energetic (as with most college towns).

But one drawback is that Lawrence is sprawling west with almost no growth on the KC side of Lawrence. I think that sort of keeps it from truly booming into a larger city that is more tied to the KC metro (like what has happened to Boulder) and the highway corridor between Denver and Boulder.

Do you see KC growing west to meet Lawrence or Lawrence growing west to meet Topeka one day?