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Does anyone here live in Wichita, KS?

I had an interview today w/ Koch and am thinking of moving to Wichita from Chicago. Any insight/suggestions?

Greg M.
Collecting vintage auto'd fb cards and Dan Marino cards!!

References:
Onlychild, Ahmanfan, fabfrank, wufdude, jradke, Reese, Jasp, thenavarro
E-Bay id: greg_n_meg

Comments

  • I moved away after college in about 1993. Not some place that I would care to move back to, it wasn't horrible I guess, a lot of tornadoes. The University is kind of in a bad area, my car got shot up (with me in it) the first semester, so my view may be a little tainted. My dad worked as a chemical engineer for KOCH for a number of years, my sister still lives there. Plus you only have a minor league baseball team.
  • DarinDarin Posts: 7,259 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Heritage addict, the minor league team moved away after last year. They're called the Northwest Arkansas somethin somethin now.

    Meteor man lives there, maybe he'll chime in.

    Edited to say Wichita lost the Wranglers, who were the Royals double A affiliate. Now there's a team called the Wichita Wingnuts, don't know if they are affiliated with a MLB team.
  • MeteoriteGuyMeteoriteGuy Posts: 7,140 ✭✭
    Wichita is all right. Not too hot in the summer, not too cold in the winter. Low cost of living so your money will go 50% further then most major cities I imagine. It is the largest city in Kansas.....but it is no Chicago....which is good and bad.

    I like Chicago and have been there a few times. I once got in a verbal fight with the city board of a suburb (Park Forest) over a comic I created.....but that is kind of a long story.

    Anyway, I think you are more likely to be struck by lightning then a tornado....but it does happen. I use to chase them, back when we all just had radios, but then a couple chased me.....

    Koch is a good company to work with. The family even served everyone a big court drama that ended in more drama a few years back when the father died.

    Flat and Happy Kansas,
    Mark
    Collecting PSA graded Steve Young, Marcus Allen, Bret Saberhagen and 1980s Topps Cards.
    Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
  • RedHeart54RedHeart54 Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭
    Another Wichitan here. As far as weather, I must respectfully disagree as far as heat: Wichita has very hot summers. The humidity can be stifling and towards August it's not uncommon to have a string of 100+ degree days. Winters are a crapshoot. And yes, we can have a wild spring storm season. Sportswise you have Wichita State (Division 1) basketball, Thunder hockey (Central League), and a new independent baseball team called the Wingnuts who begin play this year. (The Royals-affiliated AA Wranglers moved to Springdale, Arkansas.) A new arena will be built in the next few years and will house the Thunder.

    Yes, the cost of living will seem like peanuts compared to greater Chicago. Gas is currently $3.09-3.11 for regular unleaded and you can get a lot of house for the money. Koch has a good reputation. I have a friend who works there and she likes it overall. The airport will get you to several major airports (Chicago, Dallas, St.Louis, KC, etc) for connections. Flights used to be very expensive here but the city more or less pays off a low-cost carrier to keep prices down.

    I've lived here most of my life and have come to appreciate that you have ABOUT anything a larger city has minus the high traffic and high cost of living. Crime is crime as it is anywhere but I've never personally been a victim. You just know what parts of town to avoid. There is a lot of high quality healthcare here. Wichita, I believe, has the highest number of speciality hospitals per capita to go along with three major hospitals.

    I think you'd come to like it.
  • gregm13gregm13 Posts: 5,798 ✭✭✭
    Thanks for your input. I received an offer today...so now I have to decide whether I'll accept. It will be a huge change from Chicago, but it seems a decent place to live. To be honest, I won't miss the high cost of living (taxes here are OUT OF CONTROL), gridlock traffic and brutal winters. On the other hand, I'll miss friends, family, good restaurants and certain entertainment (theatre, sports, ect...).

    Decisions...decisions....

    Greg M.
    Collecting vintage auto'd fb cards and Dan Marino cards!!

    References:
    Onlychild, Ahmanfan, fabfrank, wufdude, jradke, Reese, Jasp, thenavarro
    E-Bay id: greg_n_meg
  • royalbrettroyalbrett Posts: 620 ✭✭✭
    I lived there for the first 18 years of my life, but moved away in 1989.

    As RedHeart said, the summers are very hot with the humidity pretty bad, and the cost of living is pretty low.

    The college baseball team (the Wichita State Shockers) are very competitive and popular.

    Good luck.
    Yeah, I uploaded that KC icon in 2001
  • dtsadtsa Posts: 235 ✭✭
    I will tell you a few things about Wichita.I lived there so I get a vote.

    1. It is better than Topeka. What that means, you will find out.

    2. Housing is half of what it is in Chicago but you have to live in Wichita.

    3. Food sucks. Of course there are a few decent places but after you have been to both of them, what's next?

    4. I cant figure out if it is the largest small town or the smallest big town ever.

    5.Decent schools.

    6. People in Wichita think that they live in a real city. They dont because there isnt anything to do.

    Please take my remarks with a grain of salt. I still live in Kansas and love it but not a real fan of Wichita.
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,067 ✭✭✭
    I have never even been to Wichita but in my opinion EVERY single city has pros and cons. Some weigh heavier for some people than others. I would do the old pros and cons checklist for each city and see how they compare. If pro sports are important than Wichita might be great. On the other if you like college sports I bet they back their college teams pretty well. If cost of living is important then Wichita probably gets some points. Etc.... Good luck to you!
  • RedHeart54RedHeart54 Posts: 2,279 ✭✭✭
    1. It is better than Topeka. What that means, you will find out.- Yes, indeeeeeeed.

    2. Housing is half of what it is in Chicago but you have to live in Wichita.- Yes, but it's better than living in Topeka or most of the other towns in KS

    3. Food sucks. Of course there are a few decent places but after you have been to both of them, what's next? Not totally true. There are plenty of good places to eat and you'd probably end up frequenting a lot of them. Yes, we are overrun with chains but there are plenty of places otherwise to fit your palate- especially if you're into Thai, Mediterranean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, etc

    4. I cant figure out if it is the largest small town or the smallest big town ever.- Good question.

    5.Decent schools.- The private ones are better but that's probably true of most cities.

    6. People in Wichita think that they live in a real city. They dont because there isnt anything to do.- Oh, there's stuff to do but for the most part Wichitans (aside from the typical younger/college-age set) stay in.
  • leathtechleathtech Posts: 3,191
    No don't leave Chicago... from one Chicago-guy to another, but seriously you have a tough decision to make - I know I would find it difficult to move from a major city to a much smaller one with no major sports teams.
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