Lawrence, Kansas?

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ac_claire

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There’s a small chance my family will be moving to Lawrence, KS by the end of the year.

I already asked about the churches in Lawrence in the L&S forum. So for the rest of y’all, I’m just looking for any general information as to what the city is like. (We’ve done some online research but sometimes it’s better to get advice from people who’ve actually lived there and personally know the place.)

That area of the country is beautiful. But the whole “college town” thing worries me.
Also…Is the city really as liberal as I hear? Does it have public transportation? What’s the weather like…? Is it easy to live there at all if you’re not a student?

Any info is appreciated, thanks! 🙂 :flowers:
 
I live in Topeka, but go to school in Lawrence.

It is as liberal as you have probably heard. However, it is also peaceful and not a raging college town, so much as one with many students and widespread liberal beliefs. Coming from Austin, you ought to be able to handle it.

A lone Raven
 
corvidae said:
I live in Topeka, but go to school in Lawrence.

It is as liberal as you have probably heard. However, it is also peaceful and not a raging college town, so much as one with many students and widespread liberal beliefs. Coming from Austin, you ought to be able to handle it.

A lone Raven
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Thanks for replying, and btw I love your sig line. It’s a great prayer. 🙂

If you don’t mind, could you expand on the “peaceful” aspect you mention? Like, how so? And you say it’s not a raging college town? That’s comforting I suppose.
 
Really? You think Lawrence is beautiful? Oh my gosh. I think it’s horrible.

It’s dry, and pretty flat, though not as flat as western Kansas by a long shot. It’s very liberal, and very sports-oriented, with the Jayhawks.

The rest of the town not associated with KU (which sits on a huge hill. I used to kill myself walking up that hill) is just a hick town.
 
Noticing two of your other questions…

The weather around eastern Kansas is stormy and tornado-y in the spring, very hot and humid in the summer, pretty nice in the fall, and very cold and icy in the winter.

Public transporation? Ha Ha Ha. That doesn’t exist in the Kansas City area or within a 300 mile radius, unless you count the odd bus route or call to a cab compnay.

You will need a car and to drive a very long way to Overland Park or Olathe to be near many places of business. Downtown Lawrence does have some nice places to eat, though.
 
Angels Unaware, thanks for replying. Although…what you’ve said is sort of depressing me. I don’t have much choice in whether or not we move to Lawrence so I’m hoping it’s not quite as bad as all that lol.

The “hick town” part actually sounds pretty promising. 😉
 
By hick town I do not mean small town values. I mean few doctors, no commerce, and little choice.

And I’m not quite sure what you meant by “as bad as all that”. Do you think I am exagerrating about the weather?

I’m really surprised you think I’m exagerrating.

Let’s put it this way. If you LOVE Wal-Mart, and find that all of your needs are met by consuming Wal-Mart products, then you should absolutely adore Lawrence.👍

If you aren’t a part of one the colleges, there is no reason to be there.
 
Angels_Unaware said:
By hick town I do not mean small town values. I mean few doctors, no commerce, and little choice.

And I’m not quite sure what you meant by “as bad as all that”. Do you think I am exagerrating about the weather?

I’m really surprised you think I’m exagerrating.
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No, not at all insinuating that you’re exaggerating.

I’ve never been to Lawrence, so I don’t know, which is why I started the thread. I only meant that I hope for my sake that your assessment is colored by your perspective because otherwise this place has absolutely no redeeming qualities except for some nice restaurants lol.
If you aren’t a part of one the colleges, there is no reason to be there.
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Yeah that’s what I was afraid of. See it’s not really up to me, if it was I wouldn’t be moving there. I’d rather not live in a college town.

Anyhow, I appreciate all the info. 🙂
 
I live in Lenexa which about 25 miles from Lawrence. My son goes to a homeschool band in Lawrence and we go there every Friday. We love the area. The weather is not as bad as Angels Unaware says. I have lived in Austin and the the summers there were much hotter. This year we had a mild winter with only a few snows, most less than 4 inches. Most winters we average about 3 or 4 big snows (6 or more inches) and it can get cold. Spring weather with the possible tornadoes is really not that much different than Austin.

I don’t know what kind of shopping you want, but the people I know in Lawrence don’t seem to have any problems finding anything.(Besides Wal-mart, you can always go to Target ;)) Overland Park is only 30 minutes away and Topeka is a little closer.

We have found a lot of things to do as family here.

I think you will find Lawrence has positives and negatives about it just like any area in the country. We do have a great Archbishop.

I admit I have not lived in Lawrence, but we have lived in Lenexa for over 11 years and we have really enjoyed the area.
 
KU Grad here. I think it’s weird you mention being wary of college town…I believe Austin and the University of Texas there are considered the top “party school/college town” last time I heard anything about that. 😃

Lawrence is ok. There isn’t much commerce there as someone else suggested. The weather is your typical midwest fare. Watch out for tornadoes in the spring and summer. Windy springs and winters. snow sometimes…

Yes, Lawrence is a liberal as they say. Governor Sebelius is a grad…Ms. Pro-choice “Catholic” herself.

The St. Lawrence CAtholic Campus Center is really great, though, from what I have heard. I was fallen away while in college…but in my adult years, have met many who sing its praises.
 
3GirlsRUs said:
KU Grad here. I think it’s weird you mention being wary of college town…I believe Austin and the University of Texas there are considered the top “party school/college town” last time I heard anything about that. 😃

Lawrence is ok. There isn’t much commerce there as someone else suggested. The weather is your typical midwest fare. Watch out for tornadoes in the spring and summer. Windy springs and winters. snow sometimes…

Yes, Lawrence is a liberal as they say. Governor Sebelius is a grad…Ms. Pro-choice “Catholic” herself.

The St. Lawrence CAtholic Campus Center is really great, though, from what I have heard. I was fallen away while in college…but in my adult years, have met many who sing its praises.
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This post gets it right on. If you can deal with crazy liberal neighbors, I think you will enjoy Lawrence as much as anywhere else. And the Catholic Campus Center is FANTASTIC.

That said, I would stay in Topeka rather than move to Lawrence, if a situation arose where I had to make the choice. 👍
 
Angels_Unaware said:
Really? You think Lawrence is beautiful? Oh my gosh. I think it’s horrible.

It’s dry, and pretty flat, though not as flat as western Kansas by a long shot. It’s very liberal, and very sports-oriented, with the Jayhawks.

The rest of the town not associated with KU (which sits on a huge hill. I used to kill myself walking up that hill) is just a hick town.
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But it does have a hill. And trees. And it’s only a 20 minute drive to KC.

Try living in Garden City sometime.
 
ac_claire said:
No, not at all insinuating that you’re exaggerating.

I’ve never been to Lawrence, so I don’t know, which is why I started the thread. I only meant that I hope for my sake that your assessment is colored by your perspective because otherwise this place has absolutely no redeeming qualities except for some nice restaurants lol.
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I compare Lawrence to MU and Columbia because both my parents, my uncle, and one of my brothers graduated from there, and I had two aunts and two uncles living there when I was a child. I expected Lawrence to be a little like Columbia, and it wasn’t at all. Columbia is a pretty good place to live on a daily basis, and by that I mean community activities, strong public schools, lots of choices for doctors and dentists, etc. I don’t know what the public schools in Lawrence are like, but the rest of the town just has a very isolated feel.

If I had to work in Lawrence, I might consider living in western Shawnee and driving 30-45 minutes everyday to work.
 
Angels_Unaware said:
I compare Lawrence to MU and Columbia because both my parents, my uncle, and one of my brothers graduated from there, and I had two aunts and two uncles living there when I was a child. I expected Lawrence to be a little like Columbia, and it wasn’t at all. Columbia is a pretty good place to live on a daily basis, and by that I mean community activities, strong public schools, lots of choices for doctors and dentists, etc. I don’t know what the public schools in Lawrence are like, but the rest of the town just has a very isolated feel.

If I had to work in Lawrence, I might consider living in western Shawnee and driving 30-45 minutes everyday to work.
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And it’s just a short drive down Highway 10. Don’t use I-70.
 
I wanted to add something about the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center. It’s not just for college students! Their reputation for orthodoxy and all around awesomeness has resulted in what they refer to as the “permanent community.” It is not a parish, legally, but practically speaking, it is. The two real parishes in the city are not much to speak of, so if you end up in Lawrence, I totally recommend going to St. Lawrence. 😃
 
ac_claire said:
There’s a small chance my family will be moving to Lawrence, KS by the end of the year.

I already asked about the churches in Lawrence in the L&S forum. So for the rest of y’all, I’m just looking for any general information as to what the city is like. (We’ve done some online research but sometimes it’s better to get advice from people who’ve actually lived there and personally know the place.)

That area of the country is beautiful. But the whole “college town” thing worries me.
Also…Is the city really as liberal as I hear? Does it have public transportation? What’s the weather like…? Is it easy to live there at all if you’re not a student?

Any info is appreciated, thanks! 🙂 :flowers:
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Have you asked for permission to leave Austin? :mad:

I guess this town (or at least a few of us) is going to miss you. 😦

I think that we will need to get you a star on the sidewalk before you leave! 😃
 
whiteyacht said:
This post gets it right on. If you can deal with crazy liberal neighbors, I think you will enjoy Lawrence as much as anywhere else. And the Catholic Campus Center is FANTASTIC.

That said, I would stay in Topeka rather than move to Lawrence, if a situation arose where I had to make the choice. 👍
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Or, you could commute from Tonganoxie. Everybody loves Tonganoxie.
 
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