Anyone in or around McPherson, KS?

[newsong]

My dh is considering applying for a job there. We're in NY and know nothing of the area. Can anyone tell me about the community, homeschool environment/activities, cost of living, etc...

 

Thanks!

Sandy

[farmmom4him]

I am about an hour and 10-20 min from there. I love homeschooling here. McPherson is a good community with lots of educational opportunities nearby--Hutchinson has the Cosmosphere, Underground Salt Muesem, Dillon Nature Center, small zoo, and tons of others. There are good homeschool support groups too. On over to Wichita--about an hour, is lots more opportunities.

 

McPherson has a great natural meat market. They have the Scottish fest every year, and lots of other fun things.

 

 

cost of living is going to be MUCH less then where you are now--have family struggling on the east coast who make much more then we ever have. My dh farms and we get by, by the skin of our teeth, but that is due to some medical bills from our last baby (NICU/ c/s). ;) Medical care will be close by too. If she would not have cost us $25K out of pocket, we would be doing quite well. He only makes about $25-35K net per year with some years being much better and some much worse. Farming is a very varied income from year to year. ;)

 

I could go on and on, about living here, i really wouldn't want to live anywhere else. ;o) We have cold, we have hot, but we have the BEST sun sets!!!!! People are friendly and for the most part everyone accepts hsing and large families. :D Pm for more info if you want. ;)

[newsong]

Thanks for the good report, farmmom! :) If we progress to where things look like a go, I'll probably have more questions for you.

 

Blessings,

Sandy

[TXMomof4]

I just moved to KS from TX and it is very nice here. The people are amazingly friendly (even compared to Texans - which is saying A LOT) and there are many things to do within easy driving distance.

 

Of course, it is C-O-L-D here. Everyone keeps assuring me this is unusual, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. And the wind blows.

 

Good luck!

[Remudamom]

We've got homeschooling friends in Wichita, they especially love the library system.

[newsong]

TXMom,

I can imagine it would be cold in KS coming from TX! Coming from NY, however, I didn't think it would be the same! We have 23 degrees and blowing snow at the moment. I just took a look at McPherson's weather and they have 22 degrees with snow falling. I don't know why, but I didn't think Kansas would be quite so cold as here. Perhaps the winter there is shorter at least? Ours often starts early and goes on into April! One time I found myself driving in a white-out in May!

 

Where are you in Kansas? Was it a big landscape change for you? My dh wonders how it would be to go from from hills and mountains to flat land all around.

 

Remudamom,

Wichita looks like it is about 60 miles south of McPherson, a nice day-trip location. I would love a good library system. Ours is a mostly rural four-country system with only a couple of cities of decent size, so it is often difficult to find the resources I'm in need of.

 

Thanks for sharing ladies. It's kinda fun thinking about the possibilities! :)

[prairie rose]

We are about 2 hours east of McPherson...I actually had to look at a map because we haven't even lived here a year yet. :lol: I have to say, I'm with TXmomof4, they say that this winter has been unusual but I'm not sure I buy it either :lol: We got 14 inches of snow on Christmas (first snow was just before thanksgiving, 3 inches or so and stuck around for a week or so then it snowed again in early December and it was the same thing). That snow from Christmas has finally mostly melted away. We got a total over 24 - 25" from the Christmas blizzard and the following 3 weeks. The temps stayed under 15 degrees for two weeks straight :lol: When we first moved here in March of 09, it snowed the day we moved in and a couple of times in April but it melted off in a couple of day.

 

They say last summer was mild, it was only miserably hot maybe 2 - 3 weeks out of the whole summer. It was comfortable to us but we lived in Okinawa Japan before we moved here and were used to 90 degrees and 100% humidity for 2 - 3 months out of the year. :lol: The tornado sirens only sounded once last spring and the tornadoes were about 30 miles south of us. Almost all houses have basements or tornado shelters or safe rooms.

 

Homeschooling has been pretty simple, just register as private school and that's it. Testing is recommended but not mandatory as I understand it. No one has made a fuss about us homeschooling at all. Cost of living is average to good, groceries and utilities and gas prices are about average, housing is very inexpensive (at least to me :lol: ).

 

People have all been pretty friendly. Helpful and courteous, will hold a conversation with a stranger, when we got stuck in the snow someone always stopped to help us out.

 

We've been many, many places around the world. There have been places we liked and places we loved and places that we will never return to if we can help it :lol: but we like it here and plan to stay a long, long time. Dh is talking about retiring here and I would have no complaints about that. ;)

Edited January 28, 2010 by prairie rose

[farmmom4him]

I lived lived in KS for all my life --33.5 yrs. THis is the coldest winter I can remember. So, not it is NOT always like this. Normally snows only stick around for a day or two--long enough to play in a day, and then they are gone.

 

So, don't let the cold scare ya, I fear the heat more, but I have to be in it more then the cold. ;)

[KristineinKS]

My dh wonders how it would be to go from from hills and mountains to flat land all around.

 

In my opinion, this has been the *hardest* aspect of living in Kansas. I moved from California to Texas to Kansas & am still not quite used to it. I've been here nearly 9 years and am only now finally starting to appreciate the beauty of the prairie. In particular, we love exploring all of the little prairie "ghost towns" scattered all around. And while we have no mountains of course, the Flint Hills are nearby and quite lovely.

 

To your original question though ~ McPherson is a wonderful small town & homeschooling is super easy in KS (we're near Wichita). It's not really SO cold here, but it is VERY windy! Most everything is quite affordable & the people are very nice.

[Heather in OK]

This post is making me very homesick. :( I grew up in Wichita and my family is still there.

[TXMomof4]

TXMom,

I can imagine it would be cold in KS coming from TX! Coming from NY, however, I didn't think it would be the same! We have 23 degrees and blowing snow at the moment. I just took a look at McPherson's weather and they have 22 degrees with snow falling. I don't know why, but I didn't think Kansas would be quite so cold as here. Perhaps the winter there is shorter at least? Ours often starts early and goes on into April! One time I found myself driving in a white-out in May!

 

Where are you in Kansas? Was it a big landscape change for you? My dh wonders how it would be to go from from hills and mountains to flat land all around.

 

Thanks for sharing ladies. It's kinda fun thinking about the possibilities! :)

 

We're near Ft. Riley and it isn't flat here. It's the Flint Hills area and is very pretty. I grew up in Lubbock so I *KNOW* flat. Even the flat areas are pretty compared to cotton fields as far as the eye can see. We have driven over to Topeka and it is really pretty. I can't wait for spring though. Hopefully spring will be green here - in West Tx it is just brown. Brown dirt, brown skies, brown plants - I don't miss that at all.

[Sugarfoot]

 

Of course, it is C-O-L-D here. Everyone keeps assuring me this is unusual, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. And the wind blows.

!

 

:lol: It REALLY IS an unusual winter! But I don't blame you at all for being skeptical! And yeah, the wind really does come swooping down the plains.

 

Spring will definitely come earlier here than in New York. It'll start to turn green in a couple of months, and everything will be lush and hilly and lovely. And then it may get HOT. And I won't say that's unusual...;)

 

And, YAY!, I finally got to meet another WTM'er in person, and it's official: Texans are just as friendly as Kansans!

 

TexasMomof4, I PM'd you earlier, but I think I may have hit "email." I'm not sure.

[newsong]

I'm so appreciating everyone's input! Ok, so perhaps this is an unusual Kansas winter. Talk to me about summer. How hot is hot? Is it dry hot or wet hot? Do you get cool breezes? Are the nights cool? Are there lakes where you can swim and fish? Or rivers for tubing, etc...?

 

Heather, I'm sorry the posts are making you homesick. I'm originally from the Northwest and I feel the same way when people get talking about that area. Most of my family and some good friends are still back there and I miss them greatly. Being so far away makes visits home few and far between. Hope the shorter distance makes it easier for you to get back.

[Slartibartfast]

I don't think it is really unusual. The only thing that really seems unusual is that big huge snow we got. That was bad.

[Remudamom]

It's a harsher winter than usual. Colder, maybe not snow wise.

 

Summers are hot and dry. June is nice, July and Aug hotter. Fall is wonderful, gorgeous, great! Springs are muddy, but maybe just cuz we're on the farm.

[Heather in OK]

I do get home every once in a while. Being on-call all the time makes it hard though.

 

Summers are hot and humid!!!

[Remudamom]

I do get home every once in a while. Being on-call all the time makes it hard though.

 

Summers are hot and humid!!!

 

Beg to differ, Kansas summers are dry as a bone! (I grew up in Alabama):)

[Guest YPwife]

Hey there, my name is Amber and I live in McPherson (HI HEATHER!!). McPherson is a wonderful place to raise kids and live. We moved here from Rochester, MN almost 3 years ago and LOVE IT.

 

We moved here for my husbands job (he is a youth pastor at the Covenant church) and heard that it is really hard to break into McPherson, but we personally haven't ecountered that but I think that is because Jim is a pastor and so it's a unique situation.

 

I am just exporing homeschooling for my 7 yr old. She is in public school but have had a lot of issues with her teacher so we are going to be pulling her out in the next couple of a weeks.

 

To homeschool in KS is really easy. You just have to register your school and that's it. No testing, etc.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

Amber

[Guest pokeypup5]

I live about half an hour from there. I think McPherson is a good place to live. It is very affordable and the cost of living is low. They have a great affordable water park. It is not that far from Wichita at all for really good shopping. Salina is even closer than Wichita and has a good children's library. Hutchinson isn't very far away and they have the salt mines and Cosmosphere. The state fair is also in that town. Wichita has a really outstanding Zoo and the Exploration place is cool too. A little outside of Salina, there is the Rolling Hills Wildlife Refuge. It's like a smaller zoo and they also have a really nice indoor museum that is great for really hot/cold days when you just have to get out.

 

There are a lot of lakes that you can go to in Kansas. I really like the hiking trails around Kanopolis Lake. It's a great place to do geology. There are lots of hills in that area too.

 

The summers are hot and humid but not as bad as the south. This winter has been awful. I have never gotten cabin fever so bad before! Kansas is an easy state to homeschool in with lots of support groups.