Lawrence, KS

[Weitz]

I was impressed by the number of independent/mom-and-pop stores in Lawrence. I could hardly spot any chain stores or restaurants in the downtown core, keeping the somewhat quirky, progressive character of the area intact. You can still shop at Walmart or Target if you would like; both of these big-box stores have locations in LawrencAnd reee, albeit far from campus or downtown. So everyone is satisfied.

Forgive me for asking, however, can someone please discuss the danger of tornadoes? I have never lived in the Midwest before, and my stereotype of Kansas is, well, Dorothy and Toto getting swooped up in a vortex. Another poster mentioned hail--are there hail storms often? And if there is a tornado warning, is there anything I can do besides pray?

As I understood it, tornadoes are not common in Lawrence. Lawrence is unusual from our stereotype of Kansas in one huge way- it's hilly. Tornadoes don't do well with hills, nor do they do well with the river. It tends to break them down.

I think the last big one was 2003?

But yeah, hail, it happens. And freezing rain, sleet, etc. I think of this more of a winter-thing than a tornado thing.

[psych21]

Weitz, I loved your description of Lawrence--for a short visit, you really got the spirit of the city! That's exactly how it is. Starbucks is not big here, people prefer local coffee shops like the Java Break (open 24hs and features a cereal bar), Henry's (with its upstairs bar), the Mirth with its all-day breakfast, the Bourgeois Pig, Milton's insane Sunday brunch, etc. People support local stores and you can see that. Ben & Jerry's had to close their downtown shop because they could simply not compete with Sylas & Maddy's, the local ice cream parlor, which honestly makes better ice cream than Ben&Jerry's. Street musicians make my day, same as the kids eating cotton candy on Mass St. and walking their dogs. Indie music? Yes!

Tornadoes... we get alerts every now and then, but mostly they don't cross through Lawrence, they either go north or south of the city. Just yesterday my prof told a story about his first tornado warning after moving to KS. He and his family hid in the basement, very scared, while the rest of the neighborhood had a block party and were drinking beer outside, trying to SEE the tornado; they knew it would not hit them, and they told my prof he "missed a great show" since they saw the tornado from afar and it was "lots of fun."

Yes- get a car. Life can be pretty annoying without one. But you can get away with not using it a lot of the time, especially if you live somewhere in the bus routes. All KU and city buses are free with your KU ID. However, as Weitz said, you will want to get away to KC every now and then, whatever your reason for it: big shopping malls, big name concerts, sports, even partying at the Power&Light District, seeing art at the Crossroads district, or shopping & walking around the fancy Country Club Plaza (especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas when it's full with gorgeous lights)

Hail? Yes, unfortunately. Freezing rain and sleet? Yes, and it sucks. It's only a few times a year though, it's not like you'll get it every week. Changing weather is another thing -- we had 75 degrees one day last week and the next day it snowed. However, I love it.

Any other questions, here I am!

[HyacinthMacaw]

Thanks for the info, folks! This will make the transition to life in Lawrence a lot easier. I'm hoping to move there as soon as my department allows it!

A quick survey--where can I get the best...

Pizza and calzones? (Hey, I live close to New York.)

Fresh produce? (I've heard the farmer's markets aren't there in the winter.)

Cheesecake and cannolis?

Burritos? (I spent 4 years in Los Angeles.)

Ice cream?

Falafel and gyro?

Meat substitutes for purchase, e.g. tofu, mycoprotein, quinoa, etc.? I tried the quinoa burger at Dempsey's. It was the best burger I ever had, and it wasn't even meat. I would love to try replicating it at home.

Also, does any grocery sell pizza dough? I just snagged a pizza oven (with a real pizza stone!) for $5 at the thrift store and would relish the opportunity to try it out in Lawrence. Speaking of which, is there a thrift store around?

Finally, is there a 24-hour grocery in Lawrence? I am hoping I can find a comfortable place to live that's close to a middle-of-the-road (i.e., not expensive like Whole Foods and such) grocery, preferably one open 24/7.

These are not critical issues, of course, but still useful info for anyone perusing this thread.

Thanks so much! All the best!

[barricades]

I lived in Lawrence for five years and can say it's probably the best college town in the country. Beats Chapel Hill for sure, and Athens. I am visiting Princeton right now and am freaking out, since there doesn't seem like there's much to do Here! I'll write a more detailed message soon, but feel free to pm if you have specific questions!

[psych21]

Pizza: 715, Rudy's, Wheat State, Papa Keno's

Burritos: Pretty much everywhere, Mexican restaurants in every neighborhood

Fresh produce: Farmers market from April to September, The Merc or Checkers the rest of the time

Cheesecake/cannolis: Try Muncher's. They open 24hr too.

Ice cream: SYLAS & MADDY'S! best ice cream in the world. and it's local.

Falafel/gyro: Aladdin Cafe, Mad Greek

Meat subs: The Merc

No idea about the pizza dough, although I'd guess Rudy's or Wheat State would sell it.

24 hr grocery store...well, the only one I can think of is Walmart.

Hope it helps

[HyacinthMacaw]

Pizza: 715, Rudy's, Wheat State, Papa Keno's

Burritos: Pretty much everywhere, Mexican restaurants in every neighborhood

Fresh produce: Farmers market from April to September, The Merc or Checkers the rest of the time

Cheesecake/cannolis: Try Muncher's. They open 24hr too.

Ice cream: SYLAS & MADDY'S! best ice cream in the world. and it's local.

Falafel/gyro: Aladdin Cafe, Mad Greek

Meat subs: The Merc

No idea about the pizza dough, although I'd guess Rudy's or Wheat State would sell it.

24 hr grocery store...well, the only one I can think of is Walmart.

Hope it helps

Thank you so much!

[ukraine_eta]

Pizza: 715, Rudy's, Wheat State, Papa Keno's

Burritos: Pretty much everywhere, Mexican restaurants in every neighborhood

Fresh produce: Farmers market from April to September, The Merc or Checkers the rest of the time

Cheesecake/cannolis: Try Muncher's. They open 24hr too.

Ice cream: SYLAS & MADDY'S! best ice cream in the world. and it's local.

Falafel/gyro: Aladdin Cafe, Mad Greek

Meat subs: The Merc

No idea about the pizza dough, although I'd guess Rudy's or Wheat State would sell it.

24 hr grocery store...well, the only one I can think of is Walmart.

Hope it helps

There is a lady at the farmer's market who sells pizza dough. Her whole-wheat dough is fantastic. The market does operate in the winter, but its indoors and quite a bit smaller. I've never been in the winter. Amy's also has a good meatball grinder and Yellow Sub is great, too.

There are meat substitutes everywhere! Local Burger has a fantastic veggie burger, so does The Burger Stand. The Merc sells a lot of different veggie options and we've got a new place Natural Grocers, that also sells natural, veggie options. You can get the Local Burger brand patties at the grocery stores, too.

I second Sylas and Maddy's. Orange Leaf has good fro-yo.

We've got several thrift stores (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc) and a few vintage stores, too.

Dillon's is open 24 hours. There are three currently in town and they are rebuilding the one on Mass.

I would suggest living within walking distance to downtown. Once the Dillons is ready, there will be a nice grocery nearby. Downtown is really the hub of Lawrence. My boyfriend lives within walking distance adn it's great. I live on 23rd, so I can walk to the grocery and laundromat and a few other places, but I wish I was near Mass!

Hope this helps!

V

[Gauche]

Can anyone recommend some areas that are nice and quiet? I'm not a party person at all, and I'd like to be in a quiet neighborhood with other serious grad students somewhere close to KU. I'm looking at renting a house or buying a fairly new one for a decent price. If anyone is familiar with the area and can offer recommendations, I would be very grateful.

[charabanc]

I'm looking to find a rental a couple blocks east of Massachusetts Street (around New Jersey St, I guess?).  My friend who lives in Lawrence says that the neighborhood there is quiet, with more families and older students, but still within easy walking distance to downtown/coffeeshops/restaurants.  

[charabanc]

Also, if anyone is looking for a roommate, feel free to send me a message.  There are some really nice 2-3 bedroom houses for rent that would be cheap split two ways.  And I also happen to come with the sweetest catahoula leopard dog in the world, so it's a win-win.

[powertorest]

Does anyone have any recommendations for an area to rent an apartment?  I'm just looking for a one bedroom, parking would be a plus, and I don't have any pets.  Close to campus or on the bus route would be nice, but not necessary.  I'm coming from the east coast (New Jersey) so I really have no idea where to start looking.   

[dami11e]

BUMP.

 

looks like i'll be moving to lawrence for grad school this fall.  lots of great information here so far!

 

i wonder if anyone can describe the different neighborhoods & offer advice about which ones might be fairly affordable in terms of housing.  i'm also hoping to stay away from a bunch of partying undergrads; a low-key somewhat family-friendly neighborhood would be nice, with proximity to some smaller independent coffee shops & some low-key dive bars.  also, i'm hoping to live along a campus bus route & to ride my bike to campus (though some in here have said that's not too easy).

 

i've mainly lived in mid-to-large cities for the last 20 years (st. louis, chicago, nyc), so the prospect of moving to a smaller college town is kind of new, though not totally unfamiliar (i also lived in new haven; new haven *sucks*).  i'm mostly used to hanging out in my immediate neighborhood for stuff to do.

 

so yeah, what are the different neighborhoods like, & what ones might be interesting--but also decent for a young family?

[dysleksick]

BUMP.

 

looks like i'll be moving to lawrence for grad school this fall.  lots of great information here so far!

 

i wonder if anyone can describe the different neighborhoods & offer advice about which ones might be fairly affordable in terms of housing.  i'm also hoping to stay away from a bunch of partying undergrads; a low-key somewhat family-friendly neighborhood would be nice, with proximity to some smaller independent coffee shops & some low-key dive bars.  also, i'm hoping to live along a campus bus route & to ride my bike to campus (though some in here have said that's not too easy).

 

i've mainly lived in mid-to-large cities for the last 20 years (st. louis, chicago, nyc), so the prospect of moving to a smaller college town is kind of new, though not totally unfamiliar (i also lived in new haven; new haven *sucks*).  i'm mostly used to hanging out in my immediate neighborhood for stuff to do.

 

so yeah, what are the different neighborhoods like, & what ones might be interesting--but also decent for a young family?

 

DOUBLE BUMP.

[charabanc]

Hey there--I can give some insight now that I've lived in Lawrence for a few months.  You might want to start looking in East Lawrence (approx the grid of streets from New Hampshire through Delaware west to east and Sixth to Fourteenth north to south).  This is where I'm living now--the neighborhood is quiet, very close to downtown, and affordable, especially if you have someone to split the cost of a house with.  There are fewer apartments in this area, but still some to be found if you're diligent about looking on craigslist.  There are a few bus stops around, too--I take the 11 bus every day.

 

Other neighborhoods to look for are sort of northwest of downtown (Ohio through Maine, from Fourth down to Ninth or so), as it's similarly quiet up there and close to downtown.  Avoid most anything on the streets between campus and downtown from Fourteenth to Eleventh as that's where the rowdy undergrad housing typically is, though Kentucky Street is generally quieter than the others.  Hope this makes sense while looking at google maps of the town.

[dami11e]

Thanks for your response Charabanc, it's really helpful!  

 

 

I see you're in the CW program--I sent you a PM as I've been offered a spot in that program, and I have a quick question that's off-topic for this thread.

 

Thanks again!

[dysleksick]

Yes, thank you for the insight charabanc!

[The Wayfarer]

Accepted my offer from KU last week -- can't wait to get out there and visit Lawrence. (Not sure when that will be...hopefully soonish.) First step will be finding somewhere to live and this thread seems to be offering great advice for that. Also glad the tornado issue was touched upon for that was making me a little nervous...

[Fisheram]

Hi..I'm attending KU in the fall as a graduate student in the atmospheric science department. I already secured an apartment at Birchwood Gardens. I'm looking for a roommate male or female. Where can I get help finding a roommate? Anyone interested?

Andrew

[psych21]

I actually heard about many roommate success stories that started on Craigslist.

[csStudent]

Hi guy,

How much do a couple with a child need per month to live a moderate live in Lawrence , Kansas I got a RA position and I would u like to compare the benefits with the expenses...

I will appreciate your responses ...)

[csStudent]

Any response

[bindlestiff]

Laith, I think your question would be hard for most people to answer without more information. 

 

I would recommend looking for Lawrence's cost of living online -- there are a lot of websites dedicated to calculating the cost of living in different places.

 

I do know that KU has family housing on campus, so you might want to look into that. I'm not sure whether it qualifies as "moderate". The apartments are in apparently in pretty bad shape, but KU's Hilltop daycare center is literally right next door.

[csStudent]

thank you very much for your response, 

 

I have explored these websites, but i would like to hear from somebody real experience, can i asks u as a Lawrence resident, how much do u spend monthly on average for food and utilities(water electricity)? 

 

what minimum salary shall i expect to take in order to be able to live with my family ?From your own personal point of view?

[bindlestiff]

Over the last three years I've lived with in a 4-bedroom apartment in a student complex, a 2-bedroom an old house split up into apartments, and a studio in a house with 2 other studio apartments.

 

My rent has been between ~$380 and ~$450, and utilities range a lot depending on the management. I've always had water included in my rent. In the smaller apartments my electric bill has usually been $30-$50, and in the hottest and coldest months it hasn't gone over $100. 

 

For groceries I really don't know what to say. My diet consists mostly of coffee and easy foods like granola bars, apples, and microwave dinners. Sorry, I hope some of this has been helpful!

[LivingLaveda]

I will be attending KU in the Fall 2015, and would like to know if there is parking on campus for a scooter (a street legal Honda)? Are there spots on campus designated for scooters to park? Would driving my scooter be an advantage over biking/bus?

Also, have any of you discovered any bike trails in the area?

Finally, are there any places Grad students tend to congregate, as opposed to all of the undergrad places?

 

Any info would be appreciated.

 

 

Journalism and Comm. PhD/ accepted KU offer, TA with stipend for 4 years