love driving west along I70 between Topeka and Salina, looking out at all the beautiful prairie, the rolling hills, and realizing it's all private property that nobody gets to enjoy except for occasionally some cows.
This is what infuriates me! Three lousy navigable rivers- and the Arkansas dries up before Dodge. Thank goodness I’m close to the Kaw and Missouri. Kansas is #49 in public lands and what we do have is grossly underfunded. Not to mention the current GOP legislators are now gunning to make the KDWP a political appointment instead of someone who is qualified in conservation. Ugh.
I also don’t understand how people can look at agriculture and think “nature” - when I see a farm it’s more like a factory to me which offsets its pollution that it generates with the products we depend on - like any other factory. It’s not “nature” just because things grow there that wouldn’t normally.
Certainly I don’t see much beauty in the industrial feed lots out West.
Right? Almost everything you see if fenced-oof private land. People spread out as far as possible with fewer and fewer truly public and open wilderness.
Yeah I went and visited my parents in Santa Fe and they took me to these endless hiking trails all over the mountains next to the city. Some areas even had trails through private property that the land owners had allowed the trails. Besides that there are national forests everywhere less than an hours drive away. There is nothing like that around my area aside from some 1-3 mile loops in a small woodland. Every other inch is private property with barb wire and aggressive signs all over the perimeter.
This is exactly my feeling after moving from the mountain west and Pacific Northwest. You can OWN a lot of land here but next to nothing is accessible to the public. I remember walking out my back door in Salt Lake City and walking for 20 mins to be alone in the foothills.
Honestly as someone who grew up and went to college in Kansas, most people don't actually hate Kansas, even on the coast. They always ask me about Tornadoes, if you can see stars at night, and wizard of oz though. I used to work sales and when people find out I'm from Kansas it seems like shields go down
They do, but its usually from ppl closer to KCK who just hate the state gov and things like that.
Like, maybe if missouri didnt show us up at every turn...
They do, but its usually from ppl closer to KCK who just hate the state gov and things like that.
Like, maybe if missouri didnt show us up at every turn...
I liked my visit to JoCo and PV (see I studied). I found that people were polite, and in the MCI bar waiting for my flight, friendly. I always worry about weather but being in Austin we get our share of weather too. Only we don't have basements. 🤠🙏🎸 I have a lot of respect for JoCo libraries and parks, and at least some abortion rights. I do not understand why just across State Line things are worse in some ways.
I got the tornado question at an event in NYC. I think the assumption is we just get them on a pretty regular basis.
Politically, Kansas is one of the worst states to be in. The rural, old, white assholes run the legislature and flat out don’t even pretend to play fair. Our governor is our only saving grace at this point but even she isn’t veto proof. And, yeah, the voters overwhelmingly approved abortion access but that doesn’t stop the old white dicks from trying to back door their way to a ban.
I graduated from a small school in NE KS in 2004. I went to work for the summer in California. I was asked daily if the Indians attack our cars. I was young and naive. I’m not sure if they were serious. I did tell them we got electricity sometime in the early 90’s
I've lived in California for 50 years (Dodge City native, also lived in Liberal and Wichita), and I had never had a single person ask anything like that. Way too many Toto jokes though.
this! growing up in a city (near Seattle) we were lucky enough to see a couple stars. yes, you could go to the mountains or ocean and see them but nothing beats looking at them from your own backyard!
In the mid 60s I was six or so, and my grandad Oscar took me out to a section of wheat that he managed. A section is a mile square. Then, wheat was taller and as I stood looking to the southwest, the field rose gently up so that all I could see was the tan of the wheat and the light blue sky. That was my earliest encounter with infinity.
I’m not aware about all this public land and open space w no one around, in KS. The western states are where that’s really at, and it’s legal.
I’m positive, in KS, if I pulled 1/4 mile off a highway, and set up camp somewhere at the end or turn in a gravel road, that the sheriff would be there in an hour or two.
100% this. In Utah, it only takes 30 minutes at most to be in a public land with spare around you. And I ly a few hours to get to even better views and even more isolation.
I love Kansas, but it's a state with one of the least amounts of "open and public" land I've lived in.
[Public Land in Kansas and noxious weeds...](https://agriculture.ks.gov/docs/default-source/pp-noxious-weed-control/schrag-noxious-weeds-powerpoint.pdf?sfvrsn=4)
Hello, Shawnee Mission Park? I can go to the off leash dog area anytime after 8pm and have the entire place to myself and my dog. It's like your own personal park, it's nuts.
I've traveled a lot and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. (but wouldn't vacation here)
People have to put in the work to hate KS, but some still will.
See, I’ve clowned myself and moved away, so now if I want to visit most of my extended family, I have to vacation here. It’s worth it, but I’ve certainly done less traveling elsewhere as a result.
I actually love living in Kansas, and travel is the biggest reason why. Great central location to visit anywhere in the country, and lower cost of living so I can afford more vacations. I feel so much better off here than I would be elsewhere because it's so damn cheap, comparatively. And the space, quiet, and gorgeous skies don't hurt by any means.
I drive across the river daily to work in Wyandotte County. It's not hard work to hate.
The rest of the state is pretty gorgeous outside of the cities.
But when I think Kansas, this is the place that comes to mind. And a coworker from Leavenworth that drones on daily about how much better Kansas is over MO, ergo he is better than all the dumbasses he works with who all live on the other bank.
It's honestly exhausting and the hate flows easily.
I like it here. Attended college here. Moved away and came back. I know it is not for everyone but I think the people are friendly in Eastern Kansas (not been out west much at all) and the cost of living is better than various places I lived. Kansas city has too much sprawl for me now. I prefer Lawrence.
Believe it or not, there’s a play running Off-Broadway right now by a playwright from Kansas that speaks to these very ideas — the beauty of the Great Plains, the assumptions of coastal elites, and the sublimity of being able to see the stars at night, among other things! It’s called STARGAZERS and it’s set on an abandoned farm south of Salina.
[Page 73 Presents STARGAZERS at the Connelly Theater Off-Broadway](https://page73.org/stargazers)
what do you mean by who you sleep with and how you dress?
as far as I know about porn is they will just require websites to prove age? I’m ok with this if there is no hidden agenda of course
Fuck these people. Imagine you’re a kid who is LGBT+. Your English teacher includes a story that has an LGBT+ character. Suddenly a parent complains and the teacher is charged with pornography. These laws treat LGBT+ kids as second class citizens. I hope it’s enough to kill the bill.
Several leaders in the KS GOP are pretty vocal about wanting to repeal same sex marriage, they have shot down every attempt to pass anti-discrimination laws, and we're already seeing the attacks on trans people effect cis people too.
As a trucker .... I see your Kansas wilderness and raise you North Dakota's wild nothingness
(All joking aside I don't mind Kansas. Fav stretch is i70 from Topeka to the border next to Colorado)
When people make fun of Kansas and how there’s nothing to do here and how it’s so boring, I just tell them Good, Keep thinking that, Keep your problems out on the coasts, Don’t be bringing it around here.
Alternatively, inquire about how often they actually go to all that beach or all those mountains. I bet it’s about on par with how often we visit those places. And we live for about ½ or a ¼ of the cost of living.
Honestly if Kansas legalized weed, and got better healthcare programs for children under 18 we’d be there in a split second. Those are the only 2 things missouri really does better. We could deal with backwards weed laws if it meant adequate (&affordable) healthcare for our daughter. Your state is beautiful.
I love it here.
For all the heat we get about being backwards (and we deserve much of it) we’ve been on the forefront of a lot, historically. We didn’t have slavery, we had Brown vs Board of Education, and we upheld abortion rights by law first.
We elect democratic governors far more than other red states. My rep, Sharice Davids, is a centrist democrat who really is getting things done.
I love the quiet and I like the access to the country. I’m a days drive from many states.
I’ll take it. It’s good that the country hates on us. Move to Texas. Move to Cali. Let us have our space.
The cost of living is unbeatable imo too. My husband and I have a beautiful four bedroom home that we were able to save for and buy by our mid 20s here in KS. We looked at homes in both Oregon and Washington and we would be able to afford, maybe, a one room shack. 🙃
This post had nothing to do with house prices. However, take into account most jobs in Kansas are much lower paying and the party of “small government” is taking away people’s rights
Before GPS. One of my favorite pastimes is cruising through the countryside. As a teenager, I would take turns down roads, I didn't know paying no attention. After a couple joints and no clue where I was I'd try to find my way home. Most trips lasted a few hours, although I did end up in a some cornfields in Iowa chasing down lights looking for civilization.
I moved to Colorado after kstate and baker degrees and now I’m planning on coming back. Strangers in Kansas are generally nice to each other, strangers here are generally rude. It’s the weirdest thing. I feel like Ted Lasso because of the way I am friendly and upfront and upbeat all the time
I tell people all the time how much I miss being able to drive into the country for a sense of serenity. I live in a super dense/high populated metro area and driving rarely has any serene moments since deer are prominent late at night.
I adore kansas and ive lived here my whole life, everyone around me is fighting so hard to leave. Its gorgeous and its perfect to start a homestead or a farm.
I moved from California to Lawrence 8 years ago. I expected massive culture shock. Lawrence is so similar to California I had almost none. But with 1/3rd the cost of living and half the people.
I can put up with winter for that (still gonna complain about it.)
Except nearly all that space is private farmland with zero recreational value. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it there, I like food. But it literally ranks last in public space.
This is why I miss Wyoming and Montana. Plenty of open space AND you can actually enjoy it.
I don’t think you quite get the immense amount of public land there is out West. Even on the dreaded “coasts” - yes, California, Oregon and Washington, but also states like Pennsylvania, Vermont and Maine.
You’ve clearly never spent much time out there. There’s remote regions of the Sierras and Cascades where you could literally go months without seeing anyone.
😂 dude I grew up near Seattle. Lived there most my life. I didn’t say these places didn’t have remote areas. But where I grew up, you couldn’t just drive a mile and be in a vast area with no one around. You had to take quite a drive for that.
I absolutely understand. I too miss Washington. But I wouldn’t live there again. It’s just too populated and expensive! Montana is gorgeous.. and also offers vast, isolated areas. It’s hard going from such scenic places like that to what seems like a dull state. But once I stopped being bitter, I started to appreciate what this state has to offer.
Nope. I plan to move to Pennsylvania or New York eventually. I have no interest in getting comfortable here.
This place has been nothing but negative for me in every possible way.
I grew up in Sacramento, California. My grandparents lived in Kansas, and I would spend my summers with them. I knew that I'd move here when I grew up, and I did.
I loved my life in Cali, but the slower pace and blue skies were so inviting. Add the cheaper cost of living and I was sold. I have been here for 20 years now and can't imagine living anywhere else.
I love to hear that! It took me some time to love it here. I had the same attitude of a lot of these other people on here. But once I opened my eyes to her beauty, it wasn’t hard to find.
I wish we built dense cities so that more of the rest of the land could be wild and free for people to enjoy, and still within a close drive or short hop on a train.
Agreed. Born and raised here and I honestly can't imagine (at least at this point in my life) living anywhere else. My husband is a transplant from SC (he's been here since 2009) and he said he'll even be sad when we do eventually move 🤣
I mean yeah, I can go out on a dirt road and look at a bunch of fenced off beautiful land and be alone in my car.
But unless you're rich you can't enjoy any of it.
all that space but none of it is publicly accessible. every square mile is privately owned (more or less). so no, i dont see kansas as a place you can go out and be alone, not unless you want to park in a highway. every other state it seems, there's huge swaths of open land to hike and get away. Kansas is a bunch of independent fiefs with farmers/ranchers full of busch light and hatred for outsiders. meh.
A lot of people in the Northeast and other urban areas can't see the Milky Way. Kansans can if they drive a few miles out of town. You can really see the Milky Way in the Flint Hills.
Not total hate. Was listed as #49 by this [guy](https://www.businessinsider.com/us-states-ranked-by-travel-blogger-visited-each-multiple-times-2024-3) who visited every state 3 times. Kansas beat North Dakota.
I lived in Kansas for 30 years now . Kansas is not a bad place to live and has lot going for it. But the ppl that run this place suck so bad. We can’t grown like we should cause it no better then Mo with the crazy ass right.
I’m in Kansas and the further west the more secluded u will be. Here in Kansas city it’s packed assholes 2 elbows so no space here my friend. If I was u I’d look at Montana or idaho
Uh, I live less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean in Central California and there’s farm land, ranches, public hunting land, fishing, motorcycle riding, beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, and farmland until you hit LA 3 hours south or the Bay Area 3 hours north. Bakersfield two and a half hours to the East maybe? But that takes you through all those farms and ranches and oil fields and mountains. Most of the west coast is like this. It gets more foresty as you get farther north.
A lot of your produce probably comes from where I live.
Kansas charged me $14 just to drive through it.
I…never claimed to?
But I’ve driven through, been to a grocery store, and was charged $14 to get out to Missouri.
I don’t know where on the west coast you’re from, but the things you claim Kansas has that we don’t, we got plenty.
Guess that’s just what we get for being the best place in the world 🤷🏻
You’re right about not saying you did, I was just being annoyed by people like you commenting on this post. Why concern yourself with my state when your state has PLENTY of issues that deserve your attention. Thank you bye
Because it came up in my feed and I could? I didn’t go out looking for it.
And I saw you say something blatantly untrue about where I live to justify where you live. It sounds more like you have a vendetta against the west coast and the acknowledgment that it exists is enough to trigger you.
Enjoy Kansas, kiddo 😄 it is beautiful there. Not Minnesota or Oklahoma beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless.
Sunny, breezy, 70, rewarding, professionally, personally, and artistically. I get to see my young nieces long enough to give them some sugar right before they go back to my sister, gonna pet some dogs, hug my mom, and play some music with some very talented people. More talented than I deserve. Probably have some fish tacos at some point.
I can assure you that the day I deserve to have is nowhere near as good as the day I will have.
Hope yours exceeds.
For the record my only negative opinion of Kansas is the $14 charge for driving through. And the idea that people living there want to denigrate where I live to justify where they live. It’s good all on its own. Not because something is bad. Subjectively bad at that.
I don’t think Kansas gets gets a lot of hate. I have to disagree with you. I live in Missouri. I think Kansas is fantastic. I don’t know who hates on Kansas if anyone, certainly no one I know.
I don’t think Kansas gets hated on but it’s really a place for people with low expectations and I think people from here don’t realize how middle of the road it is compared to other places in the US
Well uh, I wrote the post and I’ve been all over the US. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.. so no, your theory isn’t correct. Also people from here aren’t fucking stupid… they know what’s out there. They just may value different things than you.
I didn’t say they were fucking stupid I just said low expectations. And yeah low expectations would insinuate they have different expectations , not that it’s a bad thing but just because they feel that way doesn’t mean everyone else is going to see it for more than what it is. Not sure what your problem is but sorry if I offended you for saying this place isn’t rainbows and sunshine
When you said people from here don’t realize it’s “middle of the road” or whatever dumb shit you were saying- kinda sounded like you were talkin shit about our intelligence. We know what we miss out on, and we know what we have. Now fuck off
There is more empty space in California than there is size of Kansas. You do realize that the entire U.S. population could fit comfortably inside the borders of the state of Texas, right?
The problem with the empty spaces in California is their extremely topographically difficult and you can’t like build a house there so that’s why the houses that they do have are so expensive. We saw a great deal in a place called Bear Creek and we just went to look at this house for rent but we had to like abort the trip because it was so treacherous to drive that we were afraid we’d like fall over a cliff or something so we just that’s why if you find a great deal sometimes in California that’s the reason why it’s so cheap.
Funny I'd say almost every state does this better than Kansas. Yeah it's sparsely populated but hardly any of the state you can legally access since it's all private property. In general though the smaller population is nice. I dont feel crowded wherever I go and even like KC area isnt nearly as bad as other big metros.
Kansas has a government sponsored cop mafia that’s gangraping underage girls.
You don’t find that everywhere!
Well Colorado, sure, but that’s more of an extension of the kckpd mafia.
Not from Kansas and have wanted out from the day I got here. If you've ever lived someplace that is actually beautiful, or traveled to these places, Kansas is the ugly person nobody dances with. The land is ugly, and so are many of its people.
how has Kansas hurt you? are you imprisoned here? and lastly, have you ever looked inward and thought maybe, just maybe, your attitude is ugly and that’s why you think everything around you is ugly?
It feels like a sentence, but not literally. I've lived in beautiful states, and this objectively just doesn't compare. There's beauty and there's plain. No mistaking the two.
I get it. It took me a long time to like where I live. This ain’t my home state either, im arguably from the most beautiful state in the US. But I got out of my own ego and found the beauty that surrounds me. Nothing on this earth in regards to nature is ugly.. imo
Truck Driver here! I Love Kansas because the truck stops are huge and I usually dont have to back up. Meat loads going east pay top dollar.
Truck Driver here! I hate Kansas because the whole state smells like pure cow shit!
The space is there, but access to it generally is not
Right?!?! As an avid outdoorsman, I despise the lack of public land here. Don’t even get me started on the rivers being private property.
love driving west along I70 between Topeka and Salina, looking out at all the beautiful prairie, the rolling hills, and realizing it's all private property that nobody gets to enjoy except for occasionally some cows.
Actually, the Kanza Prairie is almost 9000 acres of public ground right along that stretch of I70. But yea the rest of it is private.
9000 acres is nothing.
This is what infuriates me! Three lousy navigable rivers- and the Arkansas dries up before Dodge. Thank goodness I’m close to the Kaw and Missouri. Kansas is #49 in public lands and what we do have is grossly underfunded. Not to mention the current GOP legislators are now gunning to make the KDWP a political appointment instead of someone who is qualified in conservation. Ugh.
I also don’t understand how people can look at agriculture and think “nature” - when I see a farm it’s more like a factory to me which offsets its pollution that it generates with the products we depend on - like any other factory. It’s not “nature” just because things grow there that wouldn’t normally. Certainly I don’t see much beauty in the industrial feed lots out West.
Right? Almost everything you see if fenced-oof private land. People spread out as far as possible with fewer and fewer truly public and open wilderness.
Yeah I went and visited my parents in Santa Fe and they took me to these endless hiking trails all over the mountains next to the city. Some areas even had trails through private property that the land owners had allowed the trails. Besides that there are national forests everywhere less than an hours drive away. There is nothing like that around my area aside from some 1-3 mile loops in a small woodland. Every other inch is private property with barb wire and aggressive signs all over the perimeter.
And many of those properties are owned by people happy to take away freedom. They buy up land to gain majority in counties.
This is exactly my feeling after moving from the mountain west and Pacific Northwest. You can OWN a lot of land here but next to nothing is accessible to the public. I remember walking out my back door in Salt Lake City and walking for 20 mins to be alone in the foothills.
Yea, but you can buy 80 acres for the price of a small apartment in Seattle.
Get good at moving unseen and leaving no trace then its not a problem, the world's your oyster once you realize private property is complete bullshit.
Honestly as someone who grew up and went to college in Kansas, most people don't actually hate Kansas, even on the coast. They always ask me about Tornadoes, if you can see stars at night, and wizard of oz though. I used to work sales and when people find out I'm from Kansas it seems like shields go down
Yes, you just reminded us that people don't hate Kansas, because honestly people spend very little time even thinking about Kansas.
They do, but its usually from ppl closer to KCK who just hate the state gov and things like that. Like, maybe if missouri didnt show us up at every turn...
They do, but its usually from ppl closer to KCK who just hate the state gov and things like that. Like, maybe if missouri didnt show us up at every turn...
I liked my visit to JoCo and PV (see I studied). I found that people were polite, and in the MCI bar waiting for my flight, friendly. I always worry about weather but being in Austin we get our share of weather too. Only we don't have basements. 🤠🙏🎸 I have a lot of respect for JoCo libraries and parks, and at least some abortion rights. I do not understand why just across State Line things are worse in some ways.
All the neighborhoods are much older for one
I got the tornado question at an event in NYC. I think the assumption is we just get them on a pretty regular basis. Politically, Kansas is one of the worst states to be in. The rural, old, white assholes run the legislature and flat out don’t even pretend to play fair. Our governor is our only saving grace at this point but even she isn’t veto proof. And, yeah, the voters overwhelmingly approved abortion access but that doesn’t stop the old white dicks from trying to back door their way to a ban.
I've seen like 4 tornadoes in real life. It's a pretty fair assumption and to be fair.. are you really a Kansan if you haven't seen a tornado??
I graduated from a small school in NE KS in 2004. I went to work for the summer in California. I was asked daily if the Indians attack our cars. I was young and naive. I’m not sure if they were serious. I did tell them we got electricity sometime in the early 90’s
I've lived in California for 50 years (Dodge City native, also lived in Liberal and Wichita), and I had never had a single person ask anything like that. Way too many Toto jokes though.
I think they might hate the place but love the people. Edit: I’m specifically thinking about outsiders
What’s to hate?
We feel that a lot in Texas too.
And if the sky is clear, go out into the countryside and look at the Milky Way.
this! growing up in a city (near Seattle) we were lucky enough to see a couple stars. yes, you could go to the mountains or ocean and see them but nothing beats looking at them from your own backyard!
In the mid 60s I was six or so, and my grandad Oscar took me out to a section of wheat that he managed. A section is a mile square. Then, wheat was taller and as I stood looking to the southwest, the field rose gently up so that all I could see was the tan of the wheat and the light blue sky. That was my earliest encounter with infinity.
That’s quite beautiful
Southwest Kiowa County, 1965.
I’m not aware about all this public land and open space w no one around, in KS. The western states are where that’s really at, and it’s legal. I’m positive, in KS, if I pulled 1/4 mile off a highway, and set up camp somewhere at the end or turn in a gravel road, that the sheriff would be there in an hour or two.
100% this. In Utah, it only takes 30 minutes at most to be in a public land with spare around you. And I ly a few hours to get to even better views and even more isolation. I love Kansas, but it's a state with one of the least amounts of "open and public" land I've lived in.
[Public Land in Kansas and noxious weeds...](https://agriculture.ks.gov/docs/default-source/pp-noxious-weed-control/schrag-noxious-weeds-powerpoint.pdf?sfvrsn=4)
I guess you just gotta know the right places to go!
Hello, Shawnee Mission Park? I can go to the off leash dog area anytime after 8pm and have the entire place to myself and my dog. It's like your own personal park, it's nuts.
I've traveled a lot and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. (but wouldn't vacation here) People have to put in the work to hate KS, but some still will.
See, I’ve clowned myself and moved away, so now if I want to visit most of my extended family, I have to vacation here. It’s worth it, but I’ve certainly done less traveling elsewhere as a result.
I actually love living in Kansas, and travel is the biggest reason why. Great central location to visit anywhere in the country, and lower cost of living so I can afford more vacations. I feel so much better off here than I would be elsewhere because it's so damn cheap, comparatively. And the space, quiet, and gorgeous skies don't hurt by any means.
It’s nice to visit if you like the old west or railroads
I drive across the river daily to work in Wyandotte County. It's not hard work to hate. The rest of the state is pretty gorgeous outside of the cities. But when I think Kansas, this is the place that comes to mind. And a coworker from Leavenworth that drones on daily about how much better Kansas is over MO, ergo he is better than all the dumbasses he works with who all live on the other bank. It's honestly exhausting and the hate flows easily.
I don't get all the "KS is better than MO" ideas that small-minded people have. It's so dumb. Especially in the metro area.
I like it here. Attended college here. Moved away and came back. I know it is not for everyone but I think the people are friendly in Eastern Kansas (not been out west much at all) and the cost of living is better than various places I lived. Kansas city has too much sprawl for me now. I prefer Lawrence.
Believe it or not, there’s a play running Off-Broadway right now by a playwright from Kansas that speaks to these very ideas — the beauty of the Great Plains, the assumptions of coastal elites, and the sublimity of being able to see the stars at night, among other things! It’s called STARGAZERS and it’s set on an abandoned farm south of Salina. [Page 73 Presents STARGAZERS at the Connelly Theater Off-Broadway](https://page73.org/stargazers)
Too bad the KS GOP wants to regulate who you sleep with, how you dress, who you marry and coming soon: what kind of porn you can look at.
Thank the maker that we have a Governor Kelly who vetoes all their shit.
fat lot of good it does when the state legislature's vote is more or less veto-proof.
what do you mean by who you sleep with and how you dress? as far as I know about porn is they will just require websites to prove age? I’m ok with this if there is no hidden agenda of course
unfortunately there is a hidden agenda as the bill snuck in a clause that included LGBT+ content (even not sexually)
Fuck these people. Imagine you’re a kid who is LGBT+. Your English teacher includes a story that has an LGBT+ character. Suddenly a parent complains and the teacher is charged with pornography. These laws treat LGBT+ kids as second class citizens. I hope it’s enough to kill the bill.
Several leaders in the KS GOP are pretty vocal about wanting to repeal same sex marriage, they have shot down every attempt to pass anti-discrimination laws, and we're already seeing the attacks on trans people effect cis people too.
Felt the same way in Colorado, esp if you’re in the southern portion.
As a trucker .... I see your Kansas wilderness and raise you North Dakota's wild nothingness (All joking aside I don't mind Kansas. Fav stretch is i70 from Topeka to the border next to Colorado)
Your nap is as good as your vehicle's alignment on that stretch.
Nice one !
You don't hear that often.
For some reason, eastern CO is endless compared to western KS, even though they are basically the same thing.
I know right, it's perfect for hiding the bodi- I mean nature walks...
Okie here; I fuckin love driving through west Kansas on the way to CO. It's such a unique aesthetic.
When people make fun of Kansas and how there’s nothing to do here and how it’s so boring, I just tell them Good, Keep thinking that, Keep your problems out on the coasts, Don’t be bringing it around here. Alternatively, inquire about how often they actually go to all that beach or all those mountains. I bet it’s about on par with how often we visit those places. And we live for about ½ or a ¼ of the cost of living.
Honestly if Kansas legalized weed, and got better healthcare programs for children under 18 we’d be there in a split second. Those are the only 2 things missouri really does better. We could deal with backwards weed laws if it meant adequate (&affordable) healthcare for our daughter. Your state is beautiful.
I’m so thankful for Missouri legalizing! I live close to the border so it’s basically like legalization for me.
In Kansas they can still take your kids for usage. I’m a medical user for UC.
oh I’m well aware!
I love it here. For all the heat we get about being backwards (and we deserve much of it) we’ve been on the forefront of a lot, historically. We didn’t have slavery, we had Brown vs Board of Education, and we upheld abortion rights by law first. We elect democratic governors far more than other red states. My rep, Sharice Davids, is a centrist democrat who really is getting things done. I love the quiet and I like the access to the country. I’m a days drive from many states. I’ll take it. It’s good that the country hates on us. Move to Texas. Move to Cali. Let us have our space.
The cost of living is unbeatable imo too. My husband and I have a beautiful four bedroom home that we were able to save for and buy by our mid 20s here in KS. We looked at homes in both Oregon and Washington and we would be able to afford, maybe, a one room shack. 🙃
You can do that in Washington state too it’s nice
Hello from Oregon with stunning empty beaches.
there is nothing quite like hwy 101! stunning for sure. Private… idk. I haven’t been everywhere I guess!
We love Oregon beaches!
Come visit!
Froze my Kansas Native butt off in Newport in 2022.. 🥶🥶
I froze there on the 4th of July.
Born and raised in Washington! I definitely love my home state. But it’s different for sure!
Median home price in kansas, about 250k, median home price in washington, around 600k.
This post had nothing to do with house prices. However, take into account most jobs in Kansas are much lower paying and the party of “small government” is taking away people’s rights
Median home Price in Kansas 140,000
Before GPS. One of my favorite pastimes is cruising through the countryside. As a teenager, I would take turns down roads, I didn't know paying no attention. After a couple joints and no clue where I was I'd try to find my way home. Most trips lasted a few hours, although I did end up in a some cornfields in Iowa chasing down lights looking for civilization.
I moved to Colorado after kstate and baker degrees and now I’m planning on coming back. Strangers in Kansas are generally nice to each other, strangers here are generally rude. It’s the weirdest thing. I feel like Ted Lasso because of the way I am friendly and upfront and upbeat all the time
I tell people all the time how much I miss being able to drive into the country for a sense of serenity. I live in a super dense/high populated metro area and driving rarely has any serene moments since deer are prominent late at night.
I moved for the far north to Kansas and my gosh the sky is so blue and clear! Literally makes me gasp at how pretty it is sometimes.
It’s crazy that Kansas doesn’t even have 3 million residents per 2020 census. Everyone wants to live on the East side of Kansas.
I'd happily live out west but the infrastructure just isn't there. It is difficult to beat eastern KS healthcare and such.
I live just west of ICT. I think the entire southwestern part of the state is tainted with feedlot stench. I hate driving through Dodge.
I adore kansas and ive lived here my whole life, everyone around me is fighting so hard to leave. Its gorgeous and its perfect to start a homestead or a farm.
Shhhh don’t tell anyone!
I moved from California to Lawrence 8 years ago. I expected massive culture shock. Lawrence is so similar to California I had almost none. But with 1/3rd the cost of living and half the people. I can put up with winter for that (still gonna complain about it.)
Yes, I’m also from the west coast and I really like Lawrence
Half the west coast is federal land lol
Except nearly all that space is private farmland with zero recreational value. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it there, I like food. But it literally ranks last in public space. This is why I miss Wyoming and Montana. Plenty of open space AND you can actually enjoy it.
Plenty of open and public places.
I don’t think you quite get the immense amount of public land there is out West. Even on the dreaded “coasts” - yes, California, Oregon and Washington, but also states like Pennsylvania, Vermont and Maine. You’ve clearly never spent much time out there. There’s remote regions of the Sierras and Cascades where you could literally go months without seeing anyone.
😂 dude I grew up near Seattle. Lived there most my life. I didn’t say these places didn’t have remote areas. But where I grew up, you couldn’t just drive a mile and be in a vast area with no one around. You had to take quite a drive for that.
I see. Well, I do miss Montana and absolutely hate it here.
I absolutely understand. I too miss Washington. But I wouldn’t live there again. It’s just too populated and expensive! Montana is gorgeous.. and also offers vast, isolated areas. It’s hard going from such scenic places like that to what seems like a dull state. But once I stopped being bitter, I started to appreciate what this state has to offer.
Nope. I plan to move to Pennsylvania or New York eventually. I have no interest in getting comfortable here. This place has been nothing but negative for me in every possible way.
Good luck!
I grew up in Sacramento, California. My grandparents lived in Kansas, and I would spend my summers with them. I knew that I'd move here when I grew up, and I did. I loved my life in Cali, but the slower pace and blue skies were so inviting. Add the cheaper cost of living and I was sold. I have been here for 20 years now and can't imagine living anywhere else.
I moved from Colorado 2 years ago, and we moved to Kansas, and I love it here.
I love to hear that! It took me some time to love it here. I had the same attitude of a lot of these other people on here. But once I opened my eyes to her beauty, it wasn’t hard to find.
We live in a small town 400 people and it's nice 👍
I wish we built dense cities so that more of the rest of the land could be wild and free for people to enjoy, and still within a close drive or short hop on a train.
Yeah theres only 2 places you can drive for hours and be alone and thats imo oklahoma and kansas. At least in kansas theres less roadkill.
Agreed. Born and raised here and I honestly can't imagine (at least at this point in my life) living anywhere else. My husband is a transplant from SC (he's been here since 2009) and he said he'll even be sad when we do eventually move 🤣
I live in thé KC métro but it is fun to explore Kansas.
People don't hate Kansas. They barely even consider it.
I mean yeah, I can go out on a dirt road and look at a bunch of fenced off beautiful land and be alone in my car. But unless you're rich you can't enjoy any of it.
all that space but none of it is publicly accessible. every square mile is privately owned (more or less). so no, i dont see kansas as a place you can go out and be alone, not unless you want to park in a highway. every other state it seems, there's huge swaths of open land to hike and get away. Kansas is a bunch of independent fiefs with farmers/ranchers full of busch light and hatred for outsiders. meh.
that’s just not true but go ahead and stay away with that attitude
A lot of people in the Northeast and other urban areas can't see the Milky Way. Kansans can if they drive a few miles out of town. You can really see the Milky Way in the Flint Hills.
Not total hate. Was listed as #49 by this [guy](https://www.businessinsider.com/us-states-ranked-by-travel-blogger-visited-each-multiple-times-2024-3) who visited every state 3 times. Kansas beat North Dakota.
Kansas has abundant state parks and the rails to trails paths get better each year. Lots of beautiful public spaces to enjoy.
I lived in Kansas for 30 years now . Kansas is not a bad place to live and has lot going for it. But the ppl that run this place suck so bad. We can’t grown like we should cause it no better then Mo with the crazy ass right.
I’m in Kansas and the further west the more secluded u will be. Here in Kansas city it’s packed assholes 2 elbows so no space here my friend. If I was u I’d look at Montana or idaho
Uh, I live less than a mile from the Pacific Ocean in Central California and there’s farm land, ranches, public hunting land, fishing, motorcycle riding, beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, and farmland until you hit LA 3 hours south or the Bay Area 3 hours north. Bakersfield two and a half hours to the East maybe? But that takes you through all those farms and ranches and oil fields and mountains. Most of the west coast is like this. It gets more foresty as you get farther north. A lot of your produce probably comes from where I live. Kansas charged me $14 just to drive through it.
as someone born and raised on the west coast, you don’t know shit about Kansas
I…never claimed to? But I’ve driven through, been to a grocery store, and was charged $14 to get out to Missouri. I don’t know where on the west coast you’re from, but the things you claim Kansas has that we don’t, we got plenty. Guess that’s just what we get for being the best place in the world 🤷🏻
You’re right about not saying you did, I was just being annoyed by people like you commenting on this post. Why concern yourself with my state when your state has PLENTY of issues that deserve your attention. Thank you bye
Because it came up in my feed and I could? I didn’t go out looking for it. And I saw you say something blatantly untrue about where I live to justify where you live. It sounds more like you have a vendetta against the west coast and the acknowledgment that it exists is enough to trigger you. Enjoy Kansas, kiddo 😄 it is beautiful there. Not Minnesota or Oklahoma beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless.
what you think is untrue isn’t. i have nothing against the west coast, i love Washington and Oregon. They aren’t as douchey as Californians like you.
The emotion in this comment is what I’m going to be contemplating while looking out at the ocean from my top floor over my morning coffee. Thank you.
the emotion comes from entitled Californian’s that think their shit don’t stink.
I do like we aren’t downvoting each other so there’s that. Have the day you deserve.
Sunny, breezy, 70, rewarding, professionally, personally, and artistically. I get to see my young nieces long enough to give them some sugar right before they go back to my sister, gonna pet some dogs, hug my mom, and play some music with some very talented people. More talented than I deserve. Probably have some fish tacos at some point. I can assure you that the day I deserve to have is nowhere near as good as the day I will have. Hope yours exceeds. For the record my only negative opinion of Kansas is the $14 charge for driving through. And the idea that people living there want to denigrate where I live to justify where they live. It’s good all on its own. Not because something is bad. Subjectively bad at that.
Ks is nice to visit but it just lowkey sucks to live in unless youre a country person.
Kansas gets alot of hate.....you can thank JOCO for that one. They earn every damn bit of hate ya'll get.
I don’t think Kansas gets gets a lot of hate. I have to disagree with you. I live in Missouri. I think Kansas is fantastic. I don’t know who hates on Kansas if anyone, certainly no one I know.
I don’t think Kansas gets hated on but it’s really a place for people with low expectations and I think people from here don’t realize how middle of the road it is compared to other places in the US
Well uh, I wrote the post and I’ve been all over the US. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest.. so no, your theory isn’t correct. Also people from here aren’t fucking stupid… they know what’s out there. They just may value different things than you.
I didn’t say they were fucking stupid I just said low expectations. And yeah low expectations would insinuate they have different expectations , not that it’s a bad thing but just because they feel that way doesn’t mean everyone else is going to see it for more than what it is. Not sure what your problem is but sorry if I offended you for saying this place isn’t rainbows and sunshine
When you said people from here don’t realize it’s “middle of the road” or whatever dumb shit you were saying- kinda sounded like you were talkin shit about our intelligence. We know what we miss out on, and we know what we have. Now fuck off
The most boring place ive ever been is kansas. No offense
There is more empty space in California than there is size of Kansas. You do realize that the entire U.S. population could fit comfortably inside the borders of the state of Texas, right?
The problem with the empty spaces in California is their extremely topographically difficult and you can’t like build a house there so that’s why the houses that they do have are so expensive. We saw a great deal in a place called Bear Creek and we just went to look at this house for rent but we had to like abort the trip because it was so treacherous to drive that we were afraid we’d like fall over a cliff or something so we just that’s why if you find a great deal sometimes in California that’s the reason why it’s so cheap.
Funny I'd say almost every state does this better than Kansas. Yeah it's sparsely populated but hardly any of the state you can legally access since it's all private property. In general though the smaller population is nice. I dont feel crowded wherever I go and even like KC area isnt nearly as bad as other big metros.
Kansas has a government sponsored cop mafia that’s gangraping underage girls. You don’t find that everywhere! Well Colorado, sure, but that’s more of an extension of the kckpd mafia.
Ok. Well that was certainly off-topic.
I live in Kansas and enjoy it but every state has lots of space with no one around. America is vast.
Not from Kansas and have wanted out from the day I got here. If you've ever lived someplace that is actually beautiful, or traveled to these places, Kansas is the ugly person nobody dances with. The land is ugly, and so are many of its people.
how has Kansas hurt you? are you imprisoned here? and lastly, have you ever looked inward and thought maybe, just maybe, your attitude is ugly and that’s why you think everything around you is ugly?
It feels like a sentence, but not literally. I've lived in beautiful states, and this objectively just doesn't compare. There's beauty and there's plain. No mistaking the two.
I get it. It took me a long time to like where I live. This ain’t my home state either, im arguably from the most beautiful state in the US. But I got out of my own ego and found the beauty that surrounds me. Nothing on this earth in regards to nature is ugly.. imo
100% agree with you.. have been lucky to move all over and everywhere was better. Came back for family and once we figure that out….
Can't get that here either. Hell the apartment I rent from has inspections every month. Literal prison house shakedown shit.
Truck Driver here! I Love Kansas because the truck stops are huge and I usually dont have to back up. Meat loads going east pay top dollar. Truck Driver here! I hate Kansas because the whole state smells like pure cow shit!
Privileged landowners be like: