What we lose when Kansas college graduates drift to surrounding states

[pstokely]

https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/17/what-we-lose-when-kansas-college-graduates-drift-to-surrounding-states/

Students who planned to stay in Kansas valued the chance to start a family where they themselves had grown up, whether Wichita or Emporia. They agreed with their fellow students — the ones who plan to leave — that Kansas is a place to settle, not a place for adventure.

Of the students who planned to leave, some said they planned to return to Kansas after time in other states. However, reflecting on my post-college swerves across the country and tracing the paths of my friends, it’s clear: if you leave the state, you are much less likely to return.

The most logical answer to “why leave Kansas?” was the limited number of true metropolitan areas to choose from. It’s really just Wichita and Kansas City, one student said (slipping past the fact that much of Kansas City is in Missouri).

Most common in their responses was a wanderlust that Kansas can’t satisfy. “There was a New York sense of freedom and no judgment,” one student said of his recent wanderings through the street life of Manhattan (the one in New York). “The weirdest thing here is nothing there.”

[Kyesha]

1. They don't care

I know this for a fact because I'm from Iowa, an almost-surrounding state that has the same issues that Kansas has: brain drain, an antiquated, reactionary legislature that will never allow legal weed but sees nothing wrong with e-coli in our water that literally rots your brains out. It's getting more conservative, not because right-wingers from other states are moving in, but because formerly liberal-leaning people are becoming more conservative. Twenty years ago, this state voted for Clinton, Obama, Harkin, and Vilsack. None of these guys would stand a chance today because the adults are now retired, so they get no society from others, which could moderate their views. They are also angry they have no grandkids to play with. So they sit at home and watch Fox News all day and blame everyone else for their loneliness. Those in the state lege are fine with this. If the kids stayed, they'd be out of power. A loss of population is actually a good thing for them.

[tikka]

2. Welcome to DU!

[slightlv]

3. Man, do I get the no adventure!

I went straight into the Air Force after graduating High School in a small Kansas town. It didn't help I was born with gypsy feet (as my father called it). But I lived in cosmopolitan cities; cities with something to offer for entertainment on weekdays, as well as weekends. Concerts, museums, plays. Events to expand your knowledge as well as things to thrill your bodies.

I ended up back where I began in San Antonio, mustered out there and spent close to 20 years, while it was under democratic control. Good times. Close enough to the beach, to Houston and the big amusement park, Dallas and all it had to offer. Even the solitude and beauty of the Big Bend. I used to say "Kansas was home of birth, Texas was home of Heart." Of course, this was long before the Republican's took over.

I needed to give blood to Dad, and it became easier to give to Dad and take care of him if I moved back home, so back home I came. And then, once he was gone, there was Mom to take care of. So, we moved back to Kansas for good. Here I am at 66, retired but not ready to give up the ghost. Still looking for adventure, but too poor to travel far and all I've got is Worlds of Fun in KCMO, and all the KCMO has to offer. Luckily, KCMO does offer quite a bit. But my disability keeps me from traveling even that far these days. It would be nice to have something closer than Legends in KcK, where shopping is the big the thing. Though I do love the book store.

Go west, and I get the college towns and the flat lands of KS, which I've seen a thousand times travelling through.

And like the Iowan said, this state will never pass even cannabis for medical reasons. If anyone smiles around here, the religio's have a hissy fit, I swear. If only we had the money to move to the Northwest, we'd be gone in a heartbeat.