UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, December 5,1994
3A
New image in North Lawrence
Businesses helping redefine 'sandrats'
By Carlos Tejada Kansan staff writer
Editor's note —This is the first of four stories about growth in Lawrence.
Not long ago, "sandrat" was a derives term for a North Lawrence resident.
For years, many residents of North Lawrence fell separate from the rest of the city. "Sandrats" — the name given to them because much of North Lawrence sits on sandy ground — felt as if they were the city's stepchildren. The rest of the city got attention first, and North Lawrence was an afterthought.
These days, said Bob Moody, Lawrence city commissioner and North Lawrence resident, the term "sandrat" is a source of pride. And these days, many of its residents believe North Lawrence has a chance to move out of stepchild status and become a thriving community all its own. As the Lawrence economy grows, North Lawrence wants to claim a share of the pie as well.
North Lawrence is a mostly residential area for working-class families, Moody said. Most of the houses are older, occupant-owned houses with large yards. Business along its main business area, North Second Street, tended in the past to be industrial and service-oriented, he said.
But much of that has changed
Tanger Factory Outlet Center, an outlet mall, opened its doors last year. A Burger King fast-food restaurant across the street from Tanger will open early next year. Other retail business soon will be moving into the area.
"North Lawrence is being discovered for a variety of reasons," Moody said. "The land is reasonably inexpensive. It's an established neighborhood with a small-town feeling. Plus, it has got friendly neighbors."
Many residents in other parts of Lawrence also have increasingly moved into North Lawrence, in part because of the small-town feeling. Moodsaid.
That sudden growth is new to Lawrence, said Rusty Thomas, community leader and owner of State Radiator, Inc., 613 North Second St. In the past, she said, the Lawrence City Commission and growing businesses tended to concentrate on the west, south and east sides of the city.
"People want to live in North Lawrence," he said. "They don't want to live, in their words, in the rat race."
"North Lawrence kind of got put on the back burner," Thomas said.
The result, she said, was North Lawrence's inferior infrastructure. Most of the streets don't drain properly. Many of the streets are too narrow for some traffic.
The problems culminated during the flood of 1993, when water backed up in North Lawrence sewers and closed North Second Street for more than a week. The back-up also delayed work on a 10-foot diameter hole that the area's decaying sewers had created at the north end of the Kansas River bridge. Angry North Lawrence residents asked city government to improve the situation.
"A lot of people got really upset and ballistic about it, but there's a silver lining to every cloud," Thomas said. "If it wasn't for the flood and the hole, we'd still on the back burner."
Thomas said the city commission now was paying more attention to North Lawrence problems. Tomorrow night, the city commissioner will look at a plan formed by Moody and Doug Compton, city commissioner, to widen and landscape the North Second Street area.
But North Lawrence leaders also want to avoid the problems quick growth has brought to other areas. Thomas said the number of businesses moving into the area should be monitored.
"I don't want to see North Lawrence grow as fast as 23rd Street," she said. "There's always that fear. But we want it to grow."
Some residents also are afraid the number of people moving to the area will encourage developers to build houses out of character with the rest of the area, Thomas said. She said residents wanted to keep big lots and avoid the close-built developments found in West Lawrence.
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