I wish I may, I wish I might
An increasing student crowd may be moving to West Lawrence, but not without a few sorrowful over-the-shoulder glances at homes that might have been. "When students are deciding where to live, there seems to be a line down Iowa," says Travis Weller, Garden City senior. Weller chose his apartment at Villa 26, 28594 Wheel Drive, because it's cozy, quiet and new, but wishes he lived closer to downtown and campus. "When I meet someone for the first time, I'm like, 'I know, I don't live in a cool part of town, or in a charming old house.'" Weller, who's downtown at least five times a week, says friends complain about taking him home "clear out" to West Lawrence and never want to hang out at his place on weekend bar nights. Weller finds himself justifying to his friends why he lives west of Iowa Street — "But I'm downtown all the time! It's a really nice apartment!" Ultimately he says it would take rebuilding of the more rundown areas near campus to encourage him to move.
Anna Baldwin's concerned mother keeps her from moving close to campus. "My mom doesn't want me living any place rundown and messy," the Overland Park junior says. Not that she's complaining about her Leanna Mar lodgings, 4501 Wimbedon Drive, Her four-bedroom townhome has vaulted ceilings, a fabulous three-bathroom-to-four-roommate ratio and the swankiest of amenities — a faux fireplace that turns on with a switch. Still, Baldwin says she'd rather have the student ghetto's greater sense of community over the isolation she feels being so far west of campus. "Some days I'll want to go to a party in the ghetto, but I don't want to drive all the way out, so I'll stay here, in the middle of nowhere," she says. Baldwin says when she does make it across town, she'll sometimes get teased over her Johnson County roots. "People will say, 'Hey, what are you doing here? Aren't you from Johnson County? Go back to West Lawrence!'" she says. "Of course, I think they're joking."
Decisions, Decisions
Lawrence only spans five miles east to west with the University at the center, but a potential drive to campus forces students looking for dorm-room replacements to consider their priorities. Driving and closeness aren't factors for Keegan Miller, Anthony freshman. He says his first priority is price range; his second is appearance. "I just don't care about being close to campus anymore," Miller says. He and five friends are searching for an apartment and he says only West Lawrence meets their wants. Miller says most of his other friends are making the West Lawrence move too. "It's just lots of people coming here with their parents' money to spend, and they want quality," he says.
Some students feel differently. Kyle Stearns, Derby sophomore, is psyched to move into his four-bedroom Mississippi Street house, which he says embodies the ghetto's old-school charm and gives him a killer location. Stearns says he found a chic duplex on Clinton Parkway with bigger rooms for the same price as his Mississippi house, but the drive kept him away. "I was afraid I'd never do anything, being all the way out there," he says.
Student Housing - Best Western?
"Being all the way out there in West Lawrence housing is just where students ought to be, says Kirk McClure, associate professor of urban planning. In a city made up of 50 percent rental stock, older East Lawrence neighborhoods are increasingly turning over to renter-occupied housing, forcing out modest-income families and blighting the backbone of the city, McClure says. These renter properties frequently run down faster when landlords decide to "milk" the home, or get as many leases as possible for the least amount of money, and then the area becomes a place where no one wants to raise a family. But if apartment development continues to crop up in West Lawrence, owners have less of an incentive to turn their properties into rental units for students. "Those newer apartments are great; they're relieving the pressure to go rental," McClure says. "We have to make a judgment call for the single-family units, and those West apartments are where students should be."
It only takes a (relatively) quick drive west of Iowa Street to see the differences between the new developmental extension and downtown Lawrence. It's an area of convenience, with grocery stores and restaurants, but one without distinction. A place that feels like you could be anywhere, says Garth Myers, associate professor of geography. Myers says the area's similarity to Kansas City suburbs could be why students from suburbs choose to live in West Lawrence. "People who grew up in a place like
TOP: West Lawrence apartments might be more comfortable for Johnson County kids looking for somplace that looks like home. ABOVE LEFT: Big porches are a launching pad for social interaction in the "student ghetto." ABOVE RIGHT: When students think West Lawrence, they think immaculate kitchens.
Johnson County will most times be more comfortable in an area that reminds them of home," he says.
Looking out her Leanna Mar townhome window, Baldwin may not feel comfort, but she is reminded of home. "This is exactly the same as my home in Overland Park - clean, manicured, but lacking any real personality," she says.
As West Lawrence sprawls farther out, Myers says the city of Lawrence could go in two directions. The first, development that could lead to a separation that breaks the city apart. "Once West Lawrence grows big enough to need city services on their side of town, you can get a West Lawrence population that never goes downtown and East Lawrence residents who never cross Iowa Street," he says. His second possibility, developers putting dollars back into East Lawrence. "We could have a revitalization of downtown, a real renewal in the central business district that increases the cash flow." When asked to bank on which direction the city was headed, Myers was torn. "In my pessimistic moments, I see it going the first way. More optimistic times, I hope for the second," he says.
As a realtor sizing up the market, Brinkerhoff sees a future in Myers' second option. Brinkerhoff says Lawrence will come full-circle, harking back to decades past, the Oread neighborhood will become the "cool" place to live again. The property is changing hands and new landlords are ready to rebuild and attract renters with housing that has antique appeal on the outside and like-new features on the inside, he says. "Oread lost its luster because it hasn't been well maintained, but in 10 years, I don't think you'll see any more rundown houses. Once they look brand new, I think they'll become the place to be."
Sinking farther into his furnished Legends armchair, Johnson makes an arm-sweep motion over his apartment and says, "This is convenience. That's why I'm here." He lists his Legends' loves: the peace and quiet, the complimentary yogurt-and-bagel breakfast, the basketball court right outside his door. It's services like this that draw him, and a growing number of KU students, farther away from close-to-campus housing. The housing's ritzier, with more amenity snazz, and the students living there say these kinds of features attract all types, not just suburbanites or the fabulously wealthy.
As much as he enjoys his West Lawrence place, Johnson offers one contrary bit of advice to any freshmen or sophomores: Live close. "You get to feel the campus collective energy, and really get to know your neighbors," he says. "I see West Lawrence as a junior-senior kind of place. Come here when you're ready for a laid-back atmosphere, when you're ready to graduate."
— Marissa Stephenson can be reached at mstephenson@kansan.com.