Our Neighborhood

When living in a college town, you don't need a calendar to tell you when the University resumes classes...almost overnight, the community comes abuzz with life. 

You know there are certain parts of town, and even stores for that matter, that you avoid for the coming weeks until everyone settles into the groove of things.  The other thing that becomes quite obvious, very  quickly, is all the student drivers.  Yes, I realize I was one of those drivers back in the day--and of all things, I was let loose in a Mustang in Omaha traffic!  Hehe, that was FUN!  But these kids--half of them don't know how to work a roundabout, others don't know about yielding to vehicles with the right-of-way, some act like they've never experienced a stoplight (and maybe they haven't!  It is an agricultural university after all), some try to text while talking to a buddy and trying to shift gears.  But after a few weeks, they seem to figure the driving out and things are back to normal.

Fortunately, we don't have many college students in our neighborhood.  With being downtown, it always surprises us when leases renew and it's either a young couple or a family moving into a newly vacated rental.  Trust me, I'm not complaining!

I realize that downtown living is not for everyone.  When living here, you definately live "with the people."  One neighbor may be a well established professional while the neighbor on the other side of you may be a bit off their rocker.  There's also plenty of foot traffic downtown--some residents walk for enjoyment whereas others walk out of necessity.

I love the diversity that comes with living downtown...our newest neighbors hardly speak a lick of English and that's just fine with me.  We still exchange friendly greetings and we manage to "talk" with them while they work in the yard.  The conversation doesn't get very far, but we've definately achieved the feeling of being neighborly towards one another.

I could go on and on about why I love living in the heart of the community...but the best part of living downtown is the homes.

There are some seriously awesome homes in our neighborhood....central Manhattan has TONS of great houses but I decided to show you some properties that are within a 3-4 block radius.  Most of them are scattered along the route we take when walking the dog.  The eye candy makes the steamy hot walks worth it!

My absolute favorite house is just two doors down from us.  It's the old historic Runyan house.  What the history is, I'm not sure--I could always read the sign someday...but I do know that it's just plain awesome.  I semi-seriously tell Justin that whenever the owners sell, we're buying it (after winning the lottery, of course)!  How easy of a move would that be?!



This 4-plex sits next to the Runyan house and is owned by the same people.  For some reason, it always makes me think of Southern California in the 1940s!

The historic Wolf House museum is about 2 blocks from us. They are currently remodeling the interior and it will reopen this fall for public tours.  One of these days I want to go over and tour the interior!

 This old Craftsman sits across from the Wolf House on Juliette Ave.

On Leavenworth, just off of Juliette, sits a row of Victorians.  How cool are they?!

Across from the Victorians is this place...I love, love, love it!  I would also move into this house given the opportunity :-)

Also on Juliette is what I call "the mansion."  This place is HUGE!  I can't get enough of the front porch and balcony...and the house still has a bunch of the original *and fabulous* leaded glass windows.  I would also take this house if given to me :-)

This apartment complex is around the corner from us. I love the taupe stucco with pops of red.  Plus, the awning and Lion Heads are too cool!  Based on the lines of this building, I would almost guess that it was a single-family residence once upon a time???

And another apartment complex, also around the corner from us, that I love.  A lady who goes to our church lived here when she went to K-State...and she's almost 90 years old.  She was thrilled to hear that it was still up and running!

The porches and balconies off of each unit of the Wil-Mar...

This "house" is around the corner from us, too.  It's actually a therapist's office!  There's a big addition and second porch on the back that I forgot to photograph.  But on those days when I'm finally convinced I have fallen off the rocker, I would be more than happy to visit this charming little place!

A section of new brownstones just one block from us. The apartments were "filled" before construction was even completed and they continue to build more of them!

In addition to having some cool houses in the neighborhood, there's some cool old churches...

Such as the Presbyterian Church's tower on Leavenworth:

And this little church--it's also around the corner from us.  Remember our church friend I mentioned earlier?  She and her husband got married here over 60 years ago (for the life of me, I can't remember what church she said it was).  It's now Vintage Faith, a non-denominational church, and the congregation has poured their heart and soul into restoring it.

Finally, this church I'm partial to.  It's our church!  St. Paul's Episcopal on Poyntz.  I love that it takes us about 8 minutes to walk there from our house :-)

The "left side" of the church where the nave and offices are...

The "right side" of the church where one of our outreach programs, The Encore (thrift) Shop, is housed.  I absolutely love the stone arches!



So there you have it!  Our nice, usually quiet, mostly-student-free neighborhood.  And before I forget, welcome back to all the students!  And that smile will only last as long as you avoid smashing into me with your car :-)