Would you support the return of football at WSU?

[ShockerDropOut]

I would love FCS football. Count me as a supporter, just not a big money guy that would surely be needed to start.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Hell will freeze over before KU or KSU allow WSU to share a conference with them. That should have absolutely nothing to do with bringing back football.

If we eventually got to the point where football was even somewhat respectable, we'd easily be more attractive than KSU due to being located in a growing urban area instead of being a rural based school and fanbase. But that would take time to develop such a program. But without football, we will always be behind the other two in the grand scheme of such things.

I just had to respond to the bolded...

Wichita is an absolute joke! Every single urban area in the Midwest has been growing like crazy. Meanwhile Wichita is stagnant. And that's putting it nicely. I've done a fair amount of travelling recently, and I just get incensed at what the surrounding cities have been able to accomplish compared to us. It's beyond embarrassing. Our city is the Evansville of the Midwest.

[C0|dB|00ded]

I will say this though... our city is quite clean and traffic-free compared to others around us. Of course the same could be said about your average Spangles.........

[SubGod22]

I just had to respond to the bolded...

Wichita is an absolute joke! Every single urban area in the Midwest has been growing like crazy. Meanwhile Wichita is stagnant. And that's putting it nicely. I've done a fair amount of travelling recently, and I just get incensed at what the surrounding cities have been able to accomplish compared to us. It's beyond embarrassing. Our city is the Evansville of the Midwest.

Statistically, many midwestern urban areas are flat-lining or shrinking. Southern cities are growing. We're not booming by any means, but the metro continues to grow and we keep slowly moving up populations lists. Wichita could try and do more to grow in certain areas, I've long been a fan of doing more to diversify the employment options as well as the efforts that were taking place to help those with an entrepreneurial spirit. Wichita is harmed by those that are scared to do anything that might have the slightest bit of risk. Downtown/river development being one of them. Too many people want to see instant impacts and aren't patient enough to focus on long term growth and development of such things and plugs get pulled. I've often talked about downtown OKC and how 30 years ago or so, nobody wanted to be caught down there after dark. I know the uncle of a friend who talked about male employees walking the women to their cars for their safety. Now, it's a beautiful area with a lot going on and a place to be. Wichita seems to lack such vision, at least on a large scale and that often holds back what can be done.

But besides that, Wichita is still growing and is developing and repurposing areas. I believe I recently saw some talk about development around Riverfront Stadium beginning soon but I don't know the specifics. I'll have to look into that, and that discussion probably belongs more in the OT forum. But Wichita is growing. Andover is growing. Derby is growing. I'm sure other metro towns are seeing growth as well. My small community is working on growing and is in talks with a developer or two about land in and near the city as well as working to bring in more business. But our city population is at an all-time high.

So I stand the bolded comment you seemed to take issue with. Wichita is in a good position. If it takes advantage of that position now and in the future remains to be seen.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Statistically, many midwestern urban areas are flat-lining or shrinking. Southern cities are growing. We're not booming by any means, but the metro continues to grow and we keep slowly moving up populations lists. Wichita could try and do more to grow in certain areas, I've long been a fan of doing more to diversify the employment options as well as the efforts that were taking place to help those with an entrepreneurial spirit. Wichita is harmed by those that are scared to do anything that might have the slightest bit of risk. Downtown/river development being one of them. Too many people want to see instant impacts and aren't patient enough to focus on long term growth and development of such things and plugs get pulled. I've often talked about downtown OKC and how 30 years ago or so, nobody wanted to be caught down there after dark. I know the uncle of a friend who talked about male employees walking the women to their cars for their safety. Now, it's a beautiful area with a lot going on and a place to be. Wichita seems to lack such vision, at least on a large scale and that often holds back what can be done.

But besides that, Wichita is still growing and is developing and repurposing areas. I believe I recently saw some talk about development around Riverfront Stadium beginning soon but I don't know the specifics. I'll have to look into that, and that discussion probably belongs more in the OT forum. But Wichita is growing. Andover is growing. Derby is growing. I'm sure other metro towns are seeing growth as well. My small community is working on growing and is in talks with a developer or two about land in and near the city as well as working to bring in more business. But our city population is at an all-time high.

So I stand the bolded comment you seemed to take issue with. Wichita is in a good position. If it takes advantage of that position now and in the future remains to be seen.

Wichita is in a horrible position and growth is statistically **** compared to our peers. We do not have enough diversification (tech) in our job market, thus the brain drain has been (and continues to be) significant. Tulsa was a sister city 20 years ago, the same could be said for Omaha. We are so far down the totem pole now there's no point. Just move.

Over the last 20 years this is how we stack up against our peers with respect to total population growth:


Tulsa 1,015,331 18%
OKC -- 1,425,695 30%
Little Rock -- 748,031 23%
Omaha -- 967,604 26%
Colo Spr -- 755,105 40%
Wichita -- 647,610 13%

We are the Spangles of the Midwest. Leave now.

[WstateU]

Wichita is in a horrible position and growth is statistically **** compared to our peers. We do not have enough diversification (tech) in our job market, thus the brain drain has been (and continues to be) significant. Tulsa was a sister city 20 years ago, the same could be said for Omaha. We are so far down the totem pole now there's no point. Just move.

Over the last 20 years this is how we stack up against our peers with respect to total population growth:


Tulsa 1,015,331 18%
OKC -- 1,425,695 30%
Little Rock -- 748,031 23%
Omaha -- 967,604 26%
Colo Spr -- 755,105 40%
Wichita -- 647,610 13%

We are the Spangles of the Midwest. Leave now.

Sorry, Spangles memes are few and far between...

[C0|dB|00ded]

It gets even worse when you look at the last 10. The disparity is accelerating.

Tulsa -- 8% (100% faster)
OKC -- 14% (250% faster)
Little R -- 7% (75% faster)
Omaha -- 12% (200% faster)
Colo Spr -- 17% (325% faster)
Wichita -- 4% (sux)

Start packin'! Your life will improve, trust me.

*EDIT* Forgot to add K.C., but they're doubling our growth over the last 10 yrs also.

[pogo]

Wichita is in a horrible position and growth is statistically **** compared to our peers. We do not have enough diversification (tech) in our job market, thus the brain drain has been (and continues to be) significant. Tulsa was a sister city 20 years ago, the same could be said for Omaha. We are so far down the totem pole now there's no point. Just move.

Over the last 20 years this is how we stack up against our peers with respect to total population growth:


Tulsa 1,015,331 18%
OKC -- 1,425,695 30%
Little Rock -- 748,031 23%
Omaha -- 967,604 26%
Colo Spr -- 755,105 40%
Wichita -- 647,610 13%

We are the Spangles of the Midwest. Leave now.

Maybe you should consider moving on and finding your utopia. I wish you luck

[atlwsu]

Maybe you should consider moving on and finding your utopia. I wish you luck

Like defense and rebounding genius travels

[SubGod22]

As I stated and you ignored, Wichita is in a good position, but we've squandered opportunity after opportunity or failed to take bold steps in growth and diversification which has put us behind those chosen cities, only one of which I believe is considered Mid-west and the rest are considered Southern cities which I stated have and will continue to see growth, outside of The Springs which is in a massively growing Colorado. Don't blame me for your failure in geography.

This city has lacked leadership and vision for a long time. That doesn't change the fact that Wichita is still in a good position if that mindset changes and people are willing to be patient when it comes to certain developments.

And the fact that OKC was my main example of this and you chose to include it kind of shows my point. Oklahoma also has a better tax rate for businesses which doesn't hurt. I worked for a Wichita based company a while back whose official HQ was in OKC because of that. The Wichita location was about five times larger though when it came to employment.

The Metro population has also been slowed by surrounding communities being content to almost completely rely on Wichita for everything. Derby in recent years has become more independent and Andover could if it truly wanted to, but is almost solely focused on population growth and much less on business and recreational avenues.

[C0|dB|00ded]

Maybe you should consider moving on and finding your utopia. I wish you luck

I am, thank you.

[C0|dB|00ded]

As I stated and you ignored, Wichita is in a good position, but we've squandered opportunity after opportunity or failed to take bold steps in growth and diversification which has put us behind those chosen cities, only one of which I believe is considered Mid-west and the rest are considered Southern cities which I stated have and will continue to see growth, outside of The Springs which is in a massively growing Colorado. Don't blame me for your failure in geography.

This city has lacked leadership and vision for a long time. That doesn't change the fact that Wichita is still in a good position if that mindset changes and people are willing to be patient when it comes to certain developments.

And the fact that OKC was my main example of this and you chose to include it kind of shows my point. Oklahoma also has a better tax rate for businesses which doesn't hurt. I worked for a Wichita based company a while back whose official HQ was in OKC because of that. The Wichita location was about five times larger though when it came to employment.

The Metro population has also been slowed by surrounding communities being content to almost completely rely on Wichita for everything. Derby in recent years has become more independent and Andover could if it truly wanted to, but is almost solely focused on population growth and much less on business and recreational avenues.

No, you were/are just wrong. We are not suffering from "regional issues" and we are not in a "good position".

I made a claim, you refuted it, I brought data, now we are all on the same page (I hope).

Wichita is manufacturing-centric, manufacturing labor in America has suffered starting in the 90's due to globalization. Wichita failed to aggressively diversify their job market like surrounding cities when the writing was on the wall. They CONTINUE to fail.

[shoxlax]

As I stated and you ignored, Wichita is in a good position, but we've squandered opportunity after opportunity or failed to take bold steps in growth and diversification which has put us behind those chosen cities, only one of which I believe is considered Mid-west and the rest are considered Southern cities which I stated have and will continue to see growth, outside of The Springs which is in a massively growing Colorado. Don't blame me for your failure in geography.

This city has lacked leadership and vision for a long time. That doesn't change the fact that Wichita is still in a good position if that mindset changes and people are willing to be patient when it comes to certain developments.

And the fact that OKC was my main example of this and you chose to include it kind of shows my point. Oklahoma also has a better tax rate for businesses which doesn't hurt. I worked for a Wichita based company a while back whose official HQ was in OKC because of that. The Wichita location was about five times larger though when it came to employment.

The Metro population has also been slowed by surrounding communities being content to almost completely rely on Wichita for everything. Derby in recent years has become more independent and Andover could if it truly wanted to, but is almost solely focused on population growth and much less on business and recreational avenues.

For as much as I disdain their business practices (legal or otherwise), the baseball/sports complex the Stevens have built in Goddard has really provided a nice boost to that area. As it expands, it will turn into a regional if not national destination.

I really can’t believe I said that…..

A multi-use stadium where Cessna sits could do the same thing, with the university being almost a city within a city now.

[C0|dB|00ded]

When the city successfully lures 3-5 technology/financial/anythingbesidesmanufacturing firms paying Koch/Cargill salaries, then you will know Wichita is changing. Until then, the majority of the citizenry will continue to suffer, working in industries offering contracting/stagnate wages.

If it wasn't for our surprisingly extensive (excessive?) healthcare workforce in this town, we would be finished economically.

Aircraft built this town, high-tech is the only avenue for America (Wichita) in the 21st century. Manufacturing is going to the jungles of the world (China/India/Vietnam/etc.etc) where savages will gladly work non-stop, in dangerous environments, for peanuts.

Wichita needs more companies like NetApp! Like 5 more. Get that going and maybe we see some momentum for the first time in 30 years. Perhaps Wichita State's Innovation Campus is Wichita's savior? Could The Bardo not only transform Wichita State, but Wichita too? What a ****in' man!

[SubGod22]

For as much as I disdain their business practices (legal or otherwise), the baseball/sports complex the Stevens have built in Goddard has really provided a nice boost to that area. As it expands, it will turn into a regional if not national destination.

I really can’t believe I said that…..

A multi-use stadium where Cessna sits could do the same thing, with the university being almost a city within a city now.

I thought about Goddard as being another that is making an attempt, but I haven't been out that way in ages, outside of driving through it on my way to Colorado.

The metro has a lot to offer if leadership would get off their asses and make an effort. Very few seem to have long term vision for anything these days, at least around here. But I get the feeling some of that is changing. Groups of younger people working together to try and grow certain areas is happening. The nay-sayers need to be drowned out as they're always the most vocal.