Lawrence, Kansas

Lawrence is an artsy, well-educated, moderately left-leaning city/town with a pretty strong (for Kansas) international flavor almost all due to the University of Kansas. If any of those things aren’t your bag then steer clear of Lawrence. It truly is an arts-centric city with a thriving community of writers, a good cultural events scene, and more bands than you can shake a drumstick at. The student population, energy of an internationally renowned education institution and pretty vibrant downtown (check out Mass St.) make this a diamond in the rough of Kansas.

Here's a local on what Lawrence is like:
I grew up in Old West Lawrence, where my family first bought two houses in the late 1800s. Lawrence is a beautiful, friendly, peaceful, yet stimulating town. The university makes this small town feel diverse. When we were growing up, our house was like a mini-U.N. because of the variety of people my mother befriended during her fourteen years at the university, and my father’s business friends.

While the University hires a lot of folk, the overall job scene is not strong relative to other college cities that incubate and grow businesses that hire graduates and transplants. Better paying jobs tend to require commutes to Kansas City (about 40 miles) and while remote work is definitely growing as a driver of the population you’d hate to move here for that remote job and then get trapped without a local business scene.

Here's a locals pov on work in Lawrence:
I live in Lawrence and commute to Topeka. It's 25 minutes for me on highway 40 and then on 70. It's a super easy commute.

Basically, Lawrence is a bedroom community. You work in healthcare so you might be able to find a job in town, but to be honest, most folks there either are attending school, work at the school, or work commute.

Lawrence is an interesting mix of extreme quiet, particularly during the summer months when students are gone, and the rest of the year when the basketball games and Mass St. bars and restaurants are JUMPING! If you want it quiet and family-focused, you’ll get it here. If you want it busy Lawrence has some energy due to all the commercial development on Mass St. and the University buzz that is supported with plenty of pubs and play.

Check out the Lawrence calendar of events if you want to see what locals get up to:
https://www.explorelawrence.com/events/