The largest city in Kansas offers a myriad of choices – especially if you’re looking for a great city to live, work and play. Wichita has something for everyone.
The 44-foot-tall “Keeper of the Plains,” standing at the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers, beckons residents and visitors to learn about Wichita’s heritage while it pays tribute to the Native Americans who inhabited the region before the arrival of settlers. Thirty-five museums allow visitors to immerse themselves in all aspects of Wichita. Relive the city’s early days at Old Cowtown Museum, complete with a chuckwagon supper and cowboy songs from the Diamond W Wranglers. Experience modern, hands-on science and national traveling exhibits at Exploration Place. The Kansas Aviation Museum chronicles Wichita’s evolution into the “Air Capital of the World.” Aviation is the area’s largest industry; with 42 percent of the general aviation aircraft worldwide manufactured here.
Wichita has entertainment and cultural attractions, shopping, and dining options that rival other metropolitan areas of its size. The Old Town red-brick warehouse district in downtown Wichita undergoes a daily metamorphosis. The area full of day jobs transforms into the centerpiece of our city’s nightlife. The nightclubs offer a variety of music to please all souls – rock, jazz, country, blues and reggae – within easy walking distances. And it’s an area where people want to live in loft apartments and condominiums. The American Planning Association calls Old Town one of the “Top 10 Great Neighborhoods for 2008.”
The menus offered by more than 1,000 area restaurants make it possible to take a culinary trip around the world without leaving Wichita.
Area shopping choices will please the sophisticate as well as the antique hunter. Regional shopping hot spots, such as Towne East Square, Towne West Square, Bradley Fair and NewMarket Square feature major national retailers and serve as regional shopping destinations. At the other end of the spectrum are distinct areas of eclectic shops holding hidden treasures in off-the-beaten-path locations including Clifton Square and Lincoln Heights Village in the College Hill area.
With 34 golf courses, 35 art galleries and 24 attractions, it’s easy to create a vacation without leaving the city limits. Our golf courses host professional and amateur national championships. Cultural offerings run the gamut and include Music Theatre of Wichita, the Wichita Symphony, Wichita Grand Opera and Crown Uptown Professional Dinner Theatre with schedules featuring internationally known artists and productions.
Take a few minutes and drive around Wichita, and you’ll see a growing city. The 15,000-seat Intrust Bank Arena is under construction and scheduled to open in early 2010. The next phase of the WaterWalk, next to the Arkansas River, is scheduled to open this year. The Sedgwick County Zoo opened its newest exhibit, the Slawson Family Tiger Trek, featuring Amur and Malayan tigers in a naturalistic habitat.
And living in Wichita won’t break the bank. The city topped “Forbes Magazine Online’s” list of most affordable cities in the Midwest. It also ranked No. 3 on AAA’s list of most affordable cities to visit in the United States. That means your money goes farther and allows you to enjoy more of what our city has to offer.
Take your time and look around. You’ll like what you see and you'll find reasons to stay for a lifetime. For more information, go online at www.gowichita.com or call
1-800-288-9424.
Click on the Trip Planner for listings of more attractions, events, shopping, dining and lodging in Wichita and other Kansas communities.
