By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
Last week, I saw that Absolutely Flowers was going to have a prom bouquet workshop. It didn’t seem like a big deal, but I decided it was worth asking about—you can read about it in this week’s issue of The Tribune.
There was always a chance it could turn into a big feature, and at worst, it was a local business trying something different. Plus, it was super easy for me to cover, less than a 650-foot walk from my front door.
Since 2020, Michelle and I have lived just a short distance off of Main Street in the College Grove Neighborhood. We liked the location before we bought the house, thought it would be a nice perk being able to walk to the Dillons store at 14th and Main, but the house itself was basically the sole reason why we bought it. It was the right size for us, with a big dining room for game nights and dinners with friends, a laundry room on the main floor, and a craftsman style that I liked and Michelle loved.
We really underestimated how good the location was, though. The easy walk to Dillons when we need just one or two things is better than we expected, and that’s just the start of things. It’s almost like we live in one of those trendy mixed-use developments that are so popular in big cities right now, but instead of entertainment options, we have access to lots of essentials. Groceries are what we walk for the most often, but we have an easy walk to appointments at our doctor’s office, a pharmacy, insurance, investing, banking, haircuts, drycleaning, and flowers. The nearby amenity that is the most like a trendy mixed-use development is a coffee shop and art gallery, at Scuttlebutts and the Clayworks.
No upscale bars or sushi restaurants, which is fine with me. We wouldn’t get much use out of those, anyway. A sandwich shop or bakery would be nice, but when we’re in the midst of a house project and need one or two things, not having to get in a car and drive to a hardware warehouse makes a big difference in keeping momentum going. When we bought an extension ladder so we can clean our gutters and tackle other high-up projects, we were able to carry it home on foot rather than trying to figure out how to safely (and legally) get it home in our little hatchback.
Location really does matter, and not just for homes, but for the amenities people use. Michelle and I took a trip to Oklahoma City over the weekend to get comfortable driving to the airport we’ll fly out of for our anniversary trip later this spring. While looking for things to do in Oklahoma City, we looked into their public library system—we love public libraries—and we found one near the airport that originally opened as a temporary library while an existing library was closed for renovations. So many new people used that temporary library—because it was where they could get to it easily—that the library system decided to open a permanent branch in that neighborhood.
I am glad that so many of Hutchinson’s institutions—the Hutchinson Public Library, Hutchinson Community College, most public schools, the Kansas State Fairgrounds, and some of our parks—are located where a lot of people can easily and safely walk to them.
It is a strength of our community, and one that can be built on by investing in housing near amenities and amenities near housing.
Adam Stewart is the assistant news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at adam@hutchtribune.com.