Topeka: Life Is What You Make It

Backyard Beauty 

Art and story by Michael Hooper

I was with a group of friends, when we were talking about our favorite places in the world, like Paris, Rome, New Orleans, and Vieques, Puerto Rico. Chris Wright said, "why not Topeka, I like it here."

In 1999, I asked that question — why Topeka?— and decided yes and moved here. I took a new job as a reporter at The Topeka Capital-Journal covering business. We had been living in Grand Island and Kearney, Neb. Kearney had a terrible selection of real estate, mostly split-level houses, ours had five levels, I hated it. Heather and I wanted an English cottage, but there was none in Kearney. 

When we first arrived in Topeka, we were impressed with Collins Park, Potwin, and Westboro neighborhoods, we were like gaga, here’s some cool neighborhoods and classic houses. We found a charming limestone cottage with three bedrooms, surrounded by 18 trees, near Gage Park. We made a new life for ourselves.  

Living next to the 140-acre Gage Park with shopping nearby with a 15-minute commute everywhere in town. Easy access to the interstate. Could go west to Salina or east to Lawrence or Kansas City pretty quick. You can fly to any place in the world from Kansas City. Lawrence is only 25 minutes away. It’s like wow people, you don’t realize how good you got it right here. Great real estate, professional jobs. Cost of living is reasonable.

Heather and I raised our son Reid and daughter Hannah in Topeka. We are proud of their history and accomplishments at Randolph Elementary, Landon Middle School and Topeka High School. My son played 12 years of soccer in Topeka and made lifelong friends. Our daughter has been living in Hawaii but plans to move to Colorado where our son lives today.

After the 2008-2009 financial crisis, speculative building of homes stopped in Shawnee County. Overtime the real estate market recovered from the financial crisis. But Shawnee County ended up with short supply of real estate. In recent years, after 15% annual increases in property values, I think prices have plateaued. The Fed raised interest rates so now the cost of a 30-year mortgage is more expensive than it used to be. This may slow sales, but I still see young people buying homes and fixing them up.

Topeka is a better city in some ways than I found it in 1999. The NOTO Arts District didn't exit. Today, NOTO is a thriving arts district with more than 30 practicing artists there in studios, with thousands of visitors on first Fridays with music and entertainment in the Red Bud Park.

Topeka lost big employers like the Menninger Clinic, and Payless ShoeSource, but has gained Advisors Excel and a new generation of entrepreneurs building Topeka in their businesses and organizations. The spirit of kindness and acceptance of the mentally ill is still here, the legacy of the Menninger family. Hence the Menninger pocket park in downtown Topeka. Across the street the Evergy Plaza at Seventh and Kansas is a great place for music and entertainment. The Jayhawk Theatre continues to dazzle and entertain. I’m so impressed by entrepreneurs like Debra and Randy Clayton and the chocolate people Nick and Terry Xidis.

I've gained wonderful friends: thoughtful intellectuals in my book and art clubs. The Topeka and Shawnee County Library and its brilliant minds and books have cultivated and enriched my mind. I just loved digging into the art of Mary Huntoon with the help of Sherry Best and others at the library.

It is worth studying the lives of these three Topekans: Mary Huntoon, Cyrus Holliday, Karl Menninger. They all show us vision, persistence, genius and character. Mary Huntoon studied art in Topeka, New York and Paris before returning to Topeka to work as an art therapist for Dr. Karl Menninger at the Menninger Clinic. Holliday is co-founder of Topeka and The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, and, Dr. Karl Menninger was author of The Human Mind and co-founder of the Menninger Clinic.

My motto for Topeka: Life is what you make it. Make it great. How? Surround yourself with people of high character who are ambitious. You want to be a published author? Hang around other published authors. You want to be a successful real estate investor? Hang around successful real estate investors. You want to own a great business? Surround yourself with business owners, people who own a house cleaning service or car washes, laundromats and candy machines or staffing firms (stay away from bars and restaurants). You want to be a great stock investor? Study Warren Buffett and join an investment club. You can be anything you want to be in Topeka. There's an expert here in just about everything.