Well if they dont get 4 or so corporate hog farms to come in on the outskirts of town it might end up worse than Garden City or or Dodge city -only bigger.

I guess it would take more like 12-15 just to sustain a living graveyard subsistance that will be left.

Boeing only employs about 2,000 people in Wichita currently. They are there basically in name only. More than half of them get transferred elsewhere rather than canned. Spirit Aerosystems (a major supplier for Boeing) along with dozens of other corporations (Cessna, Hawker-Beech, even Airbus has an Engineering office here). These employ the other 95% of aircraft workers residing in Wichita.

Its still a hit for Wichita, most certainly. The problem we have is no new businesses would ever want to set up roots here. Its a boring place, poor weather, and a heavily unionized workforce that expects incredible pay and benefits for relatively unskilled work. We also have insane people for elected officials.

Would you want to have a business in a location that none of the best and brightest would want to live, and the local selection labor unattractive in every possible way? The sad thing is this is coming from a life long Wichita resident, who should have been as wise as most of his friends and left for college and never looked back. Now I'm stuck and making the best of it. If I didn't have a job that allowed me to leave town every chance I get, I could not stand the place.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

When you think of a big corporation as an American Company, you are being a fool. Money doesn't know lines on maps. Money has no loyalties. This country is in free fall. Your leaders are stuffing all of the money away that they can get their hands on before they parachute to safety while you crash and burn. Keep pretending, your grandchildren will thank you.

Tyler -

Why do you feel you're stuck in that place... why not try to find another great place to live and move - like Denver or other great cities out West?!... You're young and the car business you run should work pretty much anywhere else you go. Why not take a chance.

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Ha ha ha, you're talking to a guy who lives in the Detroit area
You forgot to mention suicidal drivers, crazed thieves, druggies and drug lords . Oh wait! and a population that lets the thugs who ran for office get away with everything including the kitchen sink.
That's one step above Omsk or New Siberia

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Lots of anchillary companies tied to Boeing, though like the ones here that I have sold my labor to in the past, and some almost siamesed to them like British Aerospace is to Lockheed in Ft Worth.
The recharge that will fill the vaccum when they say adios-- well lets just say the unoffical first language around Wichita will be-- just order your copy of...........
Learn Spanish - Speak Spanish - Learn Spanish Software - Rosetta Stone

Wichita still has the Koch Brothers. They own probably the largest private owned Corporation which has businesses in a variety of industries.


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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

What I think is weird about this is how the Republican are so upset. They talk like they worked their selves to death to get Boeing the $35,000,000,000 tanker contract and then, as soon as the ink is dry, Boeing pulls up and leaves town.

Some of the comments made by Republicans over this move have been downright vile. They are even talking about bringing in Airbus to take over the Boeing buildings. I wonder if Airbus will bring its' 'Socialist' ways with it?

And to think it was only just a few weeks ago that Boeing was the darling of the right-wingers in their fight with the NLRB. Now Republicans in Kansas can't say enough bad things about them.

Time changes everything.

Yes, we have the Koch brothers, and just a few hours North the Phelps family and Sam Brownback.

While Koch is a big job provider (70,000 or so) only about 3,000 of those jobs are in Kansas. Though the majority of those jobs are very well paid.

Spirit Aerosystems, which builds fuselages for some Boeing and Airbus planes leads at 11,000. Then there's Cessna, Bombarier Lear Jet, and Hawker Beech. Total aircraft workers are somewhere around 30,000. Airbus has an engineering office here as well.

Its not all aircraft manufacturing, though. BG products (automotive additives) are made in Wichita, as well as Vornado fans, Coleman lanterns, Cargill meat, and quite a few call centers since our accent is fairly neutral. Lot's of call centers have gone oversees in recent years.

The Air Force One fleet is still serviced here, but it seems not for long.

Wichita is fortunate to be fairly diversified both company and product wise in its manufacturing jobs. I just don't see them attracting anybody new short of enormous tax breaks or a huge increase in the quality of life.

When the contract for the tanker was awarded to Airbus, Boeing said they would have to stop operations in Wichita. They promised 7,500 new jobs in Kansas if our leaders could turn things around. Now they are going back on their word, ceasing operations anyway, and have created this mess. Airbus got a big slap in the face when they got the contract snatched away, so I doubt they'll come to the rescue. It shows how naive our politicians are.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

As for my personal sentiments on Wichita, I believe my primary issue is with geography. No mountains, no major bodies of water, nothing really interesting at all that would provide outdoor activities. The winters are usually very cold, and the summers very hot. Ice storms, hail storms, Tornados, near constant winds, salted roads, all make for a varied, nasty cocktail.

There's no feeling of history in the town. No real sense of community. For such a large population the downtown area is a joke. Land is so plentiful and cheap that we've become a city of urban sprawl. All roads are straight.

The selection for live shows is very limited. Outdoor gathering spaces are limiting because of the varied weather extremes. The city festivals are a joke. Their attempts to develop the downtown and attract exciting entertainment and businesses have failed miserably.

So many of my friends and the bulk of the bright ones in my high school graduating class live far away. Kansas City, Dallas, Austin, Denver seem to be the exodus points.

What keeps me around is the very cheap cost of living. I have a large house by most people's standards, nicely finished interior, huge yard, and only 4 years old, for less than 130k. I can get almost anything done very cheaply if I shop around. With all the decent paying jobs and farmers around there's plenty of people who pay cash for cars. Since I do not mess with financing this is a must. I also have a good part time job that gives me health and dental benefits, allows me the time to have the business, and to travel often. My family is also here.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!