The wrong side of the tracks

Here in the quirky, liberal, wonderful town of Lawrence, Kansas, we live on the wrong side of the tracks.

The wrong side of the tracks in Lawrence is the west side, west of Iowa Street. It’s where the “new” high school (opened in 1997) is, and even though the dividing line in Lawrence that demarks where kids will attend was drawn from east to west to equalize the socio-economic statuses of the kids attending, Free State High School--the new one--is perceived as the “rich” high school while Lawrence High School is perceived to be the high school of “real,” down-to-earth Lawrencians.

Recently, in anticipation of a rivalry football game, some kids at Free State wore t-shirts referring to Lawrence High kids as “peasants.”

Some people on Facebook and on the Lawrence Journal World website are putting it down to “kids will be kids,” and not letting it bother them that much. Other people are pissed. I’m just … Ugh. Really?

I’ve lived and worked all over this town. My parents owned the house at 24th & Ridge Court in the 1970s, long before Redbud Lane became the supposed hotbed of drugs and dangerous it is now. (I say *the* house because there are apartment buildings on every other corner.) I’ve lived near Burcham Park on Mississippi Street. I worked at Roger’s Food Center in North Lawrence for almost two years. It would take about a year before the Sand Rats would accept one of us college kids from over the bridge, but once they decided we were okay, they’d beg us to come party with them after work. That’s how I and my fellow Roger’s coworkers ended up at the Congo bar more than once, a place with a legendary reputation in the rest of town as a bar one simply didn’t set foot in if one valued one’s life. We found the Congo to be relatively uneventful, populated mostly by the same good-natured alcoholics we waited on at Rogers. Eventually, the Congo burned down; I’m not sure of the circumstances. I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with friends in Central- and East Lawrence. There’s not a single part of this town that I’m afraid to drive through or visit.

Now, though, my husband and kid and I live on the west side. There’s this perception amongst many Lawrencians that westsiders are all rich assholes living in McMansions. Here’s the reality: my kid goes to Deerfield School, a school built in the 1960s, the most crowded school in town. I have lots of friends on this side of town, very cool folks who like to eat and buy local, frequent the farmer’s market and downtown, and not one of whom lives in a McMansion. Most of us are either two-parent working families, or a one-parent working family that pinches pennies and cuts coupons so that the other parent can stay home with the kids. Some of us are even same-gender families, families who, I’m told, feel supported by their neighbors and school communities. Most of us live in modest homes. Some of us live in duplexes or apartments.

We ended up where we are because we had become one of those households that needed to be near one of the turnpike entrances/exits. Oh. I can hear some of my fellow Lawrencians saying. You’re those people. Those people who live in Lawrence but commute to Kansas City or Topeka. Yeah, well, we didn’t start out that way. Jim’s job was in Lawrence, but once it outgrew Lawrence, much to his (and my) great annoyance, the job moved to Kansas City. I had a great job in Lawrence that I loved, until that business failed. The next job I found in my field was in Topeka. When we were looking for a new house to buy, we had it narrowed down to North Lawrence or where we are now, based solely on being close to turnpike access. The decision to move where we are now cut a full half hour off of Jim’s commute, saving us, and the environment, lots of fuel and emissions.

What I find amusing about the perception that all the money in town is on the west side is that it’s getting to be very expensive to live in the older, more desirable parts of town. Neither of us is handy, and there’s no way we could afford the TLC that a house built before the 1940s needs. And some of those grand Victorians in Old West Lawrence? They cost as much, if not more than, some of the McMansions on the far west side.

There’s a perception that all westsiders are stuck up, conservative bastards. (A couple of my westside girlfriends and I also learned courtesy the final Victor Continental Show that we’re being shunned from the shittons of swingers parties that are rampant over here.) The truth is that I know several people who live on the west side who play in local bands. The truth is that the west side has come out en masse for recent local elections to vote for things like the T and the refurbished library.

Now, truth be told, there’s also a perception amongst certain westsiders that East and North Lawrence are “dangerous,” and schools like Central Junior High are full of low-class thugs.

I always take time out of my busy, busy day to reassure those folks that that perception is pure-D horse shit, and that they’re behaving like the pompous assholes some people think we all are over here.

The truth, in my opinion, is far more nuanced than the typical perceptions. I love this town. I love all parts of it. Are there assholes on my side of town? Sure. But there are assholes all over town. There are also cool people all over town. I know. I’ve met them.

I sincerely hope those kids were joking. I hope the Free State kids were joking and the LHS kids know that. Only the kids know for sure. It’s also my hope that someday, all Lawrencians will open their minds, and their eyes, and let go of some of their preconceived notions.