I moved from California to a tiny town in Kansas, where I bought my first home and feel like I'm finally winning at life

[Shrek]

https://www.businessinsider.com/leaving-california-moved-to-kansas-bought-home-money-goes-farther-2025-2

Neodesha is a small town with about 2,000 people. The closest big cities are Wichita, Kansas City, and Tulsa, Oklahoma — all about one and a half to two hours away.

It was definitely a culture shock coming from California.

Growing up, my dad was in the Coast Guard, so I moved around a lot and was used to adapting to new environments. Even still, I remember going to the grocery store in Neodesha and thinking, "Why do these people want to know my whole life story?" I just wanted to buy my oranges and get out of there.

But slowly and surely, my husband and I started warming up to it. Now one of my favorite things is just talking to people and getting to know everyone. It's nice to know that everyone looks out for each other here.

Trying very hard to think of a town that's 2 hours from Wichita, KC, and Tulsa

Edit: Actually it's much closer to KC than I expected so the article isn't as far off as I thought.