Visiting Lawrence, KS - home of the 2022 NCAA men’s basketball champs

[OhioGuy]

I had a work trip to Kansas City last week and opted to fly in early to check out the area over Easter weekend. I spent Saturday afternoon exploring Lawrence and the University of Kansas campus. While Kansas isn’t high on my list of places to live, I enjoyed my time in Lawrence and unsurprisingly found it to be a seemingly nice place to live (as big university towns often are).

1. First stop upon arrival was coffee.


2.


3. After coffee I headed south along the main drag in the direction of the KU campus.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


11.


12.


13.


14.


15.


16.


17. The Douglas County Courthouse was a beauty!


18.


19.


20. Heading up the hill to the KU campus.


21. Arriving on the KU campus which had some impressive old buildings with beautiful stone or brick architecture.


22.


23.


24.


25.


26.


27.


28.


29.


30.


31.


32.


33.


34.


35.


36.


37.


38.


39.


40.


41.


42.


43.


44.


45.


46.


47. I’m not sure what my thoughts were on this building as I headed out of campus. It’s a hotel and because of its architecture and height it really sticks out. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but something about it didn’t seem overly cohesive, yet I took multiple photos and kept staring at it up close and from far away.


48.


49.


50. Checking out the residential neighborhood, “Old West Lawrence,” which is in between the campus to the southwest and downtown to the northeast.


51.


52.


53.


54.


55.


56.


57.


58.


59.


60.


61.


62.


63.


64.


65.


66.


67.


68. A nice park separates the residential area and downtown.


69. Making my way to check out the Kansas River and riverfront trail.


70.


71.


72.


73.


74. Heading back towards downtown.


75. Back in downtown Lawrence.


76.


77.


78.


79.


80.


81.


82.


83.


84.


85.


86.


87.


88. This place looked popular for ice cream so I had to try it out.


89. It was pretty good. Nice dense creamy ice cream.


90.


And that’s all from Lawrence. At some point in the next week or two I hope to add a much larger Kansas City post.

[Murphy de la Sucre]

I once had a tourist brochure about Lawrence, KS when I visited KCMO and always wondering how Lawrence skyline looks like....now I realize that Lawrence doesn't have a skyline, so ... myth cleared.
Lawrence is one of the major cities in KS right?

[xzmattzx]

Looks like a nice place!

Did you see any basketball places, like Allen Field House, or the DeBruce Center?

Did Lawrence seem like it was only a college town, or dd it seem like other things balanced it out? For instance, State College is only a college town, since there's no county government there, and it's not as big as Lawrence. It seems to me like you could have a life in Lawrence outside of the college's sphere of influence.

[SLO]

Very nice! Great shots some great classical architecture.
Football stadium need an upgrade!

[edale]

Looks like a beautiful campus, and a charming town! Thanks for sharing your photos.

[Echoes]

Good looking place!

[Crawford]

Lawrence looks a lot like a smaller Ann Arbor. Same gently rolling hills, proximity to major metro (but still separate) and similar architecture and feel. Same craftsman-style houses. And I bet you hard-right KS considers Lawrence to be a crazy place (and vice-versa).

[Wigs]

Looks very charming!

[Cirrus]

Thanks for the tour! I love a college town and have heard Lawrence is nice, but don't recall ever seeing a thread of it before. Looks not too bad at all.

I love this building especially. It would look so good fronting on a much bigger/more urban piazza.

[EastSideHBG]

Charming!

[dc_denizen]

beautiful

[DetroitSky]

Cool!

[mrnyc]

no idea about this place, but it looks very pleasant. even the oread bldg (?) — its good to have at least one funky looking structure.

its quite a contrast looking at this bucolic thread with a crackhead screeching outside our building here in staten usa land. ha.

[OhioGuy]

Thanks everyone! Back when I was about to finish my undergrad degree, I actually applied for a position in Lawrence, but didn't get the job. It was nice to finally visit. Seems like it would have been a pleasant place to start out post-college.

Originally Posted by Murphy de la Sucre

Lawrence is one of the major cities in KS right?

According to Wikipedia it's the 6th largest city in Kansas, though three of the top six are Kansas City suburbs. So it's in the top three largest cities outside of the Kansas City metro.

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Did you see any basketball places, like Allen Field House, or the DeBruce Center?

No I didn't check out any of the other athletic facilities.

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Did Lawrence seem like it was only a college town, or dd it seem like other things balanced it out? For instance, State College is only a college town, since there's no county government there, and it's not as big as Lawrence. It seems to me like you could have a life in Lawrence outside of the college's sphere of influence.

It's the county seat for Douglas County so it has employment beyond just the university. I'm sure you could live there and not be entirely consumed by KU activities, but certainly the university's presence is a major factor with having a reasonably thriving downtown.

Originally Posted by SLO

Football stadium need an upgrade!

Yeah, it looked not particularly impressive, but maybe my view is a little warped since I graduated from OSU and watched many games at Ohio Stadium.

[sopas ej]

Very nice photos! It totally has the quintessential small college town look to me.

I'm sure I'm dating myself, but in the early 1980s, when I was in junior high, there was a TV movie that came out (total Cold War thing) called "The Day After," about a nuclear holocaust and its aftermath, and it was filmed and set in Lawrence, Kansas, so when I saw this thread, I was reminded of that film. And then in the mid-1990s, after college, I worked with a guy who was about 5 or 6 years older than me, and he actually went to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and he told me that they filmed "The Day After" there, and it was a really big deal. I think he said they used actual residents for extras, and everyone was all excited because a film crew was there---which is funny because film crews can actually be very annoying, especially when they block off streets and yell at people to get off the sidewalk even though it's a public sidewalk... hehe they can act very self-important.

But again, great photos!

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Very nice photos! It totally has the quintessential small college town look to me.

I'm sure I'm dating myself, but in the early 1980s, when I was in junior high, there was a TV movie that came out (total Cold War thing) called "The Day After," about a nuclear holocaust and its aftermath, and it was filmed and set in Lawrence, Kansas, so when I saw this thread, I was reminded of that film. And then in the mid-1990s, after college, I worked with a guy who was about 5 or 6 years older than me, and he actually went to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and he told me that they filmed "The Day After" there, and it was a really big deal. I think he said they used actual residents for extras, and everyone was all excited because a film crew was there---which is funny because film crews can actually be very annoying, especially when they block off streets and yell at people to get off the sidewalk even though it's a public sidewalk... hehe they can act very self-important.

But again, great photos!

ahh why did i feel like i knew the place outside of sports! that is why, the day after movie. that movie was quite an event on tv back then. very scary too. so there must be a military base and icbm silos somewhere nearby?

[woodrow]

Well, to date myself even more, I was a Freshman at KU when "The Day After" aired on ABC. It was a BIG EVENT. University sponsored watching parties, etc., with disucssion groups after, there was a special Nightline after the movie. It was a big event in the US and doubly so in KC and Lawrence. It was weird to watch a movie on campus and see a movie with missiles taking off from a landscape I knew. Used to be a tons of missile sites in the Midwest. You grew up knowing that all around you were ICBM missile sites. You could see the gates to them on rural roads. https://coldwarheartland.ku.edu/land...-missile-sites

The pictures are great and call up wonderful memories. I haven't been back for some time but I keep up on what is happening (my fraternity constantly dinging for money for the latest million $ rehab). Allen Fieldhouse (not shown) is truly one of the greatest places to watch basketball. Packed in tight, right on top of the court, loud. Just fantastic. The football stadium does need updating I suppose, but that sport has generally taken a back seat to bastketball in Lawrence. They have added buildings that have cut into the parkland under the Campanile and that irritates me.

The "funky" building that has caught everyone's attention is called Dyche Hall, which of course everyone thought was hysterical. Has (had?) a decent natural history museum.

Something not apparent in the pictures is that most of the buildings appear 1-3 stories taller on the back side. The oldest part of the campus is on Mt. Oread and the older buildings front Jayhawk Bouldevard. The hill falls away and the thus the buildings seem taller from the back.

Lawrence is a great town. Thanks for the pics!

[mrnyc]

^ i was hoping for this — thanks for your insightful alumni reply.

and that cold war missle sites link — yikes.

ps — if you want to know what the aftermath of a nuke exchange would be like read a contemporary 1980s book called ‘warday.’ totally frightening and haunting.

[the pope]

i don't like sports, but i like these photos.

loved the happy lil' bungalows

didn't care for that...thing of a hotel.

[craigs]

Thanks for the pics! I've heard good things about Lawrence, and the architecture does not disappoint. Solid.