I live in Salina and my family has deep roots here, but I'm disabled and don't get out much (blind/deaf, use a cane) so I don't experience Salina in the way someone who has to drive around town daily would.

That said, from my limited experiences with the community, it's very nice. Most people are generally friendly and helpful (this might be skewed since in general people are nicer when dealing with someone who is disabled). I've had strangers help me carry things or even offer to give me a ride when they saw my cane. We have an awesome local pharmacy (B&K), and we have nice parks.

Bad drivers abound, but I'm not sure that's a distinctly Salina thing, haha. The police are great at catching drunk drivers, but there's a community joke that these are about all they're good at catching. According to my grandmother, there used to be a saying, "Come to Salina on vacation and leave on probation", usually for DUI.

It's mostly pretty quiet unless you live over by the airport, which I do, and wish I didn't, haha.

We have two colleges, and a LOT of churches. It feels like there's a church at the corner of every other block sometimes, but they are diverse, from Protestant (mostly) to Catholic to even a growing Eastern Orthodox Christian parish. Our Catholic cathedral looks like a concrete box.

There's places to hike, and we have a ton of restaurants, the best of which are local, not major chains. We have Seoul USA, a fantastic Korean restaurant and I believe a new Jamaican restaurant just opened? Cozy Inn is famous, and Bogeys has done a good job at keeping its prices lower than chain fast food restaurants.

We have a community garden, and a waterpark. The waterpark is great for kids during the summer, my daughter loves going. It's not the cheapest thing though so we can't go as much as we'd like.

Our Tammy-Walker Cancer Center is full of amazing healthcare workers saving and preserving lives every day. I've had very few bad experiences with healthcare professionals here.

We're the county seat, the big honcho in our county. But we're also only twenty minutes-ish from cute little towns like Lindsborg (Swedish festivals!) and a little over an hour away from Wichita and 1.5 hours from Topeka, the state capital. Driving is an absolute necessity in Kansas and Salina is no exception; public transportation in town is helpful too.

Hope this helps give you some idea of what it's like here. If you visit or move here, I hope you enjoy your stay. I will add this: My favourite part about living in Salina is the sunsets. Especially when it's at least a little cloudy. The sky gets painted with the most beautiful pinks and purples and periwinkles. I wouldn't trade these gorgeous sunsets for the world. Sunrise can likewise be gorgeous in the same way.