Southwest is a mixed commercial and residential

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

in Wichita,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It consists of a large area west of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

in the southern part of the city.

Geography

Southwest is located at (37.637778, -97.356944) at an elevation of . It consists of the area between Meridian Avenue in the west and McLean Boulevard in the east and between May Street in the north and MacArthur Road in the south. Southwest borders the neighborhoods of Stanley/Aley to the north, South Central to the northeast, South Seneca to the south, and Southwest Village to the west.

Economy

Westway Shopping Center, a large

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

, is located in Southwest on the southwest corner of Pawnee and Seneca. Built in the 1960s, it contains more than of retail space.

Government

For the purposes of representation on the Wichita City Council, most of Southwest lies in Council District 4. The portion of the neighborhood south of 27th Street South and east of Seneca is in Council District 3 as is the portion north of 27th Street South and east of Osage Street. For the purposes of representation in the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

, Southwest is split between the 25th and 28th districts of the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

and the 95th, 96th, and 97th districts of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

Education

Wichita Public Schools Wichita USD 259 is a public unified school district headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The district includes most of the cities of Wichita, Bel Aire, Eastborough, and Kechi. Overview The largest school district in the state of ...

operates six schools in Southwest: * Enders Open Magnet Elementary School * Enterprise Elementary School * Kelly Liberal Arts Academy * Truesdell Middle School *

Wichita South High School Wichita South High School, known locally as South, is a public secondary school in Wichita, Kansas. It is operated by Wichita USD 259 school district and serves students in grades 9 to 12. It is also known as Wichita High School South. The scho ...

* Woodman Elementary School The

Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita The Diocese of Wichita ( la, Dioecesis Wichitensis) is a Latin Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Kansas. It covers Allen, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cowley, Crawford, Elk, Greenwood, Harpe ...

oversees one Catholic elementary school in the neighborhood: St. Anne School.

Parks and recreation

The city's Department of Park and Recreation maintains three parks in and around Southwest. Located at the corner of South Hiram and West Greenfield Street, Glenn Village Park is a neighborhood park with a children's playground. O. J. Watson Park lies immediately east of Southwest on South McLean Boulevard. Spanning , it includes a community facility, miniature golf course, three playgrounds, pony rides, 32 sand volleyball courts, and a fishing lake. Osage Park is located at 31st Street South and Everett Street and includes a basketball court, children's playground, interactive water fountain, two softball diamonds, and two tennis courts.

Transportation

The main arterial roads through Southwest are, running east–west, Pawnee Street and 31st Street South and, running north–south, Seneca Street. Meridian Avenue runs north–south along the west side of the neighborhood while McLean Boulevard runs north–south along the east side. South of 31st Street, McLean becomes Gold Street. MacArthur Road runs east–west along the far south side. The Interstate 235 bypass runs east–west through southern Southwest, accessible via interchanges at Seneca and Meridian.

Wichita Transit Wichita Transit is the public transportation department of the City of Wichita which operates paratransit and transit bus services within Wichita, Kansas, United States.

offers bus service in Southwest on its 14 and 16 routes.

References

{{authority control Geography of Wichita, Kansas Neighborhoods in Kansas