I grew up in a small town outside of Newton. I actually like Newton, they have great parks (especially their new dog park!), their main street has some nice shops, there are tons of nice walking paths all around town that follow the river, they have their own movie theater and there are a few county parks that are only a few minutes drive away. Because of the college, they do have some trendy restaurants and coffee shops.

The drive to Wichita from Newton on I-135 is not that bad (unless there is construction going on). Harvey county sales tax is higher than Sedgwick county, I'm not sure on property taxes. There are a few bad neighborhoods in Newton, but the same can be said for Wichita. Feel free to ask me any more questions you might have.