The best place to live in Johnson County? Money magazine puts this spot in top 10
Describing it as a family-friendly town, Money magazine has rated Overland Park at No. 7 among the country’s best places to live.
The magazine mentioned the city-owned Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead, the Museum at Prairiefire and the Cider Hill Family Orchard.
Never mind that the orchard happens to be in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Overland Park also boasts 83 parks and open spaces where the whole family can walk, bike, hike and fish,” the magazine said, but noted: “Work, like play, is abundant in Overland Park: The city has an unemployment rate of just 3.6%. With 5,000 employees, T-Mobile is the town’s largest private employer. However, many people commute to Kansas City, where companies such as H&R Block, Hallmark and Cerner are headquartered.”
In compiling its list for 2021-2022, Money said it considered cities with populations ranging from 25,000 to 500,000, but removed those where population is declining, where the crime risk is more than 1.5 times the national average, where the median income is below the state’s median or where there’s little to no ethnic diversity.
In choosing the 50 best, the magazine then looked at factors like health and safety, economics, education and fun, with an emphasis on cost of living, economic opportunity and housing affordability.
“To keep the list interesting, we limited winners to three per state and one per county. Last year’s top five places were also disqualified.”
The magazine listed Overland Park’s median household income at $100,079 and the median home price at $383,829.
Asked about the orchard’s KCK address, city spokeswoman Meg Ralph said by email: “My understanding is that they take into account amenities in the immediate area as well as within city limits.”
The No. 1 city was Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Mission voters approve sales tax increase
With more than three-fourths of voters backing the measure, Mission residents have agreed to increase a sales tax that pays for the maintenance, repair and replacement of streets in the northern Johnson County suburb.
The city’s mail-in election ended at noon on Sept. 21. According to unofficial final results, the proposal passed 1,258 to 373 for an approval rate of 77%.
Mission currently imposes a quarter-cent sales tax citywide that’s dedicated to transportation improvements. The ballot measure asked voters to boost the rate to three-eighths of a cent for the next 10 years. The higher rate will take effect on April 1, once the current tax expires at the end of March. It is expected to generate roughly $950,000 a year.
The city already has upgraded arterial streets such as Johnson Drive and Nall and Lamar avenues, so residential streets will be the focus over the next decade.
Just under 24% of registered voters returned their mail ballots.
‘Spirit Totems’ come to JCCC
Five 30-foot-tall metal totems, designed by American Indian artist Doug Coffin, have been installed at Johnson County Community College.
The installation of “Spirit Totems” at JCCC marks the start of Coffin’s plan to place more totems across the country, the college said.
Coffin grew up on the grounds of what is now Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence. He earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Kansas and a master’s degree in from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He now lives in New Mexico.
A gift from Ron and Phyllis Nolan funded the fabrication, installation and artist’s fee. Visitors can find “Spirit Totems” between the Gym and Hugh L. Libby Career and Technical Education Center on the JCCC campus, at College Boulevard and Quivira Road.
Register by Oct. 12 for fall elections
If you want to vote for your city, school and community college leaders on Nov. 2, you must be registered by Oct. 12.
The Johnson County Election Office will begin mailing advance ballots the following day, and advance voting in person will start on Oct. 23. The deadline to apply for an advance ballot is 5 p.m. Oct. 26. Get details at jocoelection.org.
Shawnee budget will bolster police
Shawnee will hire six new police officers, add another mental health co-responder to accompany police officers on certain calls and improve two fire stations under the 2022 budget approved by the City Council.
The fire stations are at 6501 Quivira Road and 6805 Hedge Lane Terrace.
The budget also includes a new communication assistant, the second phase of Monticello Road improvements, a temporary property tax rebate program for low-income and senior homeowners and an in-house legal department.
The City Council voted to decrease the property tax rate from 26.501 mills currently to 26.201 mills, or about $26.20 on each $1,000 of assessed valuation. The actual rate could vary slightly depending on final property value figures from Johnson County.
Are you recycling the right stuff?
The Johnson County Department of Health and Environment is looking for more cities and neighborhoods to participate in its Recycle Right campaign, where officials peek into curbside recycling bins and alert residents if the bins contain items that should go in the trash or someplace like Ripple Glass.
County officials said nearly 23% of what ends up in recycle bins shouldn’t be there, including plastic bags, glass, Styrofoam, paper towels and containers that have been contaminated by food. And when people put their recyclables in a plastic bag, the whole thing ends up in the landfill.
The program aims to reduce “wishful recycling” by well-meaning people who toss items in the their bins and just hope they will be recycled.
“Wishful recycling, combined with the confusion of what can be recycled in our curbside recycle bins, are two of the biggest obstacles facing recycling today,” the county said in a news release.
Westwood and some neighborhood groups already have collaborated with Recycle Right, which also distributes recycling information to residents.
Participating groups must be served by a single trash/recycling hauler. For questions or to signal interest in the program, contact Brandon Hearn at brandon.hearn@jocogov.org or 913-715-6936. To learn the dos and don’ts of recycling, visit jocogov.org/recycling101.
Work begins on Lenexa interchange
Delays and detours await drivers as construction crews upgrade the interchange at Kansas 7 and Prairie Star Parkway in Lenexa.
The $1.6 million project, to completed by late March 2022, includes:
▪ Wider exit ramps to accommodate dedicated turn lanes.
▪ Traffic signals at ramp terminals.
▪ The resurfacing of Prairie Star Parkway.
Crews will work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and on Saturdays if needed. The northbound K-7 exit ramp to Prairie Star Parkway will be closed for about 30 days, followed by a similar closure of the southbound K-7 exit ramp.
Safest cities in Kansas
Safewise.com identified the 20 safest cities in Kansas for 2021, based in part on crimes reported to the FBI in 2019, and six of them are in Johnson County:
▪ Mission Hills, No. 5.
▪ Leawood, No. 6.
▪ Gardner, No. 7.
▪ Prairie Village, No. 12
▪ Lenexa, No. 17
▪ Olathe, No. 18.
Safewise considered metro areas with at least 300,000 people. The report said Gardner showed the greatest improvement in Kansas, jumping 12 spots to seventh place.
Valley Center, in the Wichita area, was deemed the safest city, followed by Basehor in Leavenworth County.
Kitchen items sought for needy
Johnson County’s K-State Research and Extension office is collecting gently used kitchen equipment and tools — everything from measuring cups, knives and spatulas to dishes, slow cookers and small microwaves — to help people in need.
Items can be dropped off at 11811 S. Sunset Drive, Suite 1500, in Olathe.
The JoCo EATS Kitchen Restore Project provides starter kits of new or gently used kitchen essentials. For a complete list of needed items, scroll through the news items at jocogov.org.
Center of Grace expands
The Center of Grace, at 520 S. Harrison St. in Olathe, recently expanded.
A partnership between the Center and the Olathe unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City began in the summer of 2012 when the Boys and Girls Clubs introduced a new unit. The rooms quickly filled to capacity and a new expansion was planned. Currently, 125 K-12 students are served. With the new addition, once the renovation of the old building is completed in spring of 2022, up to 300 students will be served.
A ribbon cutting to celebrate the new addition was held Sept. 30 at 4 p.m.
“By partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs, we can offer the families in our community, not only excellent programming for their children and youth, but also access to the other outreach programs,” said the Rev. Sylvia Romero, executive director, in a written statement.
Center of Grace also offers meals, clothes, hygiene products, emergency assistance, medical equipment, as well as English classes and adult basic education in partnership with Johnson County Community College.
