Dec

10

Grandview: One of America’s fastest dying towns?

December 10, 2008 | 6 Comments

The southern suburb of Grandview has the dubious distinction of being named the 8th fastest dying town in America, as ranked by Forbes Magazine.  Forbes cites a doubling of the poverty rate since 2000, falling incomes, and falling house prices.
Many of the towns on the list are similar to Grandview - older, inner ring suburbs [...]

Nov

12

Law-breaking JoCo Commissioner loses re-election

November 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment

John Toplikar, the Johnson County Commissioner caught on video stealing campaign signs, has lost his reelection bid to Calvin Hayden.  Although the margin is very slim and looks like Toplikdar could request a recount.

Oct

9

Old vs. New Buildings

October 9, 2008 | 1 Comment

This is an interesting juxtaposition on the Business Journal’s web site today.  One article features several companies that have chosen to renovate old historic buildings into contempory office space, helpling the company attract talented and creative employees while also making a difference in the local neighborhood.  The other article announces yet another beige office park [...]

Sep

16

Joco dumps sewage in Flush Creek

September 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment

It’s not just Kansas City that has a problem with sewer overflows into Brush Creek.  The creek starts out in Johnson County before it flows into Missouri… The Star reports that during last weekend’s heavy rain storms a pump in Fairway broke and untold thousands of gallons of Johnson County’s finest export was dumped into [...]

Aug

8

Mayor Funkhouser forming regional caucus

August 8, 2008 | 2 Comments

Today Mayor Funkhouser convenes a summit of Missouri-side mayors, with the goal of forming a regional caucus to better lobby at the state and federal level.  I have long advocated for the KC region to become more assertive in Jefferson City, so this is a great development.  Unfortunately, mayors of the two biggest suburbs (Independence [...]

Jun

3

Sugar Creek Slavic Festival

June 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment

The suburbs of Sugar Creek in the east and KCK’s Strawberry Hill in the west form two Slavic bookends on either side of the metro area.  Both neighborhoods have long histories of hosting Slavic immigrants and throwing great parties to celebrate that heritage.  This weekend is Sugar Creek’s annual Slavic Festival.  Head east to sample [...]

May

15

Northland suburbs looking to follow KC’s lead on smoking ban

May 15, 2008 | 3 Comments

It looks like several Northland suburbs are starting to think about following Kansas City’s lead on enacting a smoking ban.  With several suburbs almost completey surrounded by KCMO, they don’t have much choice in at least considering it. Parkville and North Kansas City have started talking about it, and Liberty is starting to gauge public [...]

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