> All cities can cite white flight for a big part of the rationale for the
> explosion of the suburbs. It's the pattern that is explained in county tax
> rates. Why not greater growth in Platte, Clay, and Jackson counties in
> MO instead of Johnson? Why Johnson over Wyandotte, which has
> greater proximity to KC? Expanding in the direction of St. Joe through
> Platte and following the river would made sense instead of the explosion
> into Johnson Co. in Ks. Look at the property tax assessments for 50
> then 40 then 30 and then 20 years back and you'll understand why the
> suburbs grew the way they have since WWII.
Let me get you caught up on the facts again. I grew up in Kansas City and I understand the reasons for its geography. People do not move to certain areas of a metropolitan area to suit some aesthetic idea about growth. Why did Lawrence, KS grow west instead of East towards Kansas City?
Racism is the primary reason why suburban development first exploded in Johnson County and then in recent decades in Jackson, Platte and other countries. Racism may be less of a factor in suburban development in the past 15 years, but it was the primary factor from 1945 through the late 20th century. The white Kansas City middle class fled to the new surburbs, many of which were developed by J.C. Nichols & Co. I live in a J.C. Nichols subdivision along the state line in Leawood.
> If Shawnee Mission school district is the reason explain why Olathe is
> the second largest town in Johnson county in spite of not being in that
> school district?
Because Olathe has seen huge amounts of growth in the past 15 years. My school district, Blue Valley, is the district just south of Shawnee Mission. When I went to high school in the mid 80s, there was only one in the district, where there are 4-5 now. After development in Overland Park and Leawood filled up the Shawnee Mission district, then developers started building in south Johnson County.
> I have all this history somewhere in a paper a friend of mine wrote. He is
> a city planner and was examining what KC did wrong when he was
> working for the city of Phoenix. Looking at Phoenix today they did not
> pay much attention to his paper.
My father was a city planner for the City of Kansas City in the 1960s and early 70s. I've had 40 years to learn about the details of why Kansas City has the geography it has.
Chuck0