Tony Stasiek

As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, April 2009.

Since sprouting from the prairie only 50 years ago, Overland Park, Kan., has grown into a model for self-sustaining "satellite" cities across the country. But unrest at its largest employers could knock the steady Kansas City, Mo., suburb off its orbit.

What the Locals Say _____________________________________ "When I grew up here, there weren't nearly as many neighborhoods as there are now. In the past 10 years, it has grown like crazy here -- up until last year. I think the inventory is too much, and it's probably a little overbuilt." -- Kent Hackman, owner, United Mortgage

Less than a year after moving all corporate operations to its 250-acre Overland Park campus, Sprint Nextel Corp. announced plans in January to lay off as many as 2,000 of its 12,000 campus employees. According to the County Economic Research Institute, each Sprint job equals 2.45 jobs in terms of salary. Add that to recent cuts at other large local employers such as YRC Worldwide and Capital One Home Loans, and the plains appear to be in for some pain.

Prior to Sprint's announcement, the city had forecast a 2-percent sales-tax-revenue dip this year and a 3.2-percent drop in property-tax funds by 2010. These de-creases could yield a property-tax hike -- perhaps making Overland Park less attractive or affordable for newcomers. And that's not great news for a city that increased its physical square-mileage by more than 25 percent in March '08.

But for Overland Park's current residents, things appear copacetic for now. As of mid-February, the city had only 54 residential properties in default, according to RealtyTrac -- far fewer than similar cities, such as Warren, Mich. (185); Naperville, Ill. (327); and Elizabeth, N.J. (1,287). An increase in multifamily-building permits in the area in '08 also could point to the region embracing a more-transient population.

Vitals

↑ Population: 169,403

• Population in 2000: 149,080
• Rank (U.S.): 139th-largest
• Metropolitan-area population: 1.98 million
• Metropolitan-area rank (U.S.): 29th-largest

↑ Average commute: 19.8 minutes

• Average commute in 2000: 19.5 minutes
• U.S: 25 minutes

↑ Median household income: $70,513

• Median household income in 2000: $62,116
• U.S.: $48,451

↑ Median age: 37.4 years

• Median age in 2000: 36.3 years
• U.S.: 36.4 years

↑ Inflation (Consumer Price Index, 2nd half 2008, MSA): 2.9 percent

• Inflation (2nd half 2007): 2.2 percent
• U.S. (December): -0.1 percent

↑ Unemployment: 4.9 percent

• Unemployment in December 2007: 3.8 percent
• U.S. (December): 7.2 percent

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