http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-961303.mp3
Mission Hills, Kan. – Mission Hills is doing unusually well in tough times, but it has always been an unusual place. There are only three business - all country clubs - in the whole city. It has no police department. Law enforcement, snow plowing and just about every other city service is contracted from outside the city. Clinging to the Kansas side of the State Line, Mission Hills is just a sliver of two square miles, home to just 3,500 people.
Just a few days before Mission Hill's city council election, a meet-the-candidates event drew 13 residents to the First Lutheran Church on State Line. Home values are rising, crime is dropping and the tiny city was recently named the third wealthiest per captia in the country. But KCUR's Alex Smith found the issue of redevelopment continues to stir passions. Four city council candidates are searching for a solution to a debate that's been going on for a century.
For more information about up coming elections in Mission Hills, Kan., see the Midwest Democracy Project.
This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.
