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Crazy home prices hit rural Kansas and Missouri

High housing prices aren't just for the cities: Rural Midwest towns are now dealing with a surge of new residents and higher real estate costs as a result. Plus, how Kansas City playgrounds are making the city more inclusive for kids with disabilities.

All across the United States, the pandemic has sparked high housing prices in places long insulated from them, even rural Kansas and Missouri towns with historically low real estate values. As KCUR’S Frank Morris reports, a surge of interest in some of these markets is squeezing out long-time residents.

You may have noticed new language boards in Kansas City's parks and playgrounds. The signage is helping kids with limited language abilities communicate. On KCUR's Up To Date, host Brian Ellison spoke with Deborah Wiebrecht, chief inclusion officer at Variety KC, along with mother and daughter Sara and Olivia Bloomfield, about making Kansas City more inclusive for people with disabilities.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR onTwitter andFacebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and edited by Gabe Rosenberg & Lisa Rodriguez

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As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
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