'Exclusiveness' pervades Leawood
By CAROL SUE STEVENSON
It's especially lovely in the spring. Large trees overhang the noiseless curved streets, flowers bloom in neatly tended lawns, children saunter home from school with sweaters over their shoulders and notebooks under their arms.
The homes, set back from the streets on larger than average lots, look more custom-built and comfortable than those in the cracker-box subdivisions. A small creek runs along the widest street in town—Lee Boulevard. The whole world seems peaceful on a weekday afternoon in the heart of Leawood, Kansas.
This second class city of 10,565 residents and 7,800 acres is a part of the maze of townships and cities which make up affluent Johnson County, the southwestern border of greater Kansas City. Developed by Kroh Brother Real Estate Agency from land acquired from the estate of Oscar Lee, a wealthy oilman, the city was begun on what now is its northern border, in 1936.
City incorporated
Today it extends from Somerset Drive southward past Interstate 435 and from State Line Road in the east to an irregular line about a mile west.
Twelve years after its founding, the officers of the Leawood Homes Association and other interested citizens decided that incorporation as a small city was the most satisfactory way to insure that the people of Leawood could have their own local government in the future. On November 30, 1948, Leawood was formally declared a city by the Johnson County commissioners and became the first incorporated area in Mission Township.
Although it became a city in a suburban setting, the dream of its creators was freedom from big city problems. Because of excessive restrictions enforced by the Homes' Associations, to which every property owner automatically belongs, there is no undesirable use of property in Leawood that destroys values in many neighborhoods.
'Exclusive' area
Until the 1954 Supreme Court decision there were no "undesirable neighbors" either. Stringently enforced restrictions barring Jews, Syrians and Negroes were in effect. Today, the aura of exclusiveness still persists, although there is one black family in Leawood.
Kroh Brothers' new development, The Cloisters, which is in the city limits, has this restriction on deed to the land: "No gift, lease, or resale of
Library to offer clemency period on overdue books
A library clemency period this week will allow students to return overdue books to Watson Library with no charge, said David Morgan, student library committee chairman.
The arrangement, made with David Heron, library director, begins at midnight today and ends midnight Friday. Overdue books can be returned to the return box at the circulation desk or the outdoor return box.
"The purpose of the clemency period," Morgan said, "is to get books back into circulation that have been missing a long time."
He estimated that the number of overdue books exceeds 1,000 volumes.
2 KANSAN May 14 1969
a home, except to offspring, until after offer of the property on identical terms to all other owners in The Cloisters. The right-of-first-refusal expires at the end of ten days."
As you drive through the city you see no "crowded areas of cheap houses that can eventually degenerate into slum-type districts with all the attendant social problems such a type of population creates." Such degeneration was one of the fears of the builders of Leawood.
Instead, scattered among the homes are nine churches and four elementary schools. On its perimeters are glass and steel secondary schools—two senior highs and three junior highs. Shopping centers, equipped with convenient parking and air-conditioned malls, border the city. You can reach downtown Kansas City in 25 minutes by car, and the Country Club Plaza is only 15 minutes from any part of Leawood.
'Affluent' society
Everyone can get downtown because everyone has a car in Leawood, a fact that is painfully evident when driving during rush hour. Commuters come home each night to homes serviced by the Kansas City Power and Light Company, the Gas Service Company, Southwestern Bell Telephone, and Public Water District Number One. Their Homes' Associations take care of trash and garbage collection, the mowing of parks and vacant lots, trimming and spraying of street trees, and enforcement of restrictions upon their land.
Citizens' lives and property are protected by a 12-man fire department and a 24-hour police department of the same size.
They are governed by a mayor and eight councilmen, who meet the first and third Mondays of every month to pass ordinances and discuss problems. These nine men, who serve without pay, are elected to two-year terms, half the membership being up for re-election every year.
Residents associate exclusively with each other at the Leawood Country Club, the Leawood South Country Club, the Leawood Women's Club, and the Leawood Garden Club. To welcome new citizens of this
ever-changing population, the Leawood Welcomers are on hand.
Resale still a bother
The population turnover still haunts this community. Kroh Brothers handle about 200 to 250 res-sales each year and supervise the building of approximately 100 new homes every year.
The people, whether they are long-time residents or just passing through on the way to a promotion, have characteristics in common. Most of the members of the country club are professionals or in managerial positions in business, occupations which indicate education. Ninety per cent of the members have children, the average number being two and a half. Leawood has attracted the kind of homeowners its creators dreamed of.
What is life like in this pastoral, upper-middle class ghetto? A Kroh Brothers pamphlet describes it this way. "Many a Leawood stalwart, weary from his day's toil, has commented, 'It's like being in a different world when I get home at night from the office.' Yes, a quick change to comfortable clothes, a tall iced drink of your favorite beverage and 'life really begins in Leawood.'"
"In some countries, the inhabitants seem unwilling to avail themselves of the political privileges which the law give them; it would seem that they set too high a value upon their time to spend it on the interests of the community . . . But if an American were condemned to confine his activities to his own affairs, he would be robbed of one half of his existence; he would feel an immense void in the life which he is accustomed to lead, and his wretchedness would be unbearable."
de Tocqueville A council meeting
de Tocqueville meeting
The tiny red brick building with white shutters and doors, a well kept lawn, and a tiny red brick fire station next door is the Leawood City Hall. I had been here to vote last November, to ask questions a few weeks before, but on that third Monday in April, I came to observe a Leawood City Council meeting. The room that had once contained voting machines and city employees was now
filled with a t-shaped table, waiting to be circled by the mayor and councilmen.
Officials began to arrive soon after I did, and I looked over the shoulder of a Leawood Sun-Scout reporter to catch their names. Dressed in a wide variety of suits and ties, the fortyish-looking men took their places around the table.
I noticed immediately that those who were not balding were letting their sideburns drop. Statistically these men are similar. All are professionals—two lawyers and one engineer—or in business positions ranging from president to division manager. They all belong to the Leawood Country Club, and they all have children, an average of 2.75 apiece.
All the guests were introduced; and I, being the only one of the handful of outsiders that Mayor Luxford did not recognize, had to introduce myself and explain why I was there.
Because this was the last meeting of the outgoing city council, many items of old business were acted upon. The house-cleaning ran smoothly. Compared to some of the meetings I sit through, much was accomplished. However, I really had no basis for comparison, because my previous contact with city government has been confined to newspaper articles.
A dog control ordinance was passed, a revised ordinance on the post of city administrator was passed, police clerk wages were discussed and made more uniform, a new policewoman was introduced, a gift of the Leawood Women's Club to the park was announced, a letter about sex education from Congressman Larry Winn was read, and permission was given for soliciting by a philanthropic organization.
Throughout the rash of legislations, three revelations about governing a city like Leawood struck me.
Complications of the city
While Wayne Bonebright talked about co-operating with Kansas City, Mo., and Prairie Village in order to get additional street lights along State Line, I realized the inefficiency that is inevitable in trying to govern a city of 10,000 in the middle of a
metropolis which is a maze of 13 city lines, four county lines, and two state lines.
The talk of working with Kansas City, Mo., in the zoning of 79th to 85th streets reinforced my belief. As Councilman James Cope pointed out, the builders who want to use this land have been waiting years for a decision.
Why then do these intelligent men spend their non-working hours at another sort of grind? I believe they are willing to spend hours each week in order to preserve Leawood as an incorporated entity. These nine men, and those who have served before them, are dedicated to the preservation of this way of life. While they have their hassles over roads, streets, park land, wages and finances, they have avoided the big city problems of poverty, unemployment and welfare.
Money for government is scarce, even in the upper-crust of suburbia. The chief of police talked about cutting corners, and the articles about the fight over payment for the widening of 95th Street is proof positive the public sector is not as affluent as the private.
Compensation unnecessary
Compensation unnecessary As Councilman David Whyte said when denouncing an ordinance to provide compensation for the mayor and councilmen, "We take this responsibility as a privilege for living in the kind of society we do. Money will not lead us to perform any better, nor will it attract any better individuals."
It is ironic, that in the middle of wealth, there are still problems of managing finances in government. The affluent, as well as the needy, require more services from their government than they are willing to be taxed for.
It was a friendly meeting. Whether it was the epitome of grass roots politics, I am unsure. I am sure, however, it comes closer to being participatory democracy than any big city government. Wathcing the government of the city at work offers unadulterated evidence there are problems in this leafy utopia. They deal more with property rights than human suffering, but they are evidence that all is not perfect in Leawood, Kansas.
We've got something on Carol
Alley Shop
at Campbell's 843 Mass.