As a tax paying Gardnerite I feel it my duty to ask what is the matter with Gardner. With such a great potential for growth, excellent schools, and wonderfully affordable homes it was a no-brainer for my wife and I to start our lives here. However, there is battle going on here in Gardner.

A battle against growth and progress for no other reason than stupidity and stubbornness. I grew up in a small town that fought the encroachment of Overland Park for years eventually only to be swallowed up and commercialized. I know about hometown pride and wanting to keep that distinct small town feel that makes a city unique. Gardner is not fighting for these things.

Gardner is at a place in time where it can make itself whatever it wants to be and it is my fear that many in Gardner want to become the black sheep of southern Johnson County, much like the uncle that tells dirty jokes to his third grade nephew.

 In my particular area of Gardner where new single family homes, beautiful parks, and brand new schools seem to be emerging on a daily basis we have decided it would be wise to allow a drive-through liquor store (across from the high school) and rezone an entire development into fourplexes.

Foresight, city planners, foresight...