In the heart of Prairie Village, standing in a small flower-filled park at Mission and Tomahawk roads, is "The homesteaders" statue. The pioneers depicted were here in the 19th century, but the community that became a town in 1951 was developed by the J.C. Nichols Co. to provide housing for returning World War II GIs. By 1949, 1,000 homes had been built and the National Association of Home Builders recognized the subdivision as the "best planned community in America."
Today, Prairie Village is the county's sixth largest city and the largest of the cluster of first-ring suburbs in the northeast corner of the county. It is an example - often cited by other communities - of a developer's artful blending of residential, recreational and retail development to create a community. (In 2005, the Kansas City Star ranked it No. 4 among all metro suburbs, citing especially its number of long-term residents and neighborhood stability.)
Jesse Clyde Nichols, who also developed the Country Club Plaza and surrounding neighborhoods in Kansas City, Missouri, planned where the parks, schools, shops and churches would be located in this family-oriented community. The subdivision became a town and the town expanded, growing southward in the 1950s and 1960s.
Thanks to good planning and a tradition of neighborhood pride (the city has 37 homes associations), the streets of Prairie Village in 2007 are deeply shaded and lined by well-kept Cape Cods and ranches, and the town continues to attract young families and older homeowners. Some of those original GI houses have been vastly remodeled and expanded, and today house prices run the gamut from the $100,000s to more than $1 million.
In 2005, Prairie Village began work on Village Vision, a partnership between the city government and its citizens to develop a plan for the city's future. Numerous workshops were held and this year the recommendations, designed to maintain the town's quality of life, are to be acted upon by the City Council.
Prairie Village occupies 6.7 square miles and is home to 12 city parks with 55 acres, a renovated swimming pool complex (which includes six pools), a 10-court tennis complex, the new Harmon Park Skate Park, the R.G. Endres art gallery in city hall and four shopping centers, including the Prairie Village Shops, a collection of retail establishments at 69th Street and Mission that was the first planned shopping center in the county.
