Shawnee is a city located in northwest
Johnson CountyJohnson County is a county located in northeast Kansas, in the central United States. The county is largely suburban, being part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, and containing many of its affluent southwestern suburbs. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 544,179. Its county...
,
KansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
,
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and is a western suburb of
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 62,209. Shawnee's fur trading and pioneering heritage blends histories of these
Kansas TerritoryThe Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
townships:
MonticelloMonticello Township is a former township in northwest Johnson County, Kansas. It is now merged with Lenexa and Shawnee, Kansas.-History:Monticello Township was developed into a town on June-19th-1857. In 1858 Monticello elected 18 year old James Butler Hickok as town constable...
and Shawnee. Shawnee has been recognized by
Money MagazineMoney Magazine is a business news and financial programme that is broadcast on Sundays at 7:00pm in Hong Kong by television channel TVB Pearl.-Producers and reporters:...
in its annual "Best Places To Live" survey- placing 17th in the United States ranking, Shawnee was recognized for its affordable housing, air quality index, and median commute time. BusinessWeek selected Shawnee as one of the Best Affordable Suburbs in 2006 and 2009.
Geography
Shawnee is located at 39°0′46"N 94°45′57"W (39.012767, -94.765818). According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 42.5 square miles (110.1 km²), of which, 41.7 square miles (108 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²) of it (1.88%) is water.
Government
Shawnee has a
council–manager governmentThe council–manager government form is one of two predominant forms of municipal government in the United States; the other common form of local government is the mayor-council government form, which characteristically occurs in large cities...
. Mayor and councilmembers are elected to four year terms. Each ward has two representatives whose terms are staggered by two years. However, the elections of April 2010 and 2012 will serve for three years. The day-to-day operations are managed by the city manager.
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Office
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Office Holder
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Next Election
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Mayor
|
Jeff
Meyers
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April
2012
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Ward I
|
Dan
class=SpellE>Pflumm
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April
2013
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Ward I
|
Jim Neighbor
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April
2012
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Ward II
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Neal Sawyer
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April
2012
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Ward II
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David Morris
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April
2013
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Ward
III
|
Dawn Kuhn
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April
2012
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Ward
III
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Jeff Vaught
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April
2013
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Ward IV
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Michael Sandifer
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April
2012
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Ward IV
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Michelle Distler
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April
2013
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City
Manager
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Carol Gonzales
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Not an
elected official
|
Demographics
As of the
censusA census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2010, there were 62,209 people, 23,651 households, and 16,876 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,463.7 people per square mile (564.4/km²). There were 24,954 housing units at an average density of 587.1 per square mile (226.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 86.3% White, 5.3% African American, 0.4% Native American, 3.0% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.3% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.5% of the population.
There were 23,651 households out of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.11 persons.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.4 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.
According to the 2007-2009 American Community Survey (2) the median income for a household in the city was $71,705, and the median income for a family was $86,408. Males had a median income of $55,222 versus $41,960 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $33,502. About 3.6% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
Libraries and museums
A branch of the Johnson County Library serves the Shawnee mission area. The Library includes 13 locations throughout Johnson County, including the Shawnee Library.
Old Shawnee Town Museum, Wonderscope Children's Museum, and the Johnson County Museum are also located within the city.
Sister cities
- Erfurt, Germany
- Listowel, County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
- Pittem
Pittem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Egem and Pittem proper. On January 1, 2006 Pittem had a total population of 6,599. The total area is 34.42 km² which gives a population density of 192 inhabitants per km².-External...
, BelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Further reading
- History of the State of Kansas; William G. Cutler; A.T. Andreas Publisher; 1883. (Online HTML eBook)
- Kansas : A Cyclopedia of State History, Embracing Events, Institutions, Industries, Counties, Cities, Towns, Prominent Persons, Etc; 3 Volumes; Frank W. Blackmar; Standard Publishing Co; 944 / 955 / 824 pages; 1912. (Volume1 - Download 54MB PDF eBook),(Volume2 - Download 53MB PDF eBook), (Volume3 - Download 33MB PDF eBook)
External links