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Gardner is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States. According to the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,396. Although, it was estimated Gardner had a population around 17,500 in 2008. Gardner is also the location of the annual Johnson County Fair.

History
Prior to the city of Gardner being founded, it was where the California Trail and Santa Fe Trail divided. From 1840 to around the end of the 1870s, many travelers journeyed to this point.

The city of Gardner was first settled in March 3rd, 1857 by Jacob Nash Victor. The town is named after Henry Gardner, who was the twenty third governor of Massachusetts. The original town was staked off and made up of 320 acres. Gardner was one of the only cities in Johnson County with a public opinion against slavery. All of Gardener's original settlers were free state men and women. Some of the first free state conventions in the county were held in Gardner. Because of Gardner's free state foundation of belief, it was the first town in Kansas to be raided by the Missouri Bushwackers, or border ruffians.

Government
The mayor of Gardner is Dave Drovetta, who was elected on April 7th, 2009. The city council is comprised of five elected members: Steve Hale, Mary Peters, Dan Thompson, John Shepherd, and Todd Winters.

According to the City of Gardner's website, the city council is responsible for:

-Enacting ordinances for the proper governing of the City

-Approving changes in the Municipal Code as required

-Adopting the annual budget and related financial documents; awarding municipal contracts

-Establishing all other policies necessary to promote the health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents

-Appointing the City Administrator and representing the City to the public and other governmental bodies

The city council is also responsible for hiring a City Administrator, currently Stewart Fairburn, who is responsible for the enforcement of policies made by the council.

Intermodal Logistics Park
The Intermodal Logistics Park is a highly political and debated issue in the city of Gardner. BNSF Railway came to Gardner, Kansas in 2005 with the Intermodal project, which is a centralized Midwest location where BNSF brings their trains with containers from the west coast California ports. These containers are filled with consumer goods primarily from China. When the trains arrive in Gardner, the containers are to be transferred to trucks that take the goods to warehouses, where the shipments are unloaded, sorted, picked up, and then loaded onto other trucks. These trucks deliver the goods to retailers within a 500 mile radius. The trucks would be returning to the Intermodal with empty containers to be shipped back to China. BNSF picked The Allen Group, now out of Dallas, Texas, as the developer of the warehouses that will be built adjacent to the railroad Intermodal.

This new type of logistics is favored by some because the trucks would not have to travel across country to deliver the goods. However, many argue that Gardner will suffer consequences from having these trucks coming and going to their location with many adverse and costly affects. BNSF is approximating 13,000 jobs will be created with the intermodal project. Environmentalists fear pollution from the diesel emissions from these trucks in the Gardner community will have adverse health affects to the people in the area, as well as dollars for medical costs and lost days of work. They also argue the jobs to be provided will be low rate with no fringe benefits, the money for the infrastructure cost will continue to accrue, and taxpayers will be the ones picking up the tab for these large and continual costs. On the other hand, some say an increase of taxes would be generated and accompanying business and development to come with this project.

However after much debate, the issue has been moved to a new annexed location of Edgerton, KS.

Geography
Gardner is located at 38.8125°N, -94.91861°W (38.812367, -94.918621). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.9 square miles (12.8 km²), all of it land. Gardner is a suburb of Kansas City located in northeast Kansas and in southwest Johnson County.

Adjacent Cities

 * De Soto (North)


 * Eudora (Northwest)


 * Olathe (Northeast)


 * Edgerton (Southwest)


 * Spring Hill (Southeast)

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 9,396 people, 3,307 households, and 2,460 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,898.5 people per square mile (732.9/km²). There were 3,533 housing units at an average density of 713.8/sq mi (275.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.13% White, 1.21% African American, 0.49% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.26% from other races, and 1.85% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.99% of the population. 26.8% were of German, 18.2% American, 11.5% Irish and 5.6% English ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 3,307 households out of which 47.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 19.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city the population was spread out with 33.1% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 38.4% from 25 to 44, 13.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,807, and the median income for a family was $54,554. Males had a median income of $37,438 versus $27,553 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,434. About 5.3% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.1% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Gardner is apart of the USD 231 school district. Located in Gardner are five out of the six elementary schools (Edgerton Elementary is the only school in the district not located in Gardner) .The district also had two middle schools and one high school all located in Gardner.

Libraries
The Johnson County Library maintains a branch in Gardner.