At the empty lot behind the old funiture store that Walt Bodine used to work at, some people have…read morestarted some sort of garden. At first, there were these used tires with dirt in them, conspicuously set up and sometimes with green things in them. Then, in the middle of the lot, there begat long piles of dirt, and green sprouts are verifiably growing. I positively identified beans, mostly because there is a big wire mesh jutting out from the sprouts, like some sort of obelisk from a freaky garden movie. Why did I review this? Because I could. Actually, it seems to me that the corridor along Troost could use a community garden, because fresh vegetables are hard to come by around that area. The nearest is around 52nd and Paseo, about 2-3 miles away. But there is something about having a garden in your neighborhood, instead of something in another part of town. I'm giving it 4 stars because it's not an 'official' community garden, and if it had some city approval, it would be just great. But I guess you gotta start somewhere, right? So right now it's only about a month old, and they show up around 2:00pm to 4:00pm on Sundays, but if they can get it going, they'll make it more regular. The 'they' is a group of local people, some static, some dynamic (in membership), and the biggest garden so far is attributed to one of the 816 bicycle collective folks, so they have their hand in a bunch of things around Troost. Well, if you live nearby, and would like to use some garden space (free dirt, mulch, friendly helpers), then get over there, or check out their myspace page. The 'they' are called "Twig KC". Now my question is: how long will this last? There is a suspicion in this part of town of folks coming in and doing a bunch of stuff, and then leaving. It's happened before, it'll happen again, and the only question is, is this garden in for the long run? The question depends on the members, and especially the longevity of the leadership: will they stick around and find successors if they move away, or will it wither and die like an unattended plant? There can't be any real change without the will of the community, and even then, it takes years and years at the quickest of paces. I'll try to plant some basil and maybe a tomatoe or two, but where will this place be in two or three years? Most of the folks in the garden right now were pretty young, under 30 or so. And as most people older then 30 or so know, young people are young for a reason, and that includes doing non-settling-down-stuff. I think it's great to be the early-adopter in the new gentrifying part of town, but it's harder to see the big picture and have a long-term goal of decades. Even with all this morose talk, you've got to start somewhere, and come rain or shine on the future of this garden, it's traded the bleak grassy lot full of rocks with hard work, hope, and a dream. UPDATE: This place has reached 5 star status, because I found the people behind it. Actually, it is a community garden, and there are some folks who have gotten permission to use the land, hooked up with KC community gardens to till some of the land, and have even raised some dinero to get some good compost dirt. They've also talking with some local people about getting some water hooked up nearby, and in the meantime, there is a lot of building up of dirt and mulch to make garden beds. Even the used tires I saw were put there on purpose (one has a pussy willow tree shoot growing; you go willow tree). UPDATE: As of June 1st, they had two huge mounds of soil/humus, ready to go for your seeds/seedlings. Also, they have a hook-up to some water faucet, with like a 100' long hose, so now, with this hose and some mentos, you can now be the freshmay-ka and the rainmay-ka. UPDATE: It's coming up on the fall, and the garden is showing its true colors. There are still fledgling gardens, a compost area, and some trash laying about. So there isn't as much energy as in the beginning of the year, but that's what happens sometimes, and we all get carried away with things, don't we?

This is an awesome park located just a few minutes from 169 & Barry Road! My husband and I were…read morelooking for a new place to walk and stumbled upon this hidden gem. The park includes the following amenities (per their website): - 18 Acres - 0.80 Miles Asphalt Trail - 2 Shelters (main shelter has electricity & water) - 20 Picnic Tables - 3 Playgrounds - 2 Sand Volleyball Courts - 1 Ball Field (w/ electrical outlet for pitching machines) - ADA Accessible - 40 Parking Spaces @ Main Park - 9 Parking Spaces @ Annex Park In addition to those things, when we visited there was a fruit orchard and a community vegetable garden where they encourage you to harvest or work, if you can! They also have trash & recycling bins, as well as porta-potties (we did not see any standard restroom facilities). There are also lots of beautiful trees that provide shade, definitely worth checking out!

I registred my sons for the Mud Warriors camp the last week of the summer. It was an amazing…read moreexperience for us all. They literally came alive during the week of camp. I loved watching this as a mom. We spend quite a bit of time outdoors but the difference during their week in camp was their souls were literally nourished by their "teachers" (as Jacob and Liam like to call them ;-)). I am so grateful to have discovered this amazing magical place. We all can't wait for our next experience here.

Great park! A very nice large play set that works for all ages. Also wheel chair friendly and lots…read moreof cool musical toys throughout the play set and surrounding area. Swings and zip line type of area and big metal spinning wheel that my grandson enjoyed. They have a skateboard park, bathrooms and lots of parking, picnic tables. Would definitely bring all my grandkids back!

it's amazing for little kids and toddlers. Love the open space for picnics and skate park.read more

It's a park. If you are seeking five-star amenities, meh, then maybe you're overthinking it because…read moreit's a PARK. Within this park are modernized play equipment (read: rubber mulch, safer climbing areas, etc.), two sand volleyball pits, a walking trail that is about 1/3 mile per circuit, and a community garden. There are restroom facilities, there is gracious green space, and there is plenty of parking, so what's not to get all the stars? The hidden hook is the community garden. There is an amazing space divided into multiple plots with irrigation, protection from critters, and plenty of growing areas. Those who have gone through the process to obtain a plot are growing squash, tomatoes, herbs, cabbages, and more. Gardening is an attestation to the power of green space and our love for attending to all things earth. To do so as part of community-provided garden beds is even better as often times the output of community gardens are invested back into the neighborhoods at large. Electric Park is wonderful in any season and open year round. Make three laps around the paved circuit to book a mile or allow the littles to play on the updated equipment. Enjoy the space, the openness, and the amenities provided in southwest Lenexa.

This place freaked me out. It says, Electric Park, so you're like, "Mmh, that's a coold name." Then…read moreyou get there and it's like, BAM, Power station! There's literally a power station next to it. I know it's perfectly safe, but I swear I could hear the electricity just behind me. I had a sort of, Peter Parker, I'm going to turn into spiderman sort of vibe while I visited, so before anything nefarious could take hold, we high-tailed it out of there! There's more suitable places for toddlers to play than next to 1,000,000 volts of electricity. But maybe you like technology.

Love it, love it, love it!…read more I've been watching this park's progression over the past year or so, but never walked through.I had some time to kill before an appointment at a neighboring building and finally took the opportunity to check it out. I'm glad that I did. This isn't really a park in the "let's go have a picnic and play some frisbee" sense, but rather a showcase for urban gardening and sustainable energy. As community gardening is an interest of mine, it was fun to walk through and see how they chose to organize everything. There are tons of vegetables being grown, and it looks like fruit trees are on the horizon. All of the produce goes to Harvesters, which is great! The entire park is self sustainable as well, and in fact produces more energy than it uses, pumping the rest back into the grid! In an ideal world that city block would have been used for some residential/business development, but alas that ship has sailed. But of all the lots in the city that have been razed only to have no new construction, this is by far the best use of the land. It's more of an experiment than a park, but most definitely one worth taking a walk through.

18Broadway Community Garden…read more Every inch of the green living showcase at 18th & Broadway is cutting edge and downright cool. Funded by DST systems, 18Broadway is an exciting experiment in urban development and a dramatic addition to the Crossroads neighborhood. A community garden with biofiltration systems to collect, purify, and reuse storm water runoff would be impressive enough; 18Broadway also generates its own power through the use of solar panels and a striking, sculptural wind turbine. A slew of edible plants (broccoli, lettuce, strawberries, etc.) grow in fastidiously tended raised beds, and the produce will all be donated to Harvesters! Walking through the garden, I couldn't help thinking that it must take an army of volunteers to keep the place looking so amazing. The pristine plantings are in sharp contrast to my own backyard garden, which is a savage, inhospitable landscape where weeds reign supreme. 18Broadway is the perfect place to get inspiration and design ideas for your own urban oasis. It's also a fabulous escape from the pavement (where else can you find a field of wildflowers growing next to farm fresh produce in downtown KC?).

This is an outstanding park with so many amenities! It has a beautiful pond, hockey area, tennis…read morearea, skateboarding area, large playground area, disc golf course, a variety of walking trails that are paved. A multitude of picnic areas and benches scattered throughout. They also have it lit up at Christmas, which is beautiful.

This park is so beautiful and there's plenty to do here. There's a skate park, two tennis courts,…read morehockey area to skate, two kids playground, big walking trails that goes all around, plus there's an aquatic center with lots of water slides! Also when fall hits they hang christmas lights all around the park for people to visit and stroll aroundlat night. It's a must visit during Christmas time!