Can Overland Park transcend ‘Johnson County beige’ image? Long-range plan holds hope

Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of Johnson County’s Resurrection mega-church, would like nothing better than for his two grown daughters to live in Overland Park.

But he says 29-year-old Rebecca is intent on starting a small business in a hip Kansas City neighborhood, and Danielle, a 33-year-old public defender in Olathe, prefers her home in Lawrence to Overland Park.

“They both think diversity is really important,” Hamilton told the Overland Park City Council on Feb. 4. “They start talking about ‘Johnson County beige’ and that’s not just the color of our houses but it’s often the color of our skin and the way we do things. It’s all sort of the same, and they say, ‘Dad, we don’t want to live where it’s all the same.’^” Hamilton was part of the Forward OP steering committee than engaged more than 1,000 residents over the past 18 months to create the plan.

“We need to be forward-thinking, innovative and welcoming if we are going to be a great city in 2030, 2040 or 2050,” Greg Musil, steering committee co-chair and a former city councilman, said at the formal presentation Feb. 4.