Growing Gardner: The Kansas suburb developing opportunities with intention

GARDNER, Kan. (KCTV) — A little over 30 minutes south of Kansas City sits Gardner, Kansas- one of the fastest-growing cities in the metro.

About 25,378 people call Gardner home, and in 2024, it was named the fastest-growing city in the metro for cities with populations of at least 20,000. The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau show from April 1, 2020, to July 1, 2023, Gardner’s population grew by 8.8%.

It’s also considered the 6th safest city in Kansas for 2024 by Safewise.

But while the population continues to rise, the city’s leaders are clear — they’re not growing for the sake of growth, they’re developing opportunities with intention.

Explore the interactive map below:

Gardner’s History: Founding to the early 2000s

Gardner was founded in 1857, a lot smaller than it is today.

“People would split out here. Oregon, California, and Santa Fe would all go different directions,” said The Gardner Historical Museum Treasuer, Nancee Rankin. A dedication to the three trails can be found at Gardner Junction, a park with a history of the site and trails.

The Gardner Historical Museum was established in 2002. Gardner native Shirley Brown-VanArsdale got the idea in 2001 as a way to keep the town’s history alive. Rankin was one of the people who helped.

As Gardner saw an influx of people, it was natural that some started to settle down.

“People were moving through constantly and they saw a need for businesses to be here,” Rankin said.

The first homestead was built by Jacob and Clara Victor, located where the New Century Airport is today. Rankin said the population sat around 300-600 for a while, dropped in the 1880s, stayed the same for a while, then rose in the 1950s.

“The population really went up from the 1990s up until 2010,” said Rankin. “After the trails kind of died away, we had the rail system that kind of came through. Not that it was a big hub for us, but we also had the Sunflower Ammunition Plant which is out here by De Soto. That was a big [addition] here to the economy.”

There were three main reasons people chose to stay in Gardner back then: The railroad, the Sunflower Ammunition Plant and the military. Another claim to fame that came along later was Cramer Chemical, a sports medicine company started in Gardner. It’s since moved out, but still provides products for athletes across the world.

Gardner’s History: 2010 to today

While Gardner’s population has seen ups and downs, city leaders knew more people would be moving in as developments took shape from the 2010s to 2020s.

Now in 2025, Gardner has seen that come to fruition with multiple employment opportunities popping up in and around the city limits.

“We are surrounded by three large employment centers, the BNSF intermodal, the KC Logistics Park, the New Century Commerce, and then Panasonic, so we have employment all around us,” said Pruetting. He added, “We’ve really been deliberate in preparing for that growth.”

For years, the town had a number-one priority: get on the east side of I-35. Gardner did that in 2019 with a 206-acre mixed-use development.

“That kind of allowed us to plant our flag on that side of the highway and it has been a catalyst for us to be able to annex an additional 1,500 acres over there,” said Pruetting. “It gives us the ability to grow as we choose.”

For six years, Pruetting has served as City Administrator, but he’s been in Gardner for 10 years. He was once the police chief. Now as City Administrator, he has worked with the council and other city leaders to bring updates and development to the area to get ahead of the growth:

• Investments in Gardner’s utility infrastructure
• Doubled the size of the water plant in 2021
• The wastewater plant is under construction to double the capacity
• Added new city employees

“We’ve done a lot of those things proactively so that we don’t fall behind we are not playing catch up,” said Puretting. “When we look at developments, we are very deliberate in making sure that they match the character of this city and the surrounding neighborhoods. We are not growing for just the sake of growing.”

With the new employment, Gardner needed more housing. In the last year or so, they’ve added 600 homes and more than 1,400 are in the works.

“We have a number of developments that haven’t been announced yet that are on the drawing board,” said Pruetting, showing Gardner’s progress is far from slowing down.

An influx of new families

“It ended up working out but Gardner was not our intention,” said Celsie Sneden-Ahrens. She and her husband Aaron recently moved to Gardner with their three cats, (Nugget, Tato, and Wylie) as they got ready to welcome their baby girl, Lottie.

“We spent probably, in the housing world, a really long time looking for a house. In real people terms, it is like three months,” said Celsie.

The Ahrens started looking for a home in January 2024. Celsie grew up in Topeka and Aaron was in the De Soto/Olathe area, so both said they were set on Eudora or De Soto. They quickly realized, however, that not a lot was available in their price range.

“You’re panicked because you’re like, you only get more pregnant and the more pregnant I was, the less help I was going to be able to be. So we were really trying to find something,” said Celsie.

“We were begging our realtor to show us something. She was like ‘There is nothing out there, I would show you what is available.’ And we would go look at stuff that we were not even that interested in ‘cause we were like ‘We might have to settle,’” said Aaron.

Then, a home in Gardner hit the market.

“This was move-in ready and this was one of the only more so reasonable houses for what we were spending,” said Aaron.

The couple said they had never considered it before. When they were kids, they were under the impression it was more expensive than neighboring towns, but the home they viewed that day was just right. They moved in April 2024.

Now in their new home and community, they are loving it— the pool, local restaurants like Blazer’s, Austins Bar and Grill, and Celebrity’s and more.

“You drive down Main Street it is a very small Main Street. It is like, idealistic honestly, and it feels safe. It feels comfortable,” said Celsie.

Local businesses embrace the local history

There are plenty of local spots in Gardner, drive down historic Main Street and you’ll quickly find them.

One of the newer spots is Ash & Anvil Cigar Lounge. Derrick Stockton, a Gardner native, owns it along with The Bellows and The Forge.

Stockton was an Earth and space science teacher and had always dreamed of seeing a rocket launch. In 2019, his wife and dad surprised him with tickets to see a launch in Orlando. They flew down but it got canceled due to high winds, so they ended up finding a cigar shop in Orlando and spent some time there.

“I had a couple of cocktails and cigars and said ‘This would be fun, we should do this.’ I remember my dad at one time like, ‘Yeah one day we will do that,’ but I was serious,” said Stockton, and he quit his teaching job.

From there, he traveled around the Midwest to do his research on other cigar bars. This helped him open up his own: Ash & Anvil, just off Gardner’s Main Street. It’s a family affair, too. Stockton’s wife, sister, brother, dad, and grandparents helped to make these three businesses come to life.

“When we found this building it just made sense. It was right downtown, it was in Gardner where I wanted to be. The building is beautiful, but it needed a lot of work,” said Stockton.

The cigar lounge opened in September 2022 and holds a lot of history. It was built in 1905 and once held the town’s blacksmith shop. When sitting inside, you can see the picture of the blacksmith, John Hayden.

“It was a vital stop on the trail west for the pioneers,” said Stockton.

Stockton said the cigar lounge is set up to promote conversation and everyone is part of the family when they walk through the door. Just like the old BJ’s Oasis that closed in downtown Gardner, he wanted to create experiences everyone could enjoy.

“I think we’ve done a good job of doing that and our customers help up promote that and encourage new people to come in,” said Stockton. While inside the humidor he said, “I have smoked every cigar in here, I have smoked a lot of things that didn’t make the cut I was really particular about what I brought in.”

800 different cigars are on the shelves, some local and others from mom-and-pop shops across the country.

“I wanted to be that Gardner watering hole,” said Stockton.

After Ash and Anvil, they created The Bellows, an outdoor bar for live music, fire pits, a patio, and a drink. The turf is from the old football field at Olathe East and the other half came from a soccer complex in Kansas City, Kansas. You can also back in time at their speakeasy, The Forge.

“The idea of The Forge came along and the speakeasy you know going back to the prohibition era with prohibition-era drinks and putting our own modern twist,” said Stockton.

Hover to reveal the speakeasy passcode:

A new resource for families

A couple of minutes down the road from Stockton’s businesses sits MY Play Café - Gardner, one of three locations in the metro. All three were started by moms who saw a need for a space with events, playtime, and room for parents to connect or work.

“It is a huge need for kids six and under to have a safe, healthy play space where they can just come with their parents,” said MY Play Café - Gardner Owner, Brittany Matz.

Matz’s oldest daughter is now 17 and in high school, but when she was a toddler, Matz would take her to one of the few places in town to meet with other moms, Groundhouse Coffee.

“All of us moms would meet there, have coffee, and let the kids read books and play puzzles. So it’s kind of the same concept but bigger scale,” said Matz.

“They all live here in the community and so like being a mom with young kids it is hard to find other moms that are in your same season of life so to have those connections and you all live in the same community is just priceless.”

A ‘small town’

With all this growth, there is still one major appeal in Gardner: It’s small.

“I think we are able to keep that small-town feel,” said Pruetting.

Pruetting feels confident that despite developments — past, present, and future — Gardner hasn’t taken any hits to its character. He added that they hear those who might not be ready for Gardner to grow, but wanted to reassure anyone with doubts.

“I think there is a kind of a balance there that we are able to reach. We’ve purposely not taken advantage of multiple industrial development opportunities because we kind of decided we are going to be a residential community,” said Pruetting in part.

Residents, new and old alike, hope Gardner continues to keep that small-town feel.

“You have to be active in keeping that and through the way the city is being run, the city council, I think that they have helped to maintain that and promote the small business,” said Stockton. “The Gardner Chamber has been great at promoting small business and local business and really helping to maintain that small town feel.”

“I will say, I’m kind of the opinion that if you don’t grow, you die. So that is something that I want, to continue to grow,” said Rankin.

“I think especially for leadership in Gardner, [the goal] is figuring out what makes Gardner unique, and also what makes people like it. And how do we ensure that we maintain that so that way as we grow, we kind of don’t lose our way and don’t lose ourselves? So that way we continue to maintain a community that people came here to be a part of,” said Aaron Ahren.

The future Gardner wants

As far as the town has come, residents say they are still excited for more.

“We would love to have a community center, that would be one of the great things,” said Rankin.

“Our big want would be like entertainment like a bowling alley, or go-karts, or mini golf— things to do,” said Celsie.

“The high school has a bowling team, I’m sure there are a lot of people that would like to go bowling. It’s a really nice family activity, casual and laid back, there are enough people here that I think it would do well. Just more things like that,” said Aaron.

Fortunately for them, those things are coming.

The future Gardner can count on

“Restaurants and entertainment options, those things are on the horizon,” said Pruetting.

This year, a new dual-concept hotel will start construction on the east side of I-35. Pruetting expects a lot of similar big announcements will be made this year for Gardner.

“The quality of life for people that want it to stay a small town will stay the same as far as neighborhood living, but they will have additional retail, entertainment, and restaurant options out to the east,” he said.

Infrastructure will be changing too, partially thanks to State and Federal dollars.

This summer, the South Gardner Road bridge over I-35 will be rebuilt next to the existing one. It is an 18-month project that has been delayed about three years by KDOT.

Then, in 2026, the South Moonlight Road Bridge replacement is expected to start.

Finally, Pruetting said the West 175th Street Bridge and the entire interchange are going through a preliminary design phase to see what might work best.

He said that project will have the biggest impact on Gardner. The preliminary design is expected to be done by June.

Pruetting said safety is a priority too, it’s something residents want to stay the same.

“I feel very safe, you know? I never have to worry about my kids walking to school, or walking down the street, or going to the pool in the summers, or walking to the park. I never have to worry about it because it’s safe,” said Stockton.

The Gardner Police Department is working to hire more officers to continue that effort.

How you can help grow Gardner

As Gardner moves to the future and the past gets further away, those over at The Gardner Historical Museum said they are always needing volunteers.

“The problem is we need younger people to do projects and keep us going into the future,” said Rankin.

Pruetting said there are plans to revitalize downtown to make sure that area and Gardner’s character is preserved.

“Keeping our small town small but big. Like we are growing, we are getting big, we have more families, but just keeping that community aspect keeps us humble,” said Matz.

Nearby towns are expected to continue growing, too. Pruetting said his advice to other cities is to start planning now: Start planning what your community will need to thrive before you’re left playing catch up, and you might just find the same success as Gardner.

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