Missouri's smallest villages: Located in unexpected places (Kansas City, Lee's Summit: neighborhoods, theatre)

[1greatcity]

The smallest village in Missouri is River Bend, population: 10. (Yep, the whole village is smaller than some families.) Funny thing, River Bend isn't found somewhere deep in the Ozark Mountains. It's located in Jackson County-- right next to Kansas City! Heck, you can probably see the KC skyline from River Bend. Some "small town feel" it must have, eh?

After River Bend, the next smallest village must be Champ, population: 12. If you think you'll find Champ at a crossroads of two blacktop farm roads, you'd be wrong. It's right in St Louis County, the most populated county in the state. In fact, the Village of Champ lies just east of Harrah's Casino and a large outdoor concert ampitheatre. I bet the glaring casino lights can be easily seen from Champ. Oh, let me add that the busiest interstate highway interchange in Missouri-- I-270/I-70-- sits right next to Champ too. A great spot for quiet village life.

Not sure what other super-tiny villages can be found in Missouri. But you have to wonder: Do good things really come in small sizes?

[aragx6]

How strange those little places still exist! I'm sure they've both been offered annexation at several points over the last century, and they must have turned them down. Surely their services are all provided by the county!

[1greatcity]

^Right, because there aren't nearly enough employable people LIVING in River Bend to provide all of the village's basic services! City-Data puts River Bend's 2009 population at 9 (with a work force of only 4). So not only is the village tiny, it's also shrinking.
By the way, River Bend is so-named because it's located at the former site of a very sharp bend in the Missouri River. The residents there must have nice fertile back yard gardens.

[kcmo]

River Bend is relatively new. If I remember right, the main reason it was established was to land a casino there. Can you imagine a town of 10 people with a 500 million dollar casino? River Bend is also the only part of Jackson County that is north of the MO river.

There are a few more established tiny villages in the KC area.

My favorites are villages inside of Gladstone (which is inside of KCMO). They are Oakview, Oakwood Park, Oakwood and Oaks. All are right on N Oak Trafficway!



Other more annoying villages in the KC area (more known for speed traps than anything) are Northmoor, Avanodale, Randolph and Glenaire which are all inside kcmo or Liberty in the northland. One of the most bizzare places is Birmingham, MO, a small town, now also inside of KCMO in what is now an industrial/rural flood plain area.

[1greatcity]

I actually knew about the four "Oak" villages in Gladstone, because I saw them on a KC map awhile back! Each village has only a couple hundred residents-- or less. Hard to believe that the residents of just a few streets would choose be totally separate places. I mean, if they were that unhappy with their surroundings (i.e. Gladstone), why live there to begin with?!
St Louis County has a similar situation, with the villages of Flordell Hills and Country Club Hills being within the city of Jennings.

kcmo, are those colored areas in Gladstone basically the names of the subdivisions in the city? Surely they're not considered neighborhoods.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

I actually knew about the four "Oak" villages in Gladstone, because I saw them on a KC map awhile back! Each village has only a couple hundred residents-- or less. Hard to believe that the residents of just a few streets would choose be totally separate places. I mean, if they were that unhappy with their surroundings (i.e. Gladstone), why live there to begin with?!
St Louis County has a similar situation, with the villages of Flordell Hills and Country Club Hills being within the city of Jennings.

kcmo, are those colored areas in Gladstone basically the names of the subdivisions in the city? Surely they're not considered neighborhoods.

Well, St Louis County is insane. If there was ever a candidate for consolidation, it's St County and that includes St Louis City.

As far as Gladstone, I don't know, I would think they are too large to be subdivisions. I'm sure each of those areas contains many separate subdivisions. But I'm sure they are not established and known unique "neighborhoods" either. This is probably something the city planners came up with for general planning purposes.

[1greatcity]

You're right about St Louis County. It's out of control! There are 21 incorporated places in the county with less than 1000 residents each. Other than Champ, there's another village with less than 100 people: Country Life Acres, pop. 79. I think it basically consists of a single street that makes a long loop.
Jackson County isn't quite as ridiculous as STL Co. Still, other small places can be found in Jackson Co besides River Bend and the four Oaks villages. Unity Village is one of them. It's nestled right between KC and Lee's Summit and contains a mere 140 people.

[aragx6]

How about the 328 people who live in Huntleigh who have a median income of $228,074?

[Thrillcekr]

All places that were once somewhat removed from the city but decades of growth have put them right on the door step of KC and STL. They're places you wanna be careful driving through. A lot of times they have a town cop whose sole purpose is to nail people for traffic violations to raise money for the "city". Platte Woods, Randolph, Northmoor, and Pleasant Valley.

[1greatcity]

^...a.k.a. "speed traps". We've got a number of them in the St Louis area. Most of them are small villages with little or no other source of income.
But the smallest of the small (like Champ) are patrolled by either the county police or by a larger neighboring city.