COMMUNITY PROFILE: EMPORIA
Emporia sits at the crossroads of the Kansas Turnpike, Interstate 35 to Kansas City and U.S. Highway 50. A crossroads can be a place of meeting, drawing people together, or it can be a place of departure, bypassed as people hurry on their way. Leadership can define which type of crossroads a town will be. People here strive to make Emporia a gathering place for the entire region. Take a look at the vibrant movement already within Emporia's orbit. This city of 24,900 in the rolling Flint Hills of eastern Kansas boasts many assets, including a large regional hospital, a lively downtown, Emporia State University and Flint Hills Technical College. Well-maintained parks, tree-lined neighborhoods, a small zoo, a farmers market, community concerts and movies, and an aquatic center are additional amenities. Emporia also faces challenges. The recession has hit the city harder than others in Kansas, and more residents live in poverty there than is typical for the state. In the middle of it all are the people who live and work in Emporia who are exercising leadership to build on the community’s strengths and tackle the areas they want to improve. Like the traffic that speeds through and into the city, leadership is coming and going from different places and heading in many different directions.
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