Welcome to Our Website and Our Community!

Valley Center is a family friendly city!  If you are currently a resident of Valley Center, you already knew this. If you are new to the area, spend a few minutes and give me the opportunity to welcome you and tell you a little about Valley Center.

Incorporated September 29, 1885, Valley Center is a community with deep roots in the area while at the same time we are growing in many ways. The official 2010 Census population was 6,822. In 2006 City Hall underwent a much needed addition / remodel to better serve the residents. Our school district USD 262 currently has three elementary schools, grades K-3; one elementary school with grades 4-5; one middle School with grades 6-8; and one high school, grades 9-12. A recent school bond greatly updated and enhanced our school facilities. Our new state-of-the-art high school first opened for the Fall 2011 school term.

The Edna Buschow Memorial Library, located at 321 W. First Street, offers many services including Internet access and interlibrary loan services. Our library staff is eager to serve you with all your library needs. The Library Board and Staff are busy raising funds to build a new library which will be able to offer residents so much more than their current facility can accommodate.

We have several housing developments where it is certain you will find, or can build, the home of your dreams. Our friends and neighbors will welcome you with open arms into the community. We like to think of Valley Center as a "family friendly" place to live and raise children. Valley Center offers the perfect balance of small town atmosphere along with big-city amenities. With the largest city in Kansas, Wichita, as our neighbor to the south, there is never a problem finding shopping, entertainment, recreation or just about anything else you and your family would like to do.  Valley Center with the  wonderful small-town atmosphere make it the ideal location for you to settle. While we are in close proximity to Wichita, we are far enough away to enable us to keep that wonderful small-town feel, where people are friendly and care about their neighbor. Without question, our best asset is the people who call Valley Center home!

Our community comes alive in late September as our very active local Chamber of Commerce hosts our annual Fall Festival. A parade officially kicks off the weekend of events. The Festival is one event you will not want to miss. This is an excellent opportunity to enjoy friendship and fun with your neighbors. Our Chamber of Commerce is always busy with events that make Valley Center such a great community! Check out their web site and select several of the events that interest you. You can be confident the experience will be one to remember.

The many churches serving the Valley Center area, extend their warm invitations to you and your family. You will enjoy visiting the church of your choice and worshiping with neighbors.

Valley Center is proud of our veterans. In 2008, Veterans Day became special as we hosted an observance which has grown each year. In 2012 The Moving Wall will visit Valley Center from October 18th - 22nd. This is a half scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. If possible, mark this day on your calendar and plan to visit for a very memorable experience. You can keep up with the planning of this event on our web page dedicated to this event. Take a few minutes and visit our web page dedicated to those from Valley Center who have served our Country in uniform, during peace time and war.

Our Mayor-Council body of elected representatives serve part-time as the Governing Body, with a full time City Administrator. As Mayor, I chair the Council meetings held at City Hall (121 S. Meridian) on the first and third Tuesday each month. Everyone is always welcome at the Council meetings, which begin at 7:00 pm. For representation purposes, Valley Center is divided into four Wards. Each of these Wards elects two representatives to the Council. The Mayor also serves a four year term and is elected at-large by all voters in the City.

Our community is very fortunate to have citizens willing to serve through their involvement in church, community organizations, as well as various committees and commissions. As Mayor, I am honored to be able to extend a warm Valley Center welcome to you. If you decide to make Valley Center your home, I invite you to become involved in your new community. Our City staff members are eager to serve you. I maintain a blog on our web site where I try to address issues of interest. I am always looking for new and innovative ways to inform the public and make sure residents are aware of the important issues affecting our City. You are invited to read the blog and let me know what I can do to improve this outlet for information.

Again, welcome to our website and we sincerely hope you seriously consider making Valley Center your home!