Wyandotte County continues to show why it’s Kansas City region’s favorite comeback kid.

Once known primarily as a great place for Mexican food but a lousy place to walk after dark, the Kansas county over the past five years has posted remarkable accomplishments. A Unified Government led the way in 1997. Some of what followed: Reinvestment in schools. A resurgent housing market. A stabilizing population after decades of decline. The Kansas Speedway and now the inviting Tourism District.

County and city leaders are entitled to a little chest-thumping and giddy enthusiasm. "I feel I have bragging rights now that I did not have a few years ago," one participant exulted last month at a Wyandotte County economic development forum hosted by Ingram’s.

To be certain, there’s plenty of good news in Wyandotte and in its largest city, Kansas City, Kan. Even so, while the crime-rate hurdle remains, another is convincing residents around the region to forego their KCK bias and give the community another look. Even Wyandotte County’s own citizens could use a jolt of pride and education about changes in their towns, community leaders admit.

It is a county rich in ethnic diversity and, more recently, revitalization. On the fifth anniversary of the Unified Government’s formation, this is a fitting time to focus on Wyandotte County’s whirlwind of accomplishments. Keep it going, comeback kid..