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-196- <br />City of Ramsey <br />Council /Staff Retreat <br />February 1, 2, 2008 <br />STAFF EXPECTATIONS OF RETREAT <br />Each member of the management team stated the "one thing" he or she would like to have <br />discussed during the retreat. <br />Kurt: A collective vision for the City. <br />Sylvia: Effective communication between council and staff. <br />Diana: How do we meet the budget and meet the needs of the city, given our tax base? <br />Jim: How will we manage growth? How will we meet the demands for growth? <br />Brian: Infrastructure. Transportation. <br />Dean: The big picture. The long view. The vision. <br />Heidi: The long view and our priorities for 2 -3 years. <br />OTHER COMMUNITIES: POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES <br />Top of Mind Exercise: Each person was given a blank piece of paper and asked to write down <br />what first comes to mind 1) when they think of a community or city they would not like Ramsey <br />to emulate and say why that is, and 2) when they think of a city they would like Ramsey to <br />take some stood things from and identify would those things might be. <br />This exercise was done to get the group thinking about a vision for Ramsey, to help sort out in <br />their minds what the like and what they dislike based up on what has happened in other <br />communities. <br />All attendees participated. <br />What community or city would you NOT want to emulate and why? <br />Answers given were: <br />Woodbury, Brooklyn Park, Dayton, Minneapolis, Albert Lea, Brooklyn Center, Anoka, Coon <br />Rapids and Ham Lake. <br />Negative aspects of the above cities include: sprawling development; seas of parking lots and <br />townhomes; too much high density development coupled with low end commercial <br />development; crime issues; poor transportation; all residential; too heavy and dense; nothing <br />to attract all kinds of families; no ability to live, work and play; declining commercial /residential <br />properties; old, run down, and boxed in; rat race; no central core of activity; poor planning for <br />the future; too much multi - family and apartments. <br />What city would you LIKE to take some good things from and what would those things be? <br />Answers given were: <br />Plymouth, Maple Grove, Oakdale, Open Land, Downtown Buffalo, Wayzata, Woodbury and <br />Red Wing. <br />Positive aspects of the above cities include: many neighborhoods that matured well; great <br />public park system; family oriented; creation of destination city that people enjoy; thriving <br />commercial; great destination; diverse housing, open land with the ability to do anything. <br />