Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 04/10/2014

Home

A Thriving Region Our region is anchored by three great rivers, dotted by hundreds of lakes, and endowed with wide expanses of green space, giving our residents beautiful landscapes that inspire and renew. Its largest river—the Mississippi—gave birth to two frontier settlements—Minneapolis and Saint Paul. From this base, our region has grown and prospered, and is now well-known for its high quality of life, strong economy and many assets: • A resilient economy; • Vibrant arts, music and theatre communities and professional sports teams; • Rich cultural diversity; • Abundant parks, recreational trails, conserved open space, and natural resources; and • A civic tradition of shared action. Today, the Twin Cities metropolitan area—the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council—is a thriving region of nearly three million people living in 186 communities across the seven counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and Washington. The region has emerged as a world-class metropolitan area—a great place to live, work, raise a family and do business. Our region's economy nimbly weathers the ups and downs of national trends. A diverse mix of high-tech and high -value-added industries call the Twin Cities home—including the headquarters of 18 Fortune 500 companies—and benefit from our highly -educated workforce and numerous educational institutions. Efficient transportation systems smoothly move people and goods to their destinations, and our residents enjoy a reasonable cost of living, benefitting from lower-priced public services. The region offers residents a wide range of communities to call home—active urban districts, city and suburban neighborhoods, small towns, and rural areas. Healthy residents enjoy active lifestyles and year-round outdoor activities. Sperling's BestPlaces has ranked the Twin Cities as "the most playful metro in America" for the health, happiness and low stress of its residents. In survey after survey, residents have declared our metropolitan area better or much better than other regions around the country. Above all, our region has embraced a civic tradition of shared action by government, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, community groups and business leaders to enhance our communities and the region as a whole. The strengths that have made our region a success will help us meet the changes and challenges of today and tomorrow. Continued population and job growth through 2040 More people. Over the next thirty years, our region is projected to grow by 824,000 residents, 29% more than in 2010. Two-thirds of this population growth is likely to result from natural growth—more births than deaths and longer life expectancies. The remaining one-third will DRAFT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Last revised: February 21, 2014 1