Will Minneapolis ever see 500,000 again? (Minnetonka, St. Louis Park: wedding, live, move)

[Minnesota Spring]

Originally Posted by flyingwriter

I see this as a negative. Suburban growth helps the economy, and it brings healthier, less-stressful living conditions for residents.

I will respectfully disagree with that. I would say that suburban growth does not, or at least no longer helps the economy since the housing marke took a nose dive, there is a large surplus of existing suburban homes on the market, and suburban expansion puts additional strain on transportation infrastrucutre, addding unecessary expense to already very strained local, state and federal budgets. In fill- although some may not like is more economical in the long run. I would also say that living in a more dense environment is more stressful. Being able to walk most places instead of driving on congested freeways for everything like in many burbs is more stressful to me.

[Kid Cann]

Originally Posted by Minnesota Spring

I will respectfully disagree with that. I would say that suburban growth does not, or at least no longer helps the economy since the housing marke took a nose dive, there is a large surplus of existing suburban homes on the market, and suburban expansion puts additional strain on transportation infrastrucutre, addding unecessary expense to already very strained local, state and federal budgets. In fill- although some may not like is more economical in the long run. I would also say that living in a more dense environment is more stressful. Being able to walk most places instead of driving on congested freeways for everything like in many burbs is more stressful to me.

That's nice that you respectfully disagree, but it wasn't Flyingwriter's opinion, it's a fact. Suburbia has proven to increase economic activity, even if it is in the short-run and unsustainable, like you said... (Short-Run and Unsustainable, you might as well disagree, lol) But studies have proven that it does in fact promote growth and development, albeit not sustainable.

When economies tank like now, you certainly do see the surplus of suburban homes, and not to mention the strip malls! Yikes.

Kudos to you nice post.

[Globe199]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

I think the 2020 Census is going to be a shocker.
The days of the McMansion is over, and I didn't get that info from the Yahoo! article put out yesterday. I knew that in 07' before the housing collaps. It's just not sustainable. Large lots and fat homes are not the desire anymore. It was once a luxery to live "In the Country" 50 miles from a Downtown... That trend was huge in the 1990s, but with congestion, COL and everything else, it's just not sustainable in the long run. That's why we are going to see INLFOW into cities. In the 1990s you had city dwellers fleeing for places like Chanhassen, Maple Grove, Elk River, Ramsey, Andover, Lakeville, Prior Lake... Now people who make up Plymouth, Woodbury, Eden Prairie are sick of suburbia. Look for places like St. Louis Park, and St. Paul and MPLS to add residents.

What Yahoo article are you talking about? I'd be interested to see it.

[Kid Cann]

Originally Posted by Globe199

What Yahoo article are you talking about? I'd be interested to see it.

Death of the 'McMansion': Era of Huge Homes Is Over - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Death-of-the-McMansion-Era-of-cnbc-1051033821.html?x=0 - broken link)

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Kid Cann

Death of the 'McMansion': Era of Huge Homes Is Over - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Death-of-the-McMansion-Era-of-cnbc-1051033821.html?x=0 - broken link)

I didn't bring up the article, but I did mention the end of the McMansion in an earlier post. http://www.city-data.com/forum/15550850-post97.html

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

But was it actually flight away from the inner city, or was it flight towards the promises of new, affordable suburban housing? The proverbial house with a picket fence?

Good point. In the case of the Twin Cities, the downsizing of the cities' population occurred when both cities were still extremely white. Influx of minority population of the magnitude that upended other Northern cities didn't take off here until the 1980s.

[Ben Around]

Originally Posted by future_minneapolitan

You can think of it that way, but I don't think losing 1/3 of a city's population is a natural ebb and flow of city growth. It's more like some extreme white flight.

No, just had more to do with the changing demographics that were occuring in the nation as a whole.

[audadvnc]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

No, just had more to do with the changing demographics that were occuring in the nation as a whole.

No white flight? Look at this graph of the Jordan neighborhood:

[mnduck]

Originally Posted by audadvnc

No white flight? Look at this graph of the Jordan neighborhood:

That is a pretty remarkable graph. I think the point, though, is that Twin Cities suburbs in large part did not grow during the mid-twentieth century because residents were fleeing a minority influx into the central cities. The noticeable growth of the African-American population happened later- and yes, this did lead to flight, but this flight happened after much of the TC population had already suburbanized.

I think it'd also be interesting to know where the white population went. Did they go to the suburbs, or other parts of the cities? I know that N. Mpls used to have a large Jewish influence; now we think of St. Louis Park and Highland Park as the Jewish areas.

[audadvnc]

Originally Posted by mnduck

...but this flight happened after much of the TC population had already suburbanized...

If it weren't for the housing market crash, the outer ring suburbs would be building like crazy right now - every farm field in Chaska has a "Coming Soon!" sign on it. And it's white on white there.

But times are changing. More folks that have lived in the 'burbs for years are tired of the commute and the sameness - how many variations on taupe sided split levels can you create for a development? And the city of Minneapolis is committing major resources into reclaiming some of its old neighborhoods, such as Jordan. If you keep away from the bad boys, and can stand living in a rehabbed 100 year old Victorian house, you may find it quite appealing there. In another 10 years it may be a total success - or maybe not. It's a crap shoot right now.