Goal: Accommodate growth within the metropolitan area by
working collaboratively with our partners
Between 2000 and 2030, the seven-county metropolitan area is expected to
grow by 966,000 people and 471,000 jobs. Growth is a good thing. It
means new jobs, rising incomes, added tax revenue, higher property
values and new economic opportunities.
But it also presents challenges. The Council is committed to working
collaboratively with local communities to accommodate our region’s
growth in a sensible, cost-effective manner, recognizing that “one size
does not fit all.”
The Council’s 2030 Regional Development Framework provides customized
policies and strategies tailored for fully developed communities,
communities that are still developing, rural growth centers and the
remaining rural areas.
The Framework anticipates that about 30 percent
of the region’s growth can be accommodated in developed communities,
where costly infrastructure already is in place. This requires continued
efforts to help clean up contaminated lands and facilitate their
redevelopment. The Framework also provides for a 20-year, rolling supply
of land with urban services in developing communities to meet future
needs.
Regional housing production has dropped below the Council’s target of
16,000-18,000 units per year since 2006 as a result of the slow-down in
the housing market. However, for the first seven years of this decade,
housing production averaged just over 16,000 units.
Since 1995, the Council has awarded more than $189 million in grants to
help communities clean up contaminated land for redevelopment, expand
the supply of affordable housing and promote development that links
housing, jobs and services.
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| Fiscal year |
Number of permits |
| 2004 |
21,353 |
| 2005 |
17,620 |
| 2006 |
12,649 |
| 2007 |
8,776 |
| 2008 |
5,051 |
| Target 2009 |
16,000 |
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| Fiscal year |
Number of acres |
| 2004 |
140 |
| 2005 |
140 |
| 2006 |
212 |
| 2007 |
139 |
| 208 |
152 |
| Target 2009 |
70 |
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| Fiscal year |
Net tax capacity increase per dollar |
| 2004 |
$1.51 |
| 2005 |
$1.99 |
| 2006 |
$2.54 |
| 2007 |
$1.34 |
| 2008 |
$0.76 |
| Target 2009 |
<$0.75 |
The region has made an enormous investment in its regional systems.
Efficient use of these systems is essential to keeping costs in check
and maintaining the region’s quality of life.
The
Council owns and maintains 600 miles of regional sewers and seven
regional treatment plants that serve more than 100 communities. The
Council operates a
transit system that includes the region’s first light rail line and a
fleet of 850 buses. It also oversees a regional park system with 49
parks, 29 trails and six special recreation features.
The Council has worked hard to improve the efficiency of its wastewater
treatment system, making use of new business practices, management
information systems and treatment technologies.
Metro Transit, meanwhile, has undertaken a comprehensive, multi-year,
sector-by-sector restructuring of service to improve efficiency and
productivity. It has also invested in new technology to improve service
design, operations management and fare collections.
In 2008, for the sixth consecutive year, the Council kept the lid on
property taxes paid by the average homeowner for regional services. To
achieve this goal, the Council tightened its budget, achieved reforms in
health benefits and refinanced bonds to take advantage of low interest
rates.
The Council also continues to operate one of the
nation’s most efficient wastewater collection and treatment systems. In
2008, wholesale charges totaled $153.8 million, just 9.4 percent higher than a
decade ago.
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| Fiscal year |
Annual visits per person |
| 2004 |
11 |
| 2005 |
11.1 |
| 2006 |
11.7 |
| 2007 |
11.6 |
| 2008 |
13 |
| Target 2009 |
13 |
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| Fiscal year |
Dollar amount of private investment |
| 2004 |
$368,574,184 |
| 2005 |
$628,000,000 |
| 2006 |
$800,770,636 |
| 2007 |
$489,540,589 |
| 2008 |
$427,872,970 |
| Target 2009 |
$200,000,000 |
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|
| Fiscal year |
Passengers per revenue hour |
| 2004 |
31.65 |
| 2005 |
32.12 |
| 2006 |
33.80 |
| 2007 |
34.80 |
| 2008 |
35.76 |
| Target 2009 |
34.00 |
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|
| Fiscal year |
Cost per capita |
| 2004 |
$38.08 |
| 2005 |
$35.51 |
| 2006 |
$35.81 |
| 2007 |
$35.81 |
| 2008 |
$35.50 |
| Target 2009 |
$35.78 |
For many residents, traffic congestion ranks as the No. 1 livability
issue. It affects the length of their daily commute, the time of day
they choose to make trips, the amount of time they sit in traffic, even
where they choose to live and work.
According to a
recent study, the average Twin Cities commuter spends 39 hours per year
stuck in traffic, costing an average of $812. The price tag
is far greater for businesses trying to get their products to market.
As the lead transportation planning agency for the region, the Council
is working with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to maintain the existing 657-mile metro highway
system, reduce bottlenecks that impede travel, improve the
efficiency of the system and add capacity.
By
investing in improved transit, the region can provide more people with
realistic alternatives to traveling by car. This requires expanding the
existing bus system, adding more bus-only lanes on highway shoulders and
park-and-ride lots, and continuing to develop a network of bus and
transitways.
Significant progress has been made toward improving the region's transit
system. In 2006, Governor Pawlenty secured the final $60 million in
state funding for the 40-mile Northstar Commuter Rail Line between
Minneapolis and Big Lake. It opens in November 2009.
In 2009, the Council applied for federal approval to begin final design
on an 11-mile light rail transit (LRT) line linking downtown St. Paul
and downtown Minneapolis. The region also neared completion of the first
phase of bus rapid transit (BRT) projects in the I-35W and Cedar Avenue
corridors.
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|
| Fiscal year |
Ridership in millions |
| 2004 |
67.2 |
| 2005 |
80.7 |
| 2006 |
85.1 |
| 2007 |
89 |
| 2008 |
94.7 |
| Target 2009 |
89.4 |
| Note: 2004 was the year of the 44
day transit strike |
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| Fiscal year |
Transit capacity in millions |
| 2004 |
2.41 |
| 2005 |
2.45 |
| 2006 |
2.49 |
| 2007 |
2.59 |
| 2008 |
2.61 |
| Target 2009 |
2.60 |
Learn more
This metropolitan area boasts a unique combination of assets – three
majestic rivers, 950 lakes, rolling hills, extensive wetlands, native
prairies and woodlands, aggregate and a multi-layered aquifer system –
that are essential to our region’s prized quality of life and continued
economic well-being.
The Council places a high priority on operating its seven regional
wastewater treatment plants in full compliance with federal and state
water quality standards.
Working with 10 city and
county park agencies, the Council helps acquire, develop and maintain
parks and open space as part of the 53,000-acre regional parks and open
space system. The Council also is working with local communities and
other partners to protect and preserve the region’s water supply.
In recent years, the Council’s wastewater system has cut phosphorus
discharges nearly in half and embarked on an effort to reduce its energy
consumption by 15 percent. In 2009, the Council added 1,190 acres to the
regional parks and open space system. Meanwhile, Metro Transit began
using ultra low-sulfur fuel with a 20-percent biodiesel blend in the
summer months. In addition, the Council took delivery of the first 69 of
172 hybrid electric buses that will be added to the Metro Transit fleet
over the next several years.
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| Fiscal year |
Number of acres added |
| 2005 |
440 |
| 2006 |
315 |
| 2007 |
12 |
| 2008 |
1,132 |
| 2009 |
1,190 |
| Target 2010 |
400 |
| Note: These figures are for calendar
year June to June |
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| Fiscal year |
Reduction in pounds |
| 1990 |
200 |
| 2005 |
1 |
| 2006 |
4.98 |
| 2007 |
2.77 |
| 2008 |
2.59 |
| Target 2009 |
20 |
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| Fiscal year |
Percentage of compliance |
| 2004 |
99.80% |
| 2005 |
99.80% |
| 2006 |
99.70% |
| 2007 |
99.90% |
| 2008 |
100% |
| Target 2009 |
99.80% |
