Comments on: Learning From Other Communities

By: Bruce Morlan

Bruce Morlan — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:19:00 +0000

Norm suggests annexing now and regretting later. Interestingly, Politics and a Pint reached the same conclusion when we discussed annexation (see
Politics and a Pint for details).

As for the EDA, it’s middle name tells all, development. That’s why I tried (unsuccessfully, so far) to suggest that the rural townships have to build a counterpart to the EDA that I called the Economic Sustainability Authority whose task would be to ensure that when the dust settles (when we have to stop expanding because we are literally out of room) we’ll have a sustainable greater Northfield-Dundas community, not just another Chaska, which Jessica Paxton warns us about above.

By: norman butler

norman butler — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:48:05 +0000

Annex the land, put a five to ten year moratorium on its development unless it is an industrial one (defined to include continued agricultural use), merge with Dundas, seek a third college (trade school) in Dundas (now a village within Northfield with its own downtown), lobby for the Dan Patch passenger rail service from the Twin Cities, sort out the ongoing constitutional crisis (ie strong mayor/city manager), destroy the dam using a Barnes-Wallis bouncing bomb on July 4th (spectacular!) and build two more windmills north and south.

By: Jessica Paxton

Jessica Paxton — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:18:16 +0000

I totally agree with your assessment, Norman. For such a large and “bustling” community, the downtown has very little foot traffic. It’s quite charming and historic but sadly on the decline. I have many friends that still live in Chaska, and while they certainly share a great deal of community spirit and pride, they’re more excited about the big box development that comes to town than about supporting the local retailers/business owners or maintaining any sort of “small town” flavor. What used to be beautiful farmland is now home to sprawling mini malls. I think there are also three Targets or SuperTargets within 5-10 minutes of each other (one in Chaska, one in Chanhassen and one right off Hwy 101 in Minnetonka). Talk about over-saturation! It all looks so commercial.

By: kiffi summa

kiffi summa — Mon, 05 May 2008 18:34:26 +0000

Norman: Considering that your view of Chaska, at least as it relates to the downtown, is very different than that being put forth by the EDA, do you think the difference in perspective is all in the eye of the beholder? I.E., the EDA is only looking at the relevance of industrial land/development in Chaska and touting that as idyllic; You are looking at the contrast in their and our Downtowns, and finding ours better.

Is the EDA so focussed on this annexation that they are forgetting what was originally the number One focus of the TIP strategies Plan, which was: focus on your downtown; it is your greatest asset. Somehow during the process that statement moved to number Two in priority.

What would you, Norman, as a person who has invested a lot in the DT, and continues to do so, recommend?

By: norman butler

norman butler — Mon, 05 May 2008 17:58:03 +0000

Victor and I went to Chaska in April. Impressive gateway from the south; a grand bridge and big Best Western Hotel. We drove around the spread-out downtown looking for and asking about eateries. The locally-owned downtown restaurants had closed or seemed in the process of doing so and I noticed one or two older impressive commercial buildings for sale or sitting empty. Their downtown is not walkable or bikeable; ie it was built for the motor car with lots of parking and this to me is the significant and inescapable difference between Chaska and Northfield. We went there on a weekday and the downtown was pretty dead. Lots of business activity and lots of franchise restaurants in the big new mall about two miles out of town on a hill. Depressing.

By: Jessica Paxton

Jessica Paxton — Mon, 05 May 2008 16:56:32 +0000

My family moved to Jonathan in 1977. Five years later, I came to Northfield as a freshman at St. Olaf but my parents and younger siblings lived in Chaska for over 15 years. I remember when I was in high school I had some friends at Eden Prairie high school that used to tease me about a section they had studied in social studies class — “Jonathan: The Town That Failed.” Seemed a little premature to call it a failure (especially since it was where I lived!). But I remember there always was a bit of “stigma” related to living in Jonathan. We lived in Chaska but weren’t really “townies.” Anyway, it’s amazing to me to see how Chaska and the surrounding communities have grown and changed over the years. An explosion of development. When I lived there it was considered “rural” and nowadays it’s like almost any other suburban community in the Twin Cities.

By: Greg Boe

Greg Boe — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:32:49 +0000

Not only does Chaska have a great community center (with reduced rates for Chaska residents), they also offer a top-notch public golf course - the “Chaska Town Course” (that also offers reduced rates for Chaska residents), and Wi-Fi wireless high-speed Internet access anywhere in town for a reasonable $15.99 per month! And on top of that, of course, you can add a picturesque historic downtown, PGA events at Hazeltine National Golf Club, and strong community spirit and pride!

Jonathan continues to evolve, so that story is not yet complete. However, suffice to say that Jonathan is a healthy part of a vibrant Chaska community!

Thanks,
Greg - a proud Chaska resident

By: Bill Ostrem

Bill Ostrem — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:03:44 +0000

I’m glad to Northfielders are seeking to learn from others, and I enjoyed learning more about Chaska via the discussion here.

This is an aside to the main thread: I was interested in Tracy’s description of Jonathan, MN. Since I grew up in Plymouth, I occasionally traveled by the modernist buildings of Jonathan but knew little about it.

I found one interesting historical source on Jonathan in a quick Web search: a 1971 article by a Washington Post reporter, “The Midwest: An Unlikely Laboratory for New Towns.” It discusses both Jonathan and the Cedar-Riverside development in Minneapolis.

http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF001971/Downie/Downie01/Downie01.html

The article is critical of the “ex-urban” Jonathan, foreseeing its troubles, and more admiring of the Cedar-Riverside development. Both projects seem rather utopian for today’s more jaded era.

By: Ross Currier

Ross Currier — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 16:23:16 +0000

Tracy,

You noted that “One of the benefits was that Chaska inherited millions of dollars’ worth of federally-funded infrastructure when the plug was pulled on the Jonathan experiment. Taking advantage of this existing infrastructure was partly responsible for the fact that Chaska filled its industrial parks before Chanhassen and Eden Prairie did, even though Chaska is further from the metropolitan core.” and later “The abandoned infrastructure from the Jonathan project was millions of dollars the City didn’t have to spend.”

Based on this information, did you get a fairly accurate sense of what it might take, in terms of public investment, to build a successful industrial park in Northfield?

Thanks much,

Ross

By: Rick Estenson

Rick Estenson — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:16:51 +0000

Thanks for posting our trip Tracy.
I was very impressed with the consistent message we received from the individuals at Chaska that met with us and then gave us a tour of the city. While it is likely we will all step back and say “they are quite different from us in what they had to offer to developers and companies and the timing of when they offered it”, the real lesson I took away was about the importance of leadership, vision and consistency. They had many of the painful discussions and disagreements that we go through in making decisions about what criteria and standards we expect but once determined, the leaders supported the workers in the city and in the community and then stood behind and took the heat believing they had listened and then executed on the best plan for the city. Making it easy to manuever thru the city and public process was another message that we all took to heart and should learn more specifics about the how to emulate here. Finally, the consistency of application to existing businesses that wished to grow along with the first business to join the city to the last business to join the city with the aid of a simplistic formula most people could easily calculate was a fascinating approach that they believed was critical to their success and helped them get 5-0 votes at city council almost all the time.
Time to roll up our sleeves and figure out how we can take some of these lessons and apply them here in Northfield. We are just as smart and capable as those we met….now we need to believe it and work with our City Council to help set the table for success.

By: Jane McWilliams

Jane McWilliams — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:40:36 +0000

Thanks, Tracy, for this report. It reminded of the visit a group from Northfield 15 or so years ago when we were contemplating building a community center. We were blown away by theirs. I’ve just looked at their web site and see it seems to have been expanded since then and that LOTS goes on there. Take a look.

Do I remember correctly that Chaska has its own utility? If so, how does this affect the city’s budget?

By: Susan Hvistendahl

Susan Hvistendahl — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:35:38 +0000

If you want to see Chaska’s bounteous community center activities, go to http://www.chaskacommunitycenter.com and click on Program and Events Calendar. (Argh!)

By: Susan Hvistendahl

Susan Hvistendahl — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:31:37 +0000

I wasn’t on the trip, so I thank you, Tracy, for the detailed analysis. Did you see the Chaska Community Center? I have been there several times because I have a good friend who plays in the pit orchestra for theater performances there. Yes, the community center has a theater–and a couple skating rinks, a beautiful pool (or water park, I should say), basketball, volleyball and racquetball courts… Sorry, I can’t go on. I get choked up just thinking about that bounty in one place.