Small City Appeal however Massive City Imaginative and prescient

Most frequently discovered solely in cities way more populous than the 25,000 or so residents of this quaint, Minneapolis suburb. Situated simply 24 miles from the Twin Cities, there have been appreciable new residential developments in Prior Lake, Mn, but the group has retained all of the attract of the type of place that Thornton Wilder wrote about in Our City, and all of the sophistication you’ll count on in a Neil Simon play. Prior Lake historical past goes again greater than 150 years and truly precedes Minnesota’s statehood in 1858. Within the early 1800s, Prior Lake was a well-liked summer time resort space, which it continued to be all through the 19th century. Brothers, Neal and Malcalm McColl, constructed and managed a retailer within the early days of Prior Lake, but it surely was their father who had settled within the space in 1855. The shop ultimately turned the put up workplace, and Prior Lake was platted in 1871 after which included as a village in 1891. It’s, by far, one of many oldest cities in what known as the south metro space, as a result of these cities lie south of the Minnesota River and Minneapolis.

Town and the lake are named after Charles Prior, who labored for the railroad, and had the road of the Hastings and Dakota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad accomplished in 1872 on land that he owned. With the railroad now coming by the town, building on the town started in earnest. The Grainwood Resort, organized within the grand method of many jap resorts which catered to rich socialites, opened on Could 15, 1879. Sailboats and catamarans, in addition to canoes, had been a standard sight on the lake, and trendy costume was the usual attire for the company of these days. It remained considered one of Minnesota’s most interesting resorts for almost a half-century till it burned to the bottom in 1923. It was by no means rebuilt. Immediately the lake continues to be the focus of the city, which now utterly encompasses it on all sides. Little question, that is mirrored in the truth that this city of simply 18 sq. miles showcases leisure facilities that embody greater than 55 parks, over 100 miles of trails and sidewalks, and 14 lakes. It is laborious to think about, however all of that is accessible to the city’s residents, utterly inside its metropolis limits! Now add to this the truth that a bit of the Shakopee Sioux Group tribal lands are positioned throughout the boundary of the town and presents its personal array of facilities to the general public, together with eating places, a theater, a health middle, an ice middle, two casinos, and a lodge. It is apparent that this isn’t a rural, nation city by any means, which is the place the large metropolis within the little city comes into play. Being so near Minneapolis, the city is served by the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA), which gives public transportation from inside and across the group to different municipalities and to downtown Minneapolis. Prior Lake’s downtown has been revitalized not too long ago by streetscaping initiatives and a facade enchancment program, and the city itself is being directed by the 2040 Imaginative and prescient and Strategic Plan, together with new residential developments in Prior Lake, MN. This Plan is Prior Lake’s blueprint for its future, first for 2020 and now within the works for 2040. You’d be laborious pressed to discover a city of this dimension with such a centered and elaborate strategic planning effort. So, sure, you may have your cake and eat it too. It is all proper right here in Prior Lake!