Metro area's big mismatch: home, job now farther apart
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1507/3736624.htmlThe article suggests that the population center of our region might now be downtown Mpls - but in 20 years it is likely to be Edina. The center is shifting to the Southwest.
This is interesting, and hit's home for me. Because my wife and I specifically chose to live in the city, partially to avoid suburban life and also to avoid long commutes to work. We chose to live in St. Paul. While I have worked (or at least faked it) from my basement, most of that time - my wife has held jobs in Eagen (the close one), Bloomington (the far end), and two jobs in Chaska. She now commutes from the MIDWAY area of St. Paul, over 45 minutes each way to her job.
Now clearly, there were personal choices involved in this. But I can also say, that of the other 5-10 companies that she has interviewed with over time - almost all of them have been in the southwest suburbs. None in St. Paul (that I can recall).
Is this drift to the southwest inevitable? It makes sense, that the more people that live here, the further apart we will get from our jobs. But, is that distance growing faster than it needs to?
This is a very interesting question to me, one that impacts many of our metropolitan issues and policies.
Any comments?
Tim Erickson St. Paul, Minnesota [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Metro area's big mismatch: home, job now farther apart David Peterson and Laurie Blake, Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/stories/1507/3736624.html Published March 6, 2003
"A density map of jobs in the Twin Cities area would probably today be centered on downtown Minneapolis," said Gary Barnes, a transportation expert with the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. "But 20 years from now it will be more like Edina. It's all shifting to the southwest.
"So living in Woodbury not only puts you on the edge, but an edge whose center is going away from you. We're leaving half the metro area totally hung out."
-- ================================================= Tim Erickson http://www.politalk.com St. Paul, MN - USA 651-643-0722 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ICQ: 105978430 =================================================
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