Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - Eagan : Fast growing city retains country look - 5/4/1986 I MENDOTA HEM! ;r - - -
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EAG.,AA
Fast-growing city
retains country look
By Steven Korris way to a new elementary school.
Eagan is 35 square miles of con- Obviously, the city-country bal-
tradictions. ance is shifting. Eagar's popula-
It's the metropolitan area's fast- tion hit 10,000 in 1970, 20,000 in
est-growing community, but most 1980, and 30,000 last year. City
of it is open and undeveloped. planners believe it will reach
It has a higher-than-average pro- 40,000 before the 1990 census.
portion of well-to-do young fami- Even at that figure, Eagan
lies, but it has no high school. would be anything but crowded. An
It is close to both Minneapolis appropriate population might be
and St. Paul, and is a neighbor to 70,000, according to city adminis-
the Minneapolis-St. Paul Interna- trator Tom Hedges. He said the
tional Airport. But until very re- water and sewer systems could
cently, it was an isolated rural meet the needs of 100,000 people, if
township. future city leaders choose to aim
In its official motto - "City and that high. Country "Eagan has been a sleeper for a
Best of Both" - the long time," said Loren
city recognizes and promotes its long,
dual character. Spande, a home builder who moved
in 1969.
The motto fits perfectly at the there It sounds strange to apply the
Municipal Building, smack in the term "sleeper" to a community
center of the city. The building's growing as swiftly as Eagan, but
nearest neighbor is old farm- prospects for the future are even
house, with barn and silo.
A shprt distance to the south- brighter. Interstate 35E, which
west, a cornfield is about to give Please see Eagan/4J
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Another 'old; Eagan property is Sperry Corporations defense
systems plant at 3333 Pilot Knob Road. Opened in 1958, the
plant provides a solid foundation for local taxation and a source
of jobs - 3,900 at full production.
With older homes along the western edge and industry to the
north, Eagan is spreading to the south and east. A good car is
essential in the new parts of Eagan, for retail and business es-
tablishments aren't keeping up with the houses.
The most striking feature of "new" Eagan is its almost per-
fect isolation from commercial activity. In the nine square miles
of southeastern Eagan, there is only one shopping spot: Hilltop
Plaza at Pilot Knob and Diffley roads. It has a few small shops
and a pizza restaurant.
The absence of business, the thousands of undeveloped acres,
and the careful landscaping in most of the subdivisions all com-
bine to preserve a rustic atmosphere that is proving irresistible
to many home buyers.
Eagan's growth areas are part of the Rosemount-Apple Valley
School District, which has 15,000 students. Recently, the district
has been-gaining-an average of four students each school day.
The district, No. 196, operates two elementary schools -
Northview and Thomas Lake in Eagan. The new school, Deer-
wood, will open in 1987. Eagan students attend middle schools in
either Rosemount or Apple Valley.
Most Eagan students attend high school in Rosemount, al-
though a small part of southwestern Eagan is in the Apple Val-
ley High attendance area.
District 196 covers 110 square miles, taking in parts of
Rosemount, Apple Valley, Eagan, Inver Grove Heights, Burns-
ville, Lakeville and Coates.
Anne Voels, public information officer for the district, said
some families bringing children into the district are buying
homes worth $300,000. Usually, she said, homes of that value are
bought by persons whose children have grown.
High school students can choose from among 400 courses. At
Apple Valley High, a class in Japanese was added this year to a
language program that already includes Russian, German, Span-
ish and French.
The Science Olympiad team at Apple Valley High won the
state competition this year after settling for second place last
year.
Enrollment of Eagan students accounts for 22 percent of the
district's total. The district's Eagan enrollment has increased by
60 percent in four years.
In September 1984, voters in No. 196 approved a $12 million
bond levy for two new schools and improvements at other
schools. They rejected a companion proposal to build a high
school in Eagan.
West St. Paul School District No. 197 covers the northern edge
of Eagan. Children in that area attend Pilot Knob elementary
school in Eagan, Francis Grass Junior High in West St. Paul, and
Henry Sibley Senior High in Mendota Heights.
Superintendent Bruce Anderson said the district and Eagan
city officials are cooperating in the renovation of a city park
adjacent to Pilot Knob school. He said an ice arena will be re-
moved to make room for a community playground.
Anderson said his district's selling point over the years has
been music. The high school band was invited to the 4th of July
celebration at Washington, D.C., in 1984, he said.
Anderson said enrollment is up at schools throughout the dis-
trict.
Eagan is not synonymous with growth everywhere, however.
The Burnsville Eagan-Savage School District, No. 191, closed an
elementary school in Eagan because of declining enrollment
three years ago.
. Eagan had 1,400 youngsters in the District 191 schools a few
years back, but the number is close to 800 today. Bob Scheuble,
who keeps the district's vital statistics, said many of the families
wh created the enrollment boom remain.; in the area, but their
Please see Growth/ 5J
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Eagan ordinance calls ror JTTeast 12,000
square feet for each lot. Some subdivisions
have been approved, he said, with lots
smaller than that.
Hedges said he probably would not rec-
ommend more lot size variances, although
he said the areas where they were granted
have worked well as neighborhoods.
He said one of the effects of discourag-
ing further apartment construction and
sticking to the minimum lot size would be
to push Eagan's average income up as the
population rises.
"The city of Eagan is very much aware
of the need to provide a good balance in its
housing stock, and is being very sensitive,"
Hedges said. "When interest rates soared
way up, and the market was looking at
lower-cost housing, we did reduce our
standards by allowing smaller lots."
He said developers who would like to
build smaller houses argue that the mar-
ket should dictate construction. He said
Eagan will not let the market control its
development.
He said the best strategy is to keep a
plan and an image in mind for the city.
"You want it to be good and healthy," he
said. "A good, balanced community is im-
portant."
Steve Korris is a Twin Cities free-lance writer.
Families get
smaller, but
homes l,-qrper
gWASHINGTON - American families
are smaller than they used to be, but their
homes are larger. More comfortable too,
with amenities once considered luxuries
now almost commonplace.
They cost more, too, of course.
The Census Bureau reports that the av-
erage American home had 5.1 rooms in
1983, the most recent statistics available,
an increase from 5.0 in 1970 and 4.9 in
1960.
And the median price of homes being
sold climbed to $75,200 in 1985. That's up
from $20,100 in 1968, when the National
Association of Realtors started keeping
track. Median is a halfway point; half of
all homes cost more than that amount, and
half less.
Televisions are the single, most popular
appliance in American homes. The A.C.
Nielsen Co. estimated a few years ago that
98 percent of all U.S. homes had at least
one television set, and the percentage has
probably climbed since then.
In 1982, the Energy Department said
virtually every.home in America had at
least one refrigerator.
Other popular appliances are: clothes
washers, in 71.4 percent of U.S. homes;
clothes dryers, 59.8 percent; electric rang-
es, 53.3 percent; electric ovens, 51.9 per-
cent; gas water heaters, 51.1 percent; gas.
ranges, 46.6 percent; gas ovens, 41.7 per-
cent; freezers, 37.0 percent.