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centered near Gem Lake, which is called "unweave the weave." This renovation is design to allow a greater number of drivers to safely use the highways each day. • Two large regional shopping malls now serve the area, Maplewood Mall, located approximately two miles away, and Rosedale Mall in Roseville, located approximately seven miles away. Both malls have extended strip mall facilities surrounding them, making each a regional shopping district for the area. • Several smaller but equally as important retail shopping areas have reached fruition in the area. The include but are not limited to the discount shopping area located at the 35 E and County Road E intersection, which includes a Target, a Wal-Mart and other assorted facilities; and the charming downtown White Bear Shopping area, which has undergone a facelift in the past decade. • The City of Maplewood now plays host to an extended health care zone about five miles to the south of the City of Gem Lake surrounding St. John's Hospital, which includes a large number of doctors' offices and healthcare clinic and facilities. • Metropolitan trunk sewers have been expanded north beyond Gem Lake. This provision of major trunk interceptors has made larger scale development possible in the areas between the Cities of White Bear Lake and Forest Lake. The City of Vadnais Heights has located its city hall, fire department and several office complexes just to the west of the City of Gem Lake, which has created a city center feeling to the area. This has also led to the building of two nearby hotels at the intersection of County Road E and I-35E. Table 3.2 - Existing and Projected Population, Households, and Employment in Gem Lake Land Development in Gem Lake and Vicinity Residential Development Gem Lake residents are overwhelmingly housed in single-family owner -occupied homes (79 percent of dwelling units; refer to Table 3.3). The adjoining communities range from 69 to 86 percent single-family owner -occupied homes. Housing values are very similar in Gem Lake and White Bear Township ($158,400 to $159,600). The remaining two communities are lower, at $130,400 and $143,800. SEH 3.0 community development: trends and detriments I page 8