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Finance & Commerce > Print > Culture change or fad? Twin Cities population shifts tower... Page I of 3 Finance & Commerce Attachment I. http://finance-comme rce-come Culture change or fad? Twin Cities popu�lation shifts toward centra- rore by B,ill Clements Published: September 7th, 2011 All that talk in recent year's about "transit- oriented" and "mixed -use" developments appears to be more than just talk: Regional planners now have the data to back it up. Planners for the Metropolitan Council released the information, which points to a statistically significant trend of more people in the seven-county metro region moving closer, to the central core of cities and to more accessible transit options in higher-density areas. The land-use data also project a fast acceleration of the shift in the next 20 years. It"s contained in a study that considers the 200 od and looks forward to 2030. (The projections to 2030 are based on land-use estimates in the comprehensive development plans, referred to as 1%Acomp plans,"' that metro cities last updated with the Met Council in 2008). Robb Bader is vice president of St. Louis Park - based Bader Development. Three Bader generations work in the same office and these days are focussed on developments closer to city cores and transit options — like the Ellipse, a year -old mixed -uise development on Excelsior Bouileva�rd in St. Louii's Park. It has been 100 percent leased for months. (Staff phioto: Eli ll Klotz,) This move toward smaller houses and multifamily and transit-oriented housing closer to cities "is not a flash in the pan,"' said Ryan Jones, director for the Twin Cities of Mletrostudy, a construction industry group that studies and tracks new home building.'"However, it's not going to be the absolute for everyone."' In other words, whether the shift is a long-term cultural change or a fad is still in question. The shift started in the late 1990s, said John Kari, a Met Council planning analyst. It got a boost after the start of the Livable Communities Act and its programs "that really helped communities see the synergistic potential of walkable, connected land uses particularly with transit,"' he said in an interview. And it's significant. "This is the major change in planned land-use expectations that we've seen since we've been doing local comp plans since the 70s,"' Kari told the council in a recent presentation. Key to this concept a -use"' developments, which Kari and research manager Libby Starling have defined as "'connected and integrated" developments that serve two or, more purposes — retail, commercial and residential. They do not have to include residential. "A, lot of communities don't know exactly what the mixture [of mixed-use] will be in future," Kari said, "but this is where they want to see development, where they expect it to go — and it's more likely to be higher-density development."' The land-use study data found that 5,625 acres in the metro area were taken up by mixed-use development in 2010, and projected that number will soar to more like 55,000 acres by 2030. http. Hfinnce- commerce. com/wp -c ontent/p lugins/dmc—s o ciab le—to o lb ar/wp -print.php?p—... 09/14/2011