Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl. It also advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a range of housing choices. The term "smart growth" is particularly used in North America. In Europe and particularly the UK, the terms "compact city", "urban densification" or "urban intensification" have often been used to describe similar concepts, which have influenced government planning policies in the UK, the Netherlands and several other European countries.
In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a single use, they may combine several compatible activities by use, or in the case of form-based zoning, the differing regulations may govern the density, size and shape of allowed buildings whatever their use. The planning rules for each zone determine whether planning permission for a given development may be granted. Zoning may specify a variety of outright and conditional uses of land. It may indicate the size and dimensions of lots that land may be subdivided into, or the form and scale of buildings. These guidelines are set in order to guide urban growth and development.
Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land use practices on a broader scale. It also includes formulating laws that will guide the efficient planning and management of such said regions. Regional planning can be comprehensive by covering various subjects, but it more often specifies a particular subject, which requires region-wide consideration.
Brainerd is a city and the county seat of Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 14,395 at the 2020 census. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River several miles upstream from its confluence with the Crow Wing River, having been founded as a site for a railroad crossing above the confluence. Brainerd is the principal city of the Brainerd Micropolitan Area, a micropolitan area covering Cass and Crow Wing counties and with a combined population of 96,189 at the 2020 census. The city is well known for being the partial setting of the 1996 film Fargo.
Burnsville is a city 15 miles (24 km) south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County, Minnesota. The city is situated on a bluff overlooking the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Burnsville and nearby suburbs form the southern portion of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.7 million residents. At the 2020 census the population was 64,317.
Monticello is a city next to the Mississippi River in Wright County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,455 at the 2020 census.
Bloomington is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown Minneapolis and just south of the Interstate 494/694 Beltway. The population was 89,987 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's fifth-largest city.
The Metropolitan Council, commonly abbreviated Met Council or Metro Council, is the regional governmental agency and metropolitan planning organization in Minnesota serving the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area, accounting for over 55 percent of the state's population.
Research Triangle Park (RTP) is the largest research park in the United States, occupying 7,000 acres (2,833 ha) in North Carolina and hosting more than 300 companies and 65,000 workers. It is owned and managed by the Research Triangle Foundation, a private non-profit organization.
Jefferson Lines is a regional intercity bus company operating in the United States. Their operations serve 14 states in the Midwest and West.
Sustainable urban infrastructure expands on the concept of urban infrastructure by adding the sustainability element with the expectation of improved and more resilient urban development. In the construction and physical and organizational structures that enable cities to function, sustainability also aims to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the capabilities of the future generations.
Minnesota State Highway 371 (MN 371) is a 107.411-mile-long (172.861 km) state highway in central and north-central Minnesota. The route connects Minnesota's northern lakes region with the central part of the state. It runs north–south from U.S. Highway 10 (US 10) in Little Falls to US 2 in Cass Lake. MN 371 has become a heavily traveled arterial route that was once a two-lane roadway over almost all of its length, but has been widened to four lanes across most of its southern half. Much of the traffic on the route is Twin Cities-based traffic heading to their cabins on one of the many northern lakes.
The term replacement cost or replacement value refers to the amount that an entity would have to pay to replace an asset at the present time, according to its current worth.
Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some degree physically and functionally integrated, and that provides pedestrian connections. Mixed-use development may be applied to a single building, a block or neighborhood, or in zoning policy across an entire city or other administrative unit. These projects may be completed by a private developer, (quasi-)governmental agency, or a combination thereof. A mixed-use development may be a new construction, reuse of an existing building or brownfield site, or a combination.
The Minnesota Channel is an American free-to-air television channel originating at Twin Cities Public Television. It features programming related to Minnesota, plus coverage of the Minnesota Legislature when in session. The Minnesota Channel is carried as a digital subchannel on all six member networks of the Minnesota Public Television Association.
Wings Credit Union is an American credit union headquartered in Apple Valley, Minnesota. With assets of $8.4 billion, the credit union serves eligible Minnesota and Wisconsin counties, the metro areas of Detroit, Orlando, Atlanta and employees in the air transportation industry nationwide. Wings was chartered in 1938 and is regulated by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
Joshua Heintzeman is a Minnesotan politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2015. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Heintzeman represents District 6B, which includes the city of Brainerd and parts of Crow Wing County in central Minnesota.
Charles Marohn is an American author, land-use planner, municipal engineer, and the founder and president of Strong Towns, an organization which advocates for the development of dense towns and the restructuring of suburbia.
A stroad is a type of street–road hybrid. Common in the United States and Canada, stroads are wide arterials that often provide access to strip malls, drive-throughs, and other automobile-oriented businesses. Stroads have been criticized by urban planners for their safety issues and inefficiencies. While streets serve as a destination and provide access to shops and residences at safe traffic speeds, and roads serve as a high-speed connection that can efficiently move traffic at high speed and volume, stroads are often expensive, inefficient, and dangerous.
Mike Wiener is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Wiener represents District 5B in central Minnesota, which includes the cities of Wadena and Long Prairie and parts of Cass, Morrison, Todd and Wadena Counties.
