Recently the council took to the road and met with some local politicians and residents at the luxurious Mississippi Crossings in Champlin.
“We have an imagine 2050 plan which is a part of our regional development guide,” said Reva Chamblis who represents Met Council District 2. “It helps us to plan and forecast the growth of the Metropolitan Council’s seven county metro area.”
With the scenic Mighty Mississippi River as a backdrop, Met Council members mingled with mayors and other politicians at the forum, as both sides shared their vision for what the region’s future should look like.
“We do a very good job of collaborating with cities,” Chamblis said. “We do a lot of engagement. Not only with the policy makers at the cities, but directly with the community members to see what their visions are and making sure they can shape that growth for the next 10 or more years.”
Diego Morales represents District 9 for the Met Council, which includes most of Anoka County. His modus operandi is to be candid and upfront with the cities he deals with, so they can thrive and prosper.
“One thing that can work in one small city doesn’t typically work for all the suburban edge communities that are in my district, Morales said. “So, we have to handle it a little differently and actually just get engaged. Talk to those communities and just be transparent. Have that open line of communication.”
“Anoka County is growing by leaps and bounds”
In the past couple decades Anoka County has become a hotspot.
Said Chamblis: “Anoka County is growing by leaps and bounds.”
Blaine is the epicenter of the county’s explosive growth and the Met Council is paying close attention to the city.
“Blaine has really blown up,” Morales said. “There’s a lot more construction happening. There’s a couple of planned developments happening in Blaine. The National Sports Center is making a lot of upgrades. It’s sort of becoming the new mecca of Anoka County with everything that’s going on in Blaine – being one of the largest growing cities in the actual Twin Cities. There’s a lot of future development. There’s a lot of prime opportunity there. We want to continue to stay engaged with that community to see how we can further assist them continuing forward.”
“I know Blaine is a top 10 in terms of growth,” Chamblis said. “It provides jobs, leisure activities. Blaine is really well known for its sports and it also provides retail and commercial. Those are providing jobs, amenities and things, products and services that people really need.”
Anoka County has bucolic charm. There is open space and a rural vibe, despite being in a major metro area. Keeping things this way in the future is everyone’s goal.
“The main reason I moved to Anoka County is because I’m close enough to everything, but yet far enough away,” Morales said. “We actually have to listen to the communities that we represent to continue to build what is in those communities. We don’t want to isolate any one community for being too rural, for being too diverse, for being too high density, low density.”
The Met Council has comprehensive plans for housing, community development, natural resources, parks and trails. Transportation is another focus and the upgrades on US 10 are going to benefit Anoka County.
“It’s going to be amazing once it all gets done,” Morales said. “Of course right now everyone wants to complain about the traffic. I live right off of the traffic. I deal with it. But in the long run it’s going to be a benefit to the community, benefit to everybody living in that area. We want to continue to see growth in the area, so we want to continue to invest in the infrastructure that we currently have.”
The Met Council collaborates with 181 cities and townships, seven counties, government entities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other agencies in the Twin Cities metro area.
