Tag: rural minnesota

Providing housing for a community or region’s population is complex and dynamic. A healthy housing market should be able to provide housing for most people and their diverse needs through a combination of natural churn and new construction. In rural areas, however, economic and demographic forces are at work creating a housing shortage that many communities ...

  This week we talk with IRRB Commissioner Mark Phillips about economic development on the Iron Range and the impact of trade tariffs on the iron ore industry.

EXCERPT: “Like many towns its size, Marine on St. Croix, Minn. – population 694 – is all too familiar with the challenge of keeping a small rural school alive. A years-long battle to stop the town’s only public school from closing came to an end earlier this year, with the district citing low enrollment rates as ...

For part 3 of our talk with Mike Maurer, chief deputy and emergency management director for Blue Earth County, Mike tells us what we can do in our own homes to prepare for a disaster in rural Minnesota. Three days is key. 

Last year the Center released the report “A Quiet Crisis: Minnesota’s child care shortage,” which shed light on a dire family and economic development problem affecting the entire state. A year later, we revisit the issue.

EXCERPT: “According to Blue Cross data*, diabetes accounts for 6.3 percent of loss of good health in Minnesota. The Twin Cities area has the lowest diabetes impact, at 5.2 percent, while northwestern counties are hit the hardest with an impact of 8.1 percent. Minnesota’s northwestern counties also demonstrate a significant disparity in the impact of ...

Each year, the Center assembles the latest demographic and economic data to create the State of Rural Minnesota report. Most of the data used for the presentation can also be found at our Atlas of Minnesota Online. Click here to see the State of Rural Minnesota presentation. — Updated November 2016

While coal was once the dominant source of fuel for Minnesota’s electrical grid, renewable energy in Minnesota is leading the way for a fossil-fuel-free future.  A new study by the University of Minnesota’s Energy Transition Lab highlights that the clean energy economy in Minnesota is expanding, that jobs, ratepayer savings and economic benefits are being ...

There are two general conclusions to draw from the Monticello experience. The first has to do with the unreasonable barrier to entry posed by the 65% requirement for a municipality to construct a local exchange. This is widely understood to be a serious barrier to entry. The general argument for such a vote is that ...