Back in January 2009, over 10 years ago, when my wife and I moved our family to this beautiful area, it was undoubtedly a buyer’s real estate market.
The Financial Crisis had left behind a trail of foreclosed properties in all of the cities we were considering establishing roots, such as Fountain, Harmony, Lanesboro, or Preston.
After a five month search, we decided to drop anchor in little Switzerland, otherwise known as Fountain, Minn. I call it little Switzerland because while it is in the Fillmore Central School District along with Harmony and Preston, it seems to be neutral territory for open enrollment from three bordering school districts. But, I digress.
Fast forward to 2019, and the real estate scene looks quite different.
With Destination Medical Center reeling money in left and right, Rochester, Minn., seems to be poised for growth at exponential levels. Real estate values are booming.
The DMC even seems to position our region to be insulated from any future financial crises.
However, the DMC seems to be primarily benefiting the Rochester market, excluding the peripheral communities. Believe it or not, there are career-mobile transplants residing in the Rochester area who don’t even realize that communities like Byron, Chatfield, Stewartville, Dover, Eyota, and Pine Island are cities included in their county. They live in a bubble called Rochester, which they feel is a county in itself. They work there, live there, shop there, and never leave there.
Why is this important for our small towns?
We need to work more diligently to sell our communities as the best place to live and raise a family.
Yes, I said “sell.”
We need to sell our communities to those who don’t realize what they are missing out on.
A few weeks ago, I presented a commentary titled “When a school dies,” which eluded to the demise of a community. It wasn’t just about a school dying in the arms of a community.
The story Ayrshire, Iowa., related to the symbiotic relationship between the population and a school district. If the population declines, a school district struggles with the loss of funding. Fewer kids in a school district makes it more difficult to garner taxpayer support for referendums.
And, as I indicated in that commentary, “Fillmore County’s population hit over 28,000 in 1900, and has been on the decline ever since. We currently hover around 21,000 people.”
If we don’t have a plan for success, we might as well plan for failure.
If we want our schools to grow we need to increase our population; especially with respect to young families. That’s a no-brainer, right?
But, to increase our population we need two things: 1) We need to sell the product of a great community, and 2) We need to make sure we have enough inventory to satisfy the demand.
We have a low crime rate. We haven’t had a murder in Fillmore County since 2002. We have a great education system, which I will elaborate on in a future commentary. We have affordable housing relative to the regional marketplace. We have easily accessible hiking, biking, fishing, and kayaking at every turn.
Heck, I see eagles and deer on my way to work on a pretty regular basis!
What’s not to love?
The good news is that plans are in the works.
On September 20, 2019, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Preston EDA and Preston Area Chamber of Commerce are coordinating the Preston Housing Summit at the F & M Community Bank in their Community Room.
The goal of this event is to discuss how the community of Preston, Minn., can increase housing availability by 160 new homes and apartments by 2030.
If we want to grow our schools, we need to grow our population. An event like this is a great starting point, and hopefully it will become a launchpad to a future full of anticipated growth.
If it’s not a county-wide initiative, I think it should be. And, I think this would be a great initiative for our county commissioners.
If you’d like to attend the Preston Housing Summit, here’s a link where you can get more information and register: prestonmn.org.
There’s no charge to attend, but seating is limited and registration is required.
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