Vision of the City Project

Describe the consensus of your group of the ideal for Mankato in the year 2020 given the following assumptions:

  • Assume the city will have grown to 75,000 people, spreading out toward Eagle Lake, Nicollet, Rapidan and Kasota.
  • Assume county population has remained stable--despite population growth in the city
  • Assume the growth in the economic base of the city is in health care, high-tech manufacturing, and retail. Higher education will hold at present levels.

1. Vision: Using information from the class, your field tour, the library, and the local newspaper, develop your vision for the Mankato Area for 2020.

  1. What factors/events/trends will contribute to the city by the year 2020? Include issues relating to Housing & Community, the Environment, Business & Economics, Transportation, Education, and The Arts.
  2. Within these constraints, what is ideal for Mankato in 2020?
  3. What are the barriers to this goal? What forces will reinforce it?

2. Plan: Develop a plan for Mankato 2020--

  1. Write a scenario (story) which describes how the city grew from what it was in 2000 to what it has become in 2020.
  2. Diagram the location of all major activities/components of the city that are focal to your vision.
  3. Develop a 3-dimensional model of the most important elements of your plan. You could do this by modeling, say, a 10-block area where the most intensive activity will occur, or by portraying the whole city with only certain areas done in detail, or anything in between.

3. Presentation: Prepare a brief (3-minute) presentation to the class which describes your vision for the future of Mankato

4. Evaluation: This exercise is worth 16 points, and will be scored on your model, your presentation, and written description which amplifies your oral presentation. The criteria for scoring are:

  1. reflects current planning practice (as developed in class exercises); or, if you choose to modify current standards, explain why and how.
  2. reflects issues of
    • safety and security
    • design-with-nature
    • sound economic basis, for residents, for businesses, and for city
    • attractiveness, convenience, and cost

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MSU

© 1996 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 10 January 2003