Metropolitan Council releases land use data

Council study shows land consumption is slowing

Contact: Steven Dornfeld
Public Affairs Director
651.602.1518

ST. PAUL--July 10, 2006--The rate at which land is being developed in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area has slowed in recent years, according to the Metropolitan Council. Council research attributes the more-efficient growth pattern to increased market demand for higher-density and multi-family housing, rising land values and aging baby-boomers.

An interactive land use map is available on the Council’s website at http://gis.metc.state.mn.us/

Printed maps are available for $10 from the Council's data center.

The most recent land use data, interpreted from aerial photography conducted last year, show development occurred at an average rate of 7,500 acres per year from 2000 to 2005, compared with an average of 9,200 acres per year during the 1990s. The long-term historical average for the region has been 7,200 to 8,000 acres per year.

Also during the first five years of the decade, the number of acres committed to park and recreation use increased by an average of 3,700 acres a year.

“Growth is both a blessing and a curse,” said Council Chair Peter Bell. “Though typically synonymous with prosperity, continued growth also means we have to work that much harder to preserve affordability, promote housing choices and continue the good work we do of protecting precious natural resources.”

The seven-county geographic area comprises 1.8 million acres of land and 124,000 acres of open water. Twenty-nine percent of the geographic area, or 553,000 acres, is developed (including residential, commercial, industrial and major highways). Twenty-one percent of the region, 397,000 acres, is devoted to residential development.

According to Council data, housing development from 2000 to 2005 used 28,000 acres of land to accommodate 79,000 new households. Multi-family housing accounted for 24 percent of all residential land use and 55 percent of new housing units.

In the 1990s, by comparison, the region experienced a surge in the single-family housing market, as baby-boomers in their 30s and 40s created demand for larger houses on larger lots. Residential development used 67,500 acres during the decade to accommodate 145,000 new households. Multi-family development over the 10 years accounted for 19 percent of all residential land use and 33 percent of new housing units.

“Multi-family and higher-density housing create efficiencies in terms of land use and the need for costly infrastructure,” said Bell. “It’s housing that has become increasingly attractive in the marketplace due to a couple factors--greater availability in the region of this housing type, and an aging population that favors more amenities and less time, money and work spent on the house.”

Mark VanderSchaaf, the Council’s Director of Data Resources Department, says he expects land values, land supply and demographic trends will continue to promote higher-density development, redevelopment and intensified land use within the region’s core. Still, outward growth will continue as well.

“At the current rate that land is being used for development purposes, an additional 180,000 to 200,000 acres of greenfields will be developed over the next 25 years. By 2020, development will cover about 40 percent of the region’s geographic area. Meanwhile, growth will continue in adjacent counties,” said VanderSchaaf.

The Council’s land use data also show, in 2005:

“Unavailable and preserved” land covered 481,000 acres, or 25 percent of the region’s geographic area
“Undeveloped and agricultural” land, or “greenfields,” accounted for 870,000 acres, or 46 percent of the geographic area.

Land use data is used by the Council and other organizations for monitoring and forecasting growth, regional planning and land market analysis. The data represents current land uses, not planned uses.

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