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I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />> <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />) <br />» <br />% <br />f/ <br />I <br />4 <br />Summary of Findings <br />1. Housing is a major component of the regional economy and the availability of an <br />adequate and diverse supply of housing is a prcreqmsiu continued economic <br />development, job creation and prosperity. <br />2. One of the main reasons why the region experienced the success that it did over the past <br />20 years was that the original MUSA included a substantial urban land supply. <br />Communities in the path of growth were required to prepare and adopt plans for full <br />urbanization- As a result, the majority of the growth in the region up until 1990 occurred <br />at urban densities. <br />3. The existing urban land supply is inadequate to accommodate the projected growth of <br />330,000 households to the year 2020. The limited remaining land supply within the <br />MUSA line has caused a significant increase in land prices which directly adds to the cost <br />of housing. <br />4. Unsew'ered large lots subdivisions have already consumed 130.486 acres of land that <br />could have been economically served by the regional wastewater treatment system and <br />developed at urban densities. If this area had been developed at a density of 2.5 units per <br />acre, it could have accommodated 326,215 households, an amount roughly equivalent to <br />the Metro areas ’ projected growth to the year 2020. <br />5. Instead, this 130,486 acres will accommodate only 21,747 households when all of the <br />large lots are built upon. This large lots pattern has created both physical and social <br />barriers to the orderly and economical extension of urban services. The failure to provide <br />and protect urban reserves Has already added between $650 million and $1.33 billion to <br />the cost of developing the remainin g portions of the UtliMUSA. Immediate strategic <br />action is needed to successfully accommodate the growth projected for this area. <br />6. The Twin Cities Metropolitan .Area is no longer limited to the original seven counties. <br />The Metro Region extends at least into the 13 County MSA, and beyond if one considers <br />commuter patterns. This change must be recognized to arrive at a successful growth <br />management strategy for the coming decades. <br />7. Non-.MUSA related plaiming issues delay and obstruct the MUSA expansion process. <br />Executive Summary