Direct Design Assistance: Center City, MN, 2003

Center City, Minnesota—population 582 (2000)—is located approximately 30 miles northeast of St. Paul. Founded in 1852, Center City was the first permanent Swedish settlement in Minnesota. Today, this county seat is a charming community of historic and new homes situated between North and South Center Lakes, and Pioneer Lake. Two blocks of Summit Avenue, including 18 homes, are listed as a national historic district.

In the fall of 2002, Center City’s planning commission requested design assistance from the Design Center. At that time, a design for rebuilding State Highway 8, which passes through town, was being developed and the city wondered how a widened road might affect the community. The city also requested ideas on how, "to visually draw interest to our town instead of people driving by."

The Design Center focused its work in three areas, envisioning how the city could:

• Extend and connect the historic downtown to Highway 8, including both near-term and long-term strategies.
• Expand the pedestrian and bicycle circulation network to address the needs of local residents, and seasonal visitors.
• Landscape strategically to enhance the town’s character.

The Design Center identified three planning areas within Center City’s downtown—the Lakes Area, the "Main Street" Area, and Highway 8 Area. A future vision and design strategies for creating that vision were developed for each area.

Download: PDF of the Center City Planning Area (206 KB)