THE YEAR WAS 2,500,000 B.C. It would have been a bad time to reside in Eden Prairie, because the entire Upper Midwest was soon to vanish beneath the first of several miles-thick slabs of ice. There were also no restaurants.
Those glaciers gave form to Eden Prairie: pancaking large swaths of it, and chiseling pretty creeks, lakes and hillsides throughout. They did so very slowly. Glacially, in fact.
Our town’s founding agriculturalists loved the result. But as light became electric, and asphalt unfurled more of its ribbons, and a thriving local economy appeared to have less and less to do with turnip farming, it became apparent Eden Prairie would have to change yet again – and much faster than glaciers had done before.
“The year was 1985,” said Dave Lindahl. “I needed an internship to complete my college degree. I had lived in Eden Prairie since I was four years old, so naturally, the city was one of the first employers I called.”
That would turn out to be the last request for employment Dave ever made. “The city planner told me he could use all the help he could get,” he continued. “An explosion of new development had him totally preoccupied with developers to meet and plans to review. He needed someone to start focusing on long-range planning and administering the community block program, and he had needed them last week.”
Dave owes much of his early success to an exciting new state-of-the-art technology: computerized spreadsheets, which he used to forecast city growth with siliconclad certitude.
“How many houses could be built? Which areas of land should be zoned commercial and industrial? How much demand would exist for sewer and other city services? VisiCalc helped us answer tough questions like those as we developed an infrastructure that would bear such tremendous growth,” said Dave.
“Our town’s comprehensive plan first took form in 1968, when city council – farmers, one and all – took note of all the ongoing development in surrounding cities. They determined that Eden Prairie wouldn’t fall by the wayside – but not at the cost of its natural beauty.
“It was in that spirit that I worked diligently, very early on in my career, to help plan the ideal placement for Highway 212. MnDOT’s initial concept would have bisected Big Woods and several gorgeous wetlands. My goal was to preserve those best parts of our landscape. I believe the current location of Miller Park proves I was at least moderately successful.
“I contributed to another big win for the city toward the start of my career: redrawing the Metropolitan Urban Service Area line, which enabled us to extend key services to new parts of town. Southwest Eden Prairie would look a lot different today had it never received water or sewer lines!
“Our founding city council members didn’t just envision a community that everyone could share. They also laid its foundation by specifying the diverse types of housing that would be built here. To this day, single-family detached constitutes only half of Eden Prairie housing. The rest – townhomes, duplexes, triplexes and apartment buildings – ensures affordable housing options to all.
“That also became my mission upon my promotion from planner to Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) manager in 1994. We compelled residential developers to make at least twenty percent of new units affordable to those earning less than the median income, and we did it through the mutually beneficial power of tax increment financing.
“One of my proudest accomplishments during my tenure as HRA manager was helping to establish the Housing, Opportunities, Partnerships, and Employment (HOPE) program. At the time, a new applicant to Eden Prairie’s project-based housing may have had to wait seven years before an opening became available. An inordinately large number of those units were occupied by single mothers on welfare, whom HOPE was created to benefit. If any one of them agreed to commit to a self-sufficiency program, which included education and employment counseling, as well as receive mentorship from a volunteering Eden Prairie family, then HOPE would award her the Section 8 voucher that would allow her family to leave the projects.
“HOPE changed countless lives for the better during its ten-or-so-year run.
“When I became economic development manager in 2002, my focus shifted to supporting the growth of Eden Prairie’s business community. That largely involved overseeing real estate transactions, such as leasing city land to private entities and selling off excess right-of-way. We made certain those transactions would ultimately enrich citizens of Eden Prairie by diligently socking away parts of their proceeds into an economic development fund – a war chest, of sorts, for roadway, public transport, and other pressing infrastructure projects. Eden Prairie’s traffic would be nowhere near as pleasant as it is today were it not for those timely investments! The fund also helped us build Eden Prairie’s brand, so to speak, by creating entry monuments like the new one by southbound 494.
“The largest infrastructure project I worked on was also the largest in Minnesota history. I spent over ten years scrutinizing the Light Rail’s track and station placement, and communicating with property owners who would be affected. At this point, it looks like the trains should be fully operational by 2027 – around two years after my retirement.
“I shared a lot of challenges and triumphs during my thirty-nine years with the city. And I intend to keep sharing them as I spend part of my retirement volunteering with several of the great organizations I once worked alongside, including Eden Prairie Schools.
“And the other part? I think I’ll spend it ice fishing. Bike riding. Grilling. Just kicking back and enjoying the city I had the privilege of shaping, with the people I have the honor of calling my neighbors.”