An interesting debate broke out on both WCCO Radio and Twitter on Thursday between a few staffers. What are the limits of the Twin Cities' suburbs?
Blois Olson, WCCO's Political Analyst, said, "Yes, Waconia is a suburb so is Monticello. Mindset of the residents, types of stores, and where residents commute, sports conferences, new home building. Exurb is the alternative, but don't be so urban minded."
WCCO Director of Content Lindsey Peterson added agreement, saying, "I grew up near Monticello, live fairly close to Waconia now. Both are suburbs. If there is a significant number of commuters there (and there are in both), it's a suburb. But I'd say both are on the far edge of the 'burbs."
From there, it bled over into Cory's radio show. Is Hudson, WI a suburb? What about Stillwater? Or Lino Lakes? Lakeville? Cory says no way. They are too far outside the core metro area. He basically draws a circle from Elk River to Rogers, St. Michael, then Mound, Chaska, Prior Lake, Lakeville, Cottage Grove, Lake Elmo, White Bear Lake up to Anoka. "Beyond that, you're just a smaller town, not a suburb," says Hepola.
Cory also mentioned that you have to "go through pasture after pasture to get there" when discussing Waconia. Technically, there are pastures and farms in what are clear suburbs including Plymouth, Bloomington, or even towns as close to the core metro as Brooklyn Park. That can't be a differentiating point.
Hepola's strict sense of the suburban area wasn't held by News Anchor Adam Carter who said yes to Waconia being a suburb. "If most people in that town work in the metro area, then it is a suburb." Carter added that being there for the governor's fishing opener in 2013 convinced him it was suburban.
It ended up being discussed on Chad Hartman's show as well (fully taking over the WCCO airwaves), and he vociferously disagrees with Carter on Waconia, saying it's "too far away". Hartman did think Stillwater and Hudson are suburbs though.
Harvard actually wrote an entire study about it in 2012 with 24 full pages of examination.
Wikipedia defines it as, "A mixed-use or residential area, existing either as part of a city or urban area or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city."
What is commuting distance though? There are people that communte well over an hour each day, easily extending the MSP suburbs into what are clearly rural communities. Is it a certain commute time? Well, then it matters if you have easy freeway access, traffic patterns, what time you go to work. That's without even bringing up the pandemic, working from home, less cars on the road, etc. Way too complicated.
MSP's Metropolitan Statistical area as defined by the census makes it the 14th largest in the United States at over 3.7 million residents. That number includes many surrounding counties that should be considered far outside the suburban area, such as Sibley County, Mille Lacs County, and Le Seuer County.
What if we just limit it to the counties that are under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council? That limits it to Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, Anoka, Washington, Scott and Carver counties. That, however, eliminates Elk River, Hudson, and a few other towns that most would now consider "suburban". But it would include a town as far from the metro area as Henderson, Hamburg, Norwood Young America, and Scandia that are definitely not suburbs.
So, is Monticello a suburb? The question remains officially unanswered. Chad says yes. Cory says no. What do you say? The debate continues on our Facebook and Twitter pages if you want to let your voice be heard.