EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA

(Redirected from Eden Prairie)

'Eden Prairie' is a second ring suburb located southwest of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota, USA. It is home to more than 2,200 businesses, including Supervalu, ADC Telecommunications, MTS Systems Corporation and the Minnesota Vikings. In 2006, Eden Prairie was selected as the 10th best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine.[1] The city has more than of multi-use trails, of parks, and of open space.

Contents
History
Naming Eden Prairie
Geography
Demographics
Politics
Economy
Education
Public schools
Charter schools
Private schools
Colleges
Notable natives
Trivia
References
External links

History


For most of its existence, Eden Prairie has been a slow-growing, pastoral village on the far southwestern fringes of the Twin Cities area. Between 1880 and 1960, Eden Prairie’s population grew by only 1,300 people, from 739 to 2,000.
Native Americans were the first to live in the area. In 1851, a treaty opened land west of the Mississippi River to settlement allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie. The town board of Eden Prairie held its first meeting in a log school house on May 11, 1858, the same day Minnesota became a state. However, Eden Prairie's farming community grew slowly over the years. Flying Cloud Airport was the first sign of big development in 1946. The 1960s and 1970s were decades of growth for the City's parks and recreation system. In the mid-70's, the community earned a higher profile with the addition of Interstate 494 and the Eden Prairie Shopping Center. Eden Prairie became a Village in 1962 and a Statutory City in 1974.
Naming Eden Prairie

The City owes its name to Elizabeth Fries Ellet, an East Coast writer who visited the area in 1852. In her travelogue book, ''Summer Rambles in the West. By Mrs. Ellet.'' she described the Minnesota River valley, which adjoins the current day City of Eden Prairie, as the garden spot of the territory[2].

Geography


"The Edge, Eden Prairie, MN" (Chris Faust, 1990)

Eden Prairie is located approximately southwest of Minneapolis along the northern side of the Minnesota River. It is located at at an elevation of 906 feet (276 m).
The land in Eden Prairie consists of rolling hills and bluffs overlooking the Minnesota River with zones of prairie and mixed (primarily deciduous) forests.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.2 square miles (91.2 km²)—32.4 square miles (83.9 km²) of it is land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²) of it (8.04%) is water.

Demographics


As of the census² of 2000, there were 54,901 people (though it is now estimated that there are more than 65,000 people), 20,457 households, and 14,585 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,695.1 people per square mile (654.4/km²). There were 21,026 housing units at an average density of 649.2 per square mile (250.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.66% White, 2.28% African American, 0.21% Native American, 4.82% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 1.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.57% of the population.
There were 20,457 households out of which 42.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.3% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.20.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 35.6% from 25 to 44, 22.9% from 45 to 64, and 4.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $78,328, and the median income for a family was $93,258. Males had a median income of $62,303 versus $39,196 for females. The per capita income for the city was $38,854. About 2.8% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.9% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
Among highest income places in the United States of cities with population at least 50,000, Eden Prairie ranks #19 in per capita income ($38,854) and #23 in median household income ($78,328).

Politics


Eden Prairie is located in Minnesota's 3rd congressional district, represented by Jim Ramstad, a moderate Republican who scores 20% progressive[3] and 79% conservative [4] on a range of issues.

Economy


Today, Eden Prairie is home to more than 2,200 businesses, including many that specialize in communications and information technology.
Businesses in Eden Prairie
Fortune 500 Company Headquarters
Company Description
C.H. Robinson Worldwide shipping logistics
Supervalu grocery retail conglomerate
Other Company Headquarters
Company Description
ADC Telecommunications telecommunications and broadband hardware
Lifetouch school photography, church directories and portraits,Jcpenny's and Target studios and Flash digital photography.
Minnesota Vikings NFL football team
ShopNBC television shopping channel
Starkey Laboratories world's largest hearing aid manufacturer
Stratasys Manufacturer of FDM rapid prototyping machines
Companies With Major Facilities
Company Description
Bose ElectroForce Systems Group materials test instruments
Eaton Corporation, Hydraulics Division industrial hydraulics technologies
GE Capital Fleet Services commercial car leasing
Jasc Software developer of Paint Shop Pro, now a division of Corel
Emerson Process Management industrial measurement instrumentation, formerly Rosemount Engineering, now a division of Emerson
Stellent web content management software, recently acquired by Oracle Corporation
Former Company Headquarters
Company Description
Best Buy home electronics retail chain, relocated to Richfield, Minnesota in 2004
Famous Dave's of America chain of BBQ restaurants

Education


Public schools

The first school in Eden Prairie was Anderson School, a schoolhouse located near a farm. At the time of its construction, it was in the center of the city and thus an ideal spot. The old Eden Prairie Consolidated School, built in 1924, is now the school district Administration Building, and is located next to Central Kindergarten Center and Central Middle School.
Today the Eden Prairie currently operates nine schools. Unlike other school districts in the state, Eden Prairie has an intermediate school (Oak Point) for grades five and six. Eden Prairie High School is the largest high school in the state, with approximately 3,400 students, and is located on the grounds of Round Lake Park.
Public Schools in Eden Prairie
Kindergarten and Elementary School (Grades 1-4) Intermediate School (Grades 5-6) Junior High School (Grades 7-8) High School (Grades 9-12)
Central Kindergarten Center (CKC) Oak Point Central Middle School Eden Prairie High School
Cedar Ridge
Forest Hills
Prairie View
Eden Lake
Eagle Heights Spanish Immersion

#currently only Grades K and 1 in 2006-2007 school year
Charter schools

Eden Prairie has one publicly-funded charter school, Eagle Ridge Academy. This college preparatory school currently offers a rigorous classical, liberal arts curriculum to grades 6-11, with 12th grade being added in the 2007 – 2008 school year. The first graduating class for Eagle Ridge Academy will be the Class of 2008.
Private schools

Eden Prairie has one private school, The International School of Minnesota, which offers a private education for students in grades preschool through 12.
Colleges

There are three technical colleges in Eden Prairie:

Hennepin Technical College has an enrollment of roughly 7,000 full and part time students.

ITT Technical Institute[1] specializes in courses on information technology, electronics, and drafting and design. ITT Technical Institute has an enrollment of approximately 170 students.

Rasmussen College specializes in business management, health, and technology. This campus opened on July 3, 2006 and replaced its former location in Minnetonka.

Notable natives



Laurie Coleman, actress and wife of United States Senator Norm Coleman

Lúcia Moniz, Portuguese actress and singer (attended Eden Prairie High School)

Allison Pottinger, world champion curler (current resident)

Robert Remus, aka Sgt. Slaughter wrestler (former long-time Eden Prairie resident)

Andrew Alberts, National Hockey League player

Mark LeVoir, National Football League player

Jay Foreman, National Football League player

Alla Ilushka, beauty queen and Miss USA 2007 contestant

Leith Anderson, president of the U.S. National Association of Evangelicals

Trivia



★ The cult television comedy series, ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'', was originated here by Joel Hodgson, and Eden Prairie is home to the show's production company Best Brains, Inc.

★ The cult movie comedy ''Mallrats'' was filmed at the Eden Prairie Center mall (before remodeling).

★ Scenes of the mockumentary comedy ''Drop Dead Gorgeous'' were filmed in the Eden Prairie Center mall parking lot, which is claimed to be the parking lot of the nearby Mall of America in the movie. The water tower with the clock is visible in the background.

★ In the movie ''Fargo'', the character Mike Yanagita lives in Eden Prairie and comments on the city's school district while dining with Marge at the Radisson[5].

★ The movie features fictitious Eden Hall Academy, whose name crosses Eden Prairie with Cretin-Derham Hall.

★ The Prince film, ''Graffiti Bridge'', got its title from an actual railroad bridge in northern Eden Prairie that crossed over Valley View Road. It was legal to spray graffiti on the bridge, and when the movie came out, a large mural of Prince was featured on the bridge. The bridge was torn down in the early 1990s when Valley View Road needed to be widened (the road narrowed to one lane under the bridge, with each direction of traffic taking turns to pass under)[6]. When the bridge was torn down, pieces of the bridge were sold as mementos along with a miniature newspaper article about the bridge.

★ The Heaven's Gate Cult hosted their website, www.heavensgatetoo.com (mirror of the original web site), with an Eden Prairie-based Internet service provider, Spacestar Communications, for the year prior to the cult's mass suicide in 1997. The web site detailed the organization's religious beliefs and included a 72-chapter book. It is believed that Spacestar Communications was chosen as an ISP due to its name meshing with the cult's religious beliefs. No other connection to Minnesota is known.[7]

★ On March 4, 2002, President George W. Bush visited Eden Prairie High School, announcing his Quality Teacher Initiative [8].

★ The Planes of Fame East air museum was located at Flying Cloud Airport until December 1997, at which time all of the museum's vintage airplanes were moved to Chino, California.[9].

References


1. Money Best Places to Live 2006
2. Ellet, E. F. (Elizabeth Fries) (1853). ''Summer Rambles in the West. By Mrs. Ellet''. New York: J. C. Riker.
3. ProgressivePunch Leading with the Left
4. Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005
5. Coen & Coen, ''Fargo'', a screen play by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (1996)
6. New York Times, Lovers of Graffiti Rally To Save an Old Bridge, New York Times, February 25, 1990.
7. BizJournal, Spacestar aims high, ISP consultancy gets heaven's-sent P.R., Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, June 20, 1997.
8. Bush, G.W., President Launches Quality Teacher Initiative (White House Transcript), Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie, MN, March 4, 2002.
9. WotN, Wings of the North Museum Project

External links



The City of Eden Prairie

Eden Prairie Independent School District #272

Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce



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