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➢ Higher energy costs. Higher energy costs will dramatically change life in Pequot Lakes.Over 70%of the food consumed in Minnesota comes from outside of Minnesota,so energy costs will dramatically impact the cost of food. Every business in Pequot Lakes currently relies on automobiles to deliver their patrons,so current business models will be challenged. Nearly 40%of PequoYs residents are seasonal and there is still a large transient population during tourist season,all of whom will have their mobility decisions challenged.While it is true that higher energy prices present tremendous opportunities,those will only be realized with a change from the status quo. To be successful in this new age,the City must reorient its initiatives to focus on obtaining a higher return on the public's investments. Nowhere is the disparity greater between the City's financial obligations and the revenue generated by those investments than the neighborhoods surrounding the historic downtown. Revitalizing the downtown of Pequot Lakes and the neighborhoods that surround it is critical to the long-term financial health of the City. This plan is an update of an earlier effort that was never formally adopted but was instrumental in shaping City policy over the past nine years. It details the rational and strategy for renewing downtown Pequot Lakes and the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a practical plan that is in touch with the new realities facing the City. And in that context, it is important to note that the di�cult economy can actually assist us in our revitalization efforts. For example,the typical family spends$7,000 per year for each automobile they utilize.Where Pequot Lakes can offer a family a high quality of life that only requires them to own one car,the resulting savings can pay for a$108,000 mortgage. By focusing on this hypothetical family—and what would allow them to live in the downtown neighborhoods of Pequot Lakes without needing that second car—we can start to see a path to renewed private-sector investment. Pequot Lakes is already a great place to live,with a downtown area that has much to offer. Building on this will not be difficult in a physical sense.Our greatest challenge is not physical, however, but social.We must collectively adapt to the changing world around us,acknowledging that we can't bring back what we never really had. Instead,we must realize that we have the capacity—here in Pequot Lakes—to build a future that is even better than what we dreamed at the height of our"prosperit�'. This is our challenge. Pequot Lakes Downtown Plan—Updated November 2oi4 3