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suggest this is not a trend likely to continue,which will have large cash-flow implications for Formatted:Font:Calibri,Bold <br /> the City. Formatted:Left,Indent:First line: <br /> 0.25", No bullets or numbering <br /> ➢ •Higher energy costs.Higher energy costs will dramatically change life in Pequot Lakes.Over Formatted:Font:Calibri,Bold <br /> — — <br /> 70%of the food consumed in Minnesota comes from outside of Minnesota,so energy costs Deleted:while Minnesota's central <br /> will dramatically impact the cost of food.Every business in Pequot Lakes currently relies on Lakes Region is experiencing <br /> automobiles to deliver their patrons,so current business models will be challenged.Nearly development, <br /> unprecedented a number growth and <br /> development,a number of <br /> 40%of Peguot's residents are seasonal and there is still a large transient population during communities in the region are <br /> tourist season all of whom will have their mobility decisions challenged.While it is true that following national trends and see" <br /> to revitalize,or in some instances <br /> higher energy prices present tremendous opportunities,those will only be realized with a recreate,their historic downtowns. <br /> change from the status quo. These efforts have varying advantages <br /> and disadvantages.1 <br /> Deleted:Developers in the City of <br /> To be successful in this new age the City must reorient its initiatives to focus on obtaining a higher Baxter are attempting to build an <br /> return on the public's investments.Nowhere is the disparity greater between the City's financial auto-oriented"downtown"amongst <br /> obligations and the revenue generated by those investments than the neighborhoods surrounding the thebiions reforming in Brainerd o <br /> Coalitions are forming in Brainerd to <br /> historic downtown. focus efforts on revitalizing that has <br /> suffered from years of deterioration. <br /> Nisswa,its popular historic <br /> Revitalizing the downtown of Pequot Lake_s and the neighborhoods that surround it is critical to downtown limited by surrounding <br /> the lone-term financial health of the City. development,is considering <br /> establishing a new and separate <br /> downtown area that would resemble <br /> This plan is an update of an earlier effort that was never formally adopted but was instrumental in borrowing page from Nxlake, <br /> borrowing a page from the New <br /> shaping City policy over the past six years.It details the rational and strategy for renewing downtown Urbanist movement,is working to <br /> Pequot Lakes and the surrounding neighborhoods.It is a practical plan that is in touch with the new establishtythat asnon rural <br /> community that has no natural <br /> realities facing the City. center.$ <br /> Only Pequot Lakes has the <br /> And in that context it is important to note that the difficult economy can actually assist us in our combination of desire and the ease of <br /> revitalization efforts For example the typical family spends$7,000 per year for each automobile they <br /> opportunity do mown dreams ofa <br /> destination downtown into reality. <br /> utilize Where Pequot Lakes can offer a family a high quality of life that only requires them to own one The existing Pequot Lakes downtown, <br /> car,the resulting savings can pay fora$108,000 mortgage.By focusing on this hypothetical family—and centered on the former railroad stop, <br /> has the natural pattern of the historic <br /> what would allow the want live in the downtown neighborhoods of Pequot Lakes without needing downtown.A stable base of quality <br /> that second car—we ca art to see a path to renewed private-sector investment. which growth provides tld anchor <br /> Thereis <br /> which growth can build.There is <br /> ample room for expansion,which can <br /> Pequot Lakes is already a great place to live with a downtown area that has much to offer.Building be supported year-round by the <br /> residential neighborhoods within <br /> on this will not be difficult in a physical sense.Our greatest challenge is not physical,however,but walking distance. Pending highway <br /> social We must collectively adapt to the changing world around us acknowledging that we can't bring improvements will make Pequot <br /> back what we never really had Instead we must realize that we have the capacity—here in Pequot Lakes The more park accessible largely <br /> area.The trail park is a largely <br /> Lakes—to build a future that is even better than what we dreamed at the height of our"prosperity". untapped amenity that few <br /> downtowns can provide.The <br /> This is our challenge. advantages all of this gives Pequot <br /> Lakes are enormous.1 <br /> 9 <br /> . - - The cost of the downtown <br /> improvements proposed in this <br /> report,though daunting,should not <br /> be an obstacle. Much of the roughly <br /> $4.5 million needed to fully <br /> implement the plan includes street <br /> improvements that are necessary <br /> regardless of the City's approach to <br /> the downtown.The ability to identify <br /> and make value-added improvements <br /> during what would otherwise be <br /> maintenance projects gives the City <br /> an opportunity to make wise 1 <br /> Pequot Lakes Downtown Plan—Updated June 2011 2 <br />