06B - Pequot Lakes Commuter Shed

Home Browse Search

Pequot Lakes Commuter Shed As part of implementing the Comprehensive Plan, we created a Commuter Shed map for the City of Pequot Lakes. The commuter shed indicates the area in which people are likely to travel from to work in Pequot Lakes. The closer a person lives to Pequot Lakes the more likely they are to work in the City, and the farther a person lives from the City the less likely they are to work in Pequot lakes. The Commuter Shed Map helps us understand the area that Pequot Lakes influences outside of the municipal borders. _ Of the 67 cities and townships that represent the workers in Pequot Lakes, slightly more than 20 percent of the people that work in Pequot Lakes also live in Pequot lakes. Another thirty percent of the workers come from just five other cities or townships: _ Breezy Point, Ideal Township, Nisswa, Brainerd, and Crosslake. The remaining sixty- one cities and townships represent the other half of the workers in Pequot Lakes, which range in an area from Saint Paul to Grand Forks. However, more than half of the workers live within a ten mile radius around Pequot Lakes. The Commuter Shed Map helps the City in three primary ways. First,the commuter shed shows how far people are willing to travel to work. With this information, new and existing businesses know where workers are likely to come from and, subsequently, businesses know where to focus their recruiting. Secondly,the commuter shed data is a good indicator of the commercial service area. The commercial service area is the region in which businesses can expect to attract their primary customer base. That data helps businesses know where they should focus advertising and it helps businesses determine if people within the commercial service area are getting the local services they desire. The question this data brings about is how do we attract more customers into Pequot Lakes? Finally, now that we know that 21 percent of the people that work in the City also live in Pequot Lakes, it allows us to explore why the other 79 percent of the workers choose to live elsewhere. This is of particular interest when the state average of living and working in the same town is nearly 37 percent. What do these workers think is missing from Pequot Lakes that encourages them to live elsewhere (i.e. housing, services, recreation, education, etc.)? Having people work and live in the City may cut down on traffic congestion, reduce gasoline consumption, and spur economic development in the form of enhanced services and more housing within the City of Pequot Lakes. What can be done to draw these workers into the City? That is the next step in this process.