Woodbury ranked number one on Money Magazine's recent list of the most desirable places to live in the Central United States for cities under 100,000 in population.
A growing suburb in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, Woodbury is located 10 minutes east of downtown St. Paul, the state's capital. The city is in close proximity to Minnesota's largest employer, 3M, and to the St. Croix River Valley, providing a beautiful natural setting and year-round recreational opportunities.
Woodbury is known for its attractive residential neighborhoods, which are connected by more than 90 miles of multi-use trails and surrounded by 2,800 acres of dedicated park land.
Woodbury offers a variety of housing types including rental apartments, starter homes, executive housing and townhomes. At the end of 2001, 68 percent of the city's cumulative housing stock was single family homes, while 32 percent was attached housing (twinhomes, townhomes, condominiums and apartments.)
Woodbury provides flexible housing options that make it easy for citizens to become lifelong residents. Single family homes in many price ranges, executive homes, rural estates, townhomes and senior apartments are just some of the housing options providing choices for your family and for local employers' workforces.
Woodbury also is home to a thriving business community with major employers, such as State Farm Insurance, The Hartford, Assurant (formerly Fortis), TARGET.DIRECT, Woodwinds Health Campus, eFunds, and EcoWater Systems.
Several major shopping centers can be found in the city, making Woodbury the retail shopping hub of the east metro region.
Demographics
Woodbury is a vital and vibrant city, and as such, has been one of Minnesota's fastest growing cities for several years. Since the 1980 Census, the population has more than quadrupled, going from some 10,000 people to 46,463 people, according to the 2000 U.S. Census figures.
Population (current estimate): 54,346
Median age: 33
Racial breakdown: White, 90.0 percent; Asian, 5.0 percent; African-American, 2.5 percent; two or more races, 1.6 percent; Hispanic or Latino, 2.1 percent; American Indian, 0.2 percent.
Average family size: 3.20
Owner-occupied housing: 85.2 percent
Percentage of population with bachelor's degree or higher: 49.3 percent (compared with national average of 24.4percent)
Mean travel time to work: 23.9 minutes
Mean family income: $84,997
Average home sales price, 2004: $296,442
History of Woodbury
Originally named Red Rock, after a sacred stone supposedly painted by the famous Dakota Chief Little Crow, the town was renamed in 1859 when the state legislature discovered another Red Rock Township in Minnesota. Woodbury was named after Judge Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, a friend of the first town board chairman.
The first settlers came to Woodbury in 1844. Most of the area's early settlers migrated from the eastern states and from Germany. Immigrants also came from Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland and Denmark. Over the years the people of Woodbury have contributed in many ways to the rich heritage that the city enjoys today.
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Land Development and Agriculture
In 1844 the town was largely covered with timber. Clearing the land for farming required considerable time and labor. Wheat was the principal crop grown, as well as barley, corn, and potatoes; and later soybeans became a crop of major importance. Generally the land was rolling and very fertile, which was particularly conducive to dairy farming.
The 1950s introduced a new phase in agriculture. Farming technology resulted in controlled acreage, more fertilization, improved crop rotation and chemicals for pest control, making agriculture an even greater contributor to the local economy. In 1955 the first housing development, Woodbury Heights, was started. The 1960s brought another outlook for the farmer. Urban development spread out into the community and began to replace the farm land.
Urban development has continued as the metropolitan area looks eastward for living space. The city values its open spaces and natural resources and is taking steps to acquire and conserve several hundred acres in the undeveloped areas.
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Government
Woodbury was organized as a township in 1858. Town meetings were held in the homes of various residents until 1876, when the first town hall was built. Also in 1876, James Middleton was elected to represent the district in the state legislature. From the early years, Woodbury townspeople showed an interest in government.
With the increase in population and urban development in the 1960s, the residents felt a new form of government would best serve their needs. In 1967, voters approved village incorporation and chose the mayor-council form of government. With the new government came planning and park commissions, resulting in new steps to control the development and construction in the township.
The city's first comprehensive land use plan was developed in 1967. A new city hall was constructed to house the expanding administration and public services staff in 1975, approximately 100 years after the construction of the first town hall.
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Education
Even before the area was organized as a township, the first school opened its doors in 1855 in a small house owned by William Middleton. Between 1852 and 1868 seven schools were organized in Woodbury. Excellent teaching took place in these little, one-room schools, which had an average of 35 pupils representing all eight grades. After elementary school, some pupils continued their education at the St. Paul College.
In the 1950s, Woodbury rural schools were gradually phased out as state law mandated consolidation of rural districts. Most of the Woodbury schools joined the newly formed South Washington County School District 833. Portions of the city are served by the North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale District 622 and by the Stillwater School District 834. With consolidation, Woodbury had its first real high school.
As Woodbury has grown from the status of township and village to the present-day city, many new schools and educational facilities have been added. The schools, which the pioneers worked so hard to promote, laid the foundation for the excellent schools in Woodbury today.
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Library
The R.H. Stafford Library, a part of the Washington County Library system, is located at 8595 Central Park Place, in Woodbury.
Library hours are:
Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m.
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Where The Locals Go
The deli at Kowalski's; Target Greatland; Life Time Fitness or the Southeast Area YMCA; Cups 'N' Scoops, a coffee shop at Woodbury's Central Park; Tamarack Village Shops; Shops at Woodbury Lakes.
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Battle Of The Scrapbook Stores
Archiver's, a large Minnesota-based scrapbook chain, will be competing with a family-owned scrapbook store, Memory Mania, a large shop also in Woodbury.
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New Residential Development Highlight
Dancing Waters received a Best New Neighborhood award by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities' Bennie Awards. Besides upscale housing, the development features open spaces, trails, wetlands, woodlands and ponds. Its amenities include a swimming pool with a sundeck, a water court for children, a gazebo, basketball courts and perennial gardens. Housing options include single-family homes, villas, cottages, town homes and condos.
Stonemill Farms features traditional architecture reminiscent of the classic American farmhouse. Amenities will include parks, ponds and green space; a pool and a fitness and recreational center; a hockey rink and sliding hills; tennis courts.
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Mixed-Use Development
City Walk, in the southeast corner of Woodbury Drive and Hudson Road, just south of the former Prime Outlets, will consist of such commercial uses as office, retail, and restaurant uses (totaling about 203,000 square feet) as well as a potential flexible mix of rental/owner occupied housing units (between 540 and 602 units). The plan incorporates new urbanism concepts, such as pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, interconnected trail systems to the overall park system, vertical mixed land uses, transit-friendly features and coordinated architectural designs.
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Affordable Housing
The Woodbury Community Land Trust is a nonprofit organization formed with the goal of expanding Woodbury's affordable housing options.
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