We're proud of what we've been able to achieve within the short period of our existence.
We list a few of these accomplishments here.

Minnesota Business for Balanced Growth
Unfortunately, this project was not selected to receive continued funding at this time. However, the completed phases of the project laid the groundwork for organizing a number of significant Minnesota businesses into a group focused on Balanced Growth.  Over 40 companies participated in roundtable discussions on how to come together around a common mission statement and a set of working principles.  The businesses are concerned about maintaining Minnesota's high quality of life standards during a period of unprecedented rapid population growth in the state. We hope to revive this project in the near future. Find out more.

Voices for the Land
We sponsored these essays about the beauty of our state, written by Minnesotans and published by us for general distribution.  An anthology was published in 2002 through a partnership between 1000 Friends and The Minnesota Historical Society. Voices for the Land: Minnesotans Write About the Places They Love celebrates Minnesota's treasured landscape through heartfelt essays and beautiful photographs taken by Star Tribune photojournalist Brian Peterson. Find out more.

VOICES FOR THE CITY
We sponsored a third essay contest, Voices for the City to get young people and city residents to commemorate the unique characteristics of the city that make it a great place to live and work.  A Voices for the City chapbook was published with the winning essays. Find out more.

Smart Growth Network
We organized Minnesota’s Smart Growth Network, a broad and diverse coalition of over 40 organizations teaming up to help Minnesota grow responsibly and sensibly. Find out more.

Smart Growth Design Awards
We sponsored these awards that are given to outstanding examples of residential and mixed developments in urban, suburban and rural settings that embrace the principles and spirit of Smart Growth.

Smart Growth Conference
We organized three Smart Growth conferences with about 1,500 people from throughout the state in attendance. We secured Maryland Governor Parris Glendening to speak about the innovative Smart Growth policies in his state at one of the conferences.  Governor Ventura also spoke at two of the conferences.

community based planning act
We created and helped pass the first statewide land-use planning framework in the Upper Midwest.  This legislation has encouraged dozens of cities, townships and counties across the state to work together to vigorously plan for what they want their communities and countryside to look like.

COMMUNITY VISIONING
We are one of a few nonprofits in the country to receive a limited release of Community Viz software from the Orton Family Foundation.  This software is an innovative tool to facilitate more informed and inclusive land use decisions.  We have used our Community Viz technology to successfully lead rural communities facing rapid urbanization through an extensive and inclusive visioning process. Find out more.

Purchase of Development Rights and Transfer of Development Rights
We set up Minnesota’s first Purchase of Development Rights and Transfer of Development Rights programs.

Green Corridor
We encouraged a collaborative of agencies and organizations to begin the process of creating a permanently protected corridor of green space.  At our initiative, Washington and Chisago Counties, the Minnesota Farmers Union, the Trust for Public Land, the Minnesota Land Trust, and the Rural Community Initiative came together to get this job done. Find out more.

Land Patterns Newsletter
We publish a quarterly newsletter for our members and important decision makers, informing them about our current activities and alerting them to important land development situations in Minnesota.

On-Site Assistance
We provide assistance, resources, training and support to communities, local and state policy makers and citizens as they attempt to meet the challenges of rapid growth.

Legislative Efforts
We help create and pass state policies that enable local units of government to more proactively protect open space and protect farmers from assessments related to urbanization.  We also encourage forms of legislation that will protect Minnesota’s natural beauty and open spaces.

Illustrative Sprawl Maps
Utilizing the Geographic Information Systems, we created a set of five color maps that dramatically illustrate the sprawling development of the Twin Cities from 1970 to the present and projected out to 2020.

The Sprawl Primer
We created and distributed this attractive, fact-laden folder of information on sprawl that provides tools for citizen activists and local officials who are fighting on the front lines against urban sprawl.

Many Miscellaneous Individual Projects
We can list dozens of interesting, individual projects in which we have been involved – from preventing a road from being built through the middle of a farmer’s field in Hastings to conducting “cost of community services” studies in Independence, Lake Elmo and Farmington.  Members of our staff were involved in the founding of the Minnesota Land Trust and in setting up the Minnesota Environmental Fund.  We participated in the Growth Management Leadership Alliance (GMLA) as the Minnesota affiliate and in the year 2002 our President served as President of GMLA.  We produced and published a number of videos and educational material about sprawl, planning and land-use issues.  We conduct regular educational and informational forums that are open to the public.

We believe we are a great friend to Minnesota and our efforts are aimed at keeping this state as beautiful as it is now – a great place to live for ourselves and for future generations.

Return to the top