Fact Sheet #1
The Green Corridor Project…
Keeping Open Spaces for Tomorrow
The Green Corridor Project is dedicated to helping the residents of Washington and Chisago Counties keep the beautiful countryside, farmland, and special natural areas that make this a great place to live.
Green corridors are areas of farmland, natural areas, scenic areas and other open spaces that are linked together throughout the community. Green Corridors help communities keep the landscape they love while accommodating growth. This is achieved through incentive-based programs that provide interested landowners with new options.
Open Space: Save It or Say Goodbye
Our communities are growing very fast. We can continue to grow and thrive, but we need to plan proactively for where we want growth to go. If we don't, we can say goodbye to the landscape we love.
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Every day in Minnesota, an area the size of the Mall of America is paved over.
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Minnesota is the fastest growing state in the upper Midwest.
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The 13-county Twin Cities area is the fastest growing metropolitan region from the northern plains to the eastern seaboard.
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This metropolitan area also is one of the most sprawling (land and resource consuming) of the top 25 metro regions in the country.
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Washington County is one of the fastest growing counties in the state and the country.
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By June 1994, Chisago County had already passed its projected population growth for the year 2000 by 41 percent.
Sprawl Costs Us All
Property taxes continue to increase in Minnesota, and more and more communities are finding that explosive, sprawling growth is part of the problem.
Growth can expand a community's tax base, but it also increases demand for costly roads, schools, police, fire, sewer and water lines and other services for which the community must pay. There is mounting evidence that inefficient, sprawling growth is actually a net drain on community tax coffers.
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Houses Cost More than Farms: A 1994 analysis of three Minnesota cities shows that residential development costs more tax dollars than it contributes in tax revenues. For every $1 paid in taxes, farmland demands $ .47 in services, while residential development demands $1.04 in services.
Tax revenuesCost of services demandedFarmland$1.00$ .47Residential development$1.00$1.04
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Sprawl Costs Taxpayers More: Economic research done in Minnesota shows that compact developments save taxpayer dollars because services can be provided more efficiently. In Wright County, when service costs of residential development were compared with the revenue they generated, low density residential development had a net deficit which was more than four times that of high density residential development.
Green Corridors Protect More than Open Space
Around the Midwest and throughout the country, green corridors have worked to help communities accommodate fast growth and still keep the landscapes they love. Green corridors provide connections between communities, between already protected lands, and between people and the land. Green corridors protect our green infrastructure, providing a legacy for future generations.
Communities in places from Massachusetts and Michigan to Colorado and Oregon have used green corridors to improve the appeal of neighborhoods and support their long-term tax base. Economic studies around the country have demonstrated proximity to open spaces, agricultural land, and parks boosts property values and enhances the appeal of neighborhoods.
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A study in Boulder, Colorado found that properties immediately next to green corridors had market values 32 percent more on average than similar properties without green corridors nearby.
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In Minnesota, 61 percent of property owners living next to the Luce Line Trail noted an increase in their property values. Realtors confirm that proximity to the trail enhances the appeal and selling value of property.
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An Oregon study found that urban land next to agricultural land was worth $1,200 more per acre that similar land 1,000 feet away.
Tools to Keep Open Spaces
The Green Corridor Project will help people keep the landscape we love using four incentive-based tools.
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Donated Conservation Easements
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Purchased Development Rights (PDR)
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Transferred Development Rights (TDR)
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Land Acquisition
For more information on these tools, refer to the other fact sheets in this series (see below).
The Green Corridor Project is dedicated to helping Washington and Chisago County residents keep the beautiful countryside, farmland, and special natural areas that make this a great place to live. The project is an independent network of the seven local public and private organizations listed on the front of this sheet. For more information, call 1000 Friends of Minnesota or any of the project collaborators.
Fact Sheets in This Series
#1 – The Green Corridor Project…Keeping Open Spaces for Tomorrow
#2 – The Land Protection Toolbox
#3 – Donated Conservation Easements
#4 – Purchase of Development Rights
#5 – Transfer of Development Rights
#6 – Land Acquisition
#7 – Financing Open Space Protection
Statistics for this fact sheet developed from: MN Dept. of Agriculture, American Farmland Trust, National Park Service,US Dept. of Agriculture, MN Dept. of Trade and Economic Development, US Census Bureau, Metropolitan Council, & MN Demographer's Office.
Funding for this project approved by the Minnesota Legislature: ML1997, Chapter 216, Section 15, subdivision 9(d) as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources, from the Environmental Trust Fund