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r~ ~~ Existing Land Use Residential Neighborhoods Of the non-institutional land in Falcon Heights, the majority is residential, mostly single family homes. The single family residential district is divided into six distinct neighborhoods by the University of Minnesota fields and by Snelling and Larpenteur Avenues. Most of the housing was constructed between 1940 and 1990. Multi-family buildings are distributed along portions of Larpenteur Avenue, most between Fairview and Pascal, and there is a large complex of attached single-family homes on the University campus at the southwest corner of the City. Housing is discussed in detail in the Housing section of the plan. Commercial Land With the exception of a small neighborhood business center at the northwest corner of Hamline and Hoyt Avenues, all of the land zoned for commercial and business uses in Falcon Heights is located along Larpenteur Avenue, a major east-west thoroughfare. Most of this land is concentrated at the four corners of the Snelling-Larpenteur intersection, the City's central business district. Two other business zones of significant size are the Twin Cities Cooperative Credit Union/Stanford Office Park area on Prior Avenue near City Hall and Hermes Nursery, the last survivor in Falcon Heights of the flower nurseries for which Larpenteur Avenue was once known. The remaining business properties are small parcels on the edges of residential neighborhoods, intended to be • used for local neighborhood businesses. Falcon Heights has no land zoned for industrial use. Further discussion is located in the Business and Commercial chapter of the Land Use section. Mixed Use The most significant change in land use in Falcon Heights in the last 15 years is the conversion of 4.9 acres from commercial to mixed residential and commercial use, with the redevelopment of the southeast corner of Snelling and Larpenteur Avenues. Falcon Heights Town Square includes 119 rental aparhnents, 76 senior rental apartments, 14 owner-occupied townhomes and 12,000 square feet of commercial space. Another large commercial property, the corporate offices of Twin Cities Cooperative Federal Credit Union, has also been designated "Mixed Use Commercial" by the Metropolitan Council (2005) because of the establishment of a weekly farmer's market, operating from May through October. A popular and busy destination during the summer, this market is the first opportunity for City residents to purchase food within Falcon Heights since the City's last small grocery/convenience store closed in the 1990s. The market is a convenient pedestrian destination for residents west of Fairview. Parks, playgrounds and public open space Park and playground acreage increased slightly between 1991 and 2005, due to the closing of a portion of the east Snelling Drive frontage road and the incorporation of that land into Curtiss Field, one of the City's two neighborhood parks. Although the City's • park acreage is low for its population, it should be noted that the University of Minnesota's Les Bolstad Golf Course, as well as the campus and the grounds and Falcon Heights Comprehensive Plan 2008 Draft -January, 2008 Part II: Land Use & Housing, Page II-6