Laserfiche WebLink
III CALLTO ACTION <br />Edina has a tradition of taking ac- <br />tion to meet its community ideals. <br />Edina's population more than dou- <br />bled in the 1920's, forcing village <br />government to adapt to new con- <br />ditions. Edina led the way in con- <br />trolling growth by using zoning or- <br />dinances long before any other <br />suburb,and <br />Edina was the <br />first Minne- <br />sota city to <br />employ a full- <br />time planner. <br />Consequently, <br />Edina ad- <br />dressed early <br />on what it was <br />and should be, <br />and estab- <br />lished the po- <br />litical and so- <br />cial tools to <br />facilitate its <br />Ideals. When most municipalities <br />struggled in the postwar period, <br />Edina had created a structure that <br />allowed it to adapt to rapid <br />changes more efficiently than most <br />suburban communities, laying the <br />groundwork for "successful subur- <br />banization." <br />During the postwar boom, Edina <br />retained its upper -middle-class <br />residential character, unlike many <br />similar communities. By 1970, <br />Edina held some of the highest me- <br />dian home values ($38,100) in the <br />metropolitan area. In response, <br />the Edina Housing and Redevelop- <br />ment Au- <br />t h o r i t y <br />(Edina HRA) <br />was estab- <br />lished in <br />1974 to un- <br />dertake ur- <br />ban redevel- <br />opment pro- <br />jects and as- <br />sist with the <br />development <br />of affordable <br />housing. The <br />Edina HRA <br />served as the <br />driving force behind many develop- <br />ment projects, Including the 50th <br />and France commercial area re- <br />newal, the Edinborough and Cen- <br />tennial Lakes mixed development <br />projects (where the City offered <br />second mortgages), and low- and <br />moderate -income housing at York- <br />