Letter to the Editor: Former Mayors are Pleased with Hovland’s Leadership

“As former Mayors of Edina, Dennis Maetzold and I are quite pleased with how the City of Edina has grown and improved under the leadership of Mayor Jim Hovland. 

Edina was created as a car-centric suburb with an abundance of beautiful neighborhoods and parks. While sidewalks were prevalent in some parts of town, many neighborhoods lacked safe ways to move around in a non-motorized way. We have watched as Edina has evolved into an ever more livable, walkable community, separating people from traffic, with more green spaces, especially in the Southdale District.  Neighborhoods within a walkable distance of 50th and France are experiencing regeneration as new houses replace 60-70 year old homes. With Small Area Plans for areas like 44th and France, 50th & France, Valley View and Wooddale, we are seeing more beautiful, prosperous neighborhoods.

In the early 2000’s the Southdale District and Southdale Mall were in steep decline. To spark renewal, the City assisted a $45 million mall renovation with a small amount of TIF and now, without TIF, they are expending $400 million on further expansion. Kowalski’s has shown its confidence in the area by adding a 32,000 sq ft grocery store to the mall. The enhanced density in the area has made this growth possible and doubled the market value of property in the past decade to over $18 billion, while still maintaining some of the lowest property taxes in the Metro. The City continues to be fiscally responsible as evidenced by our double AAA bond rating maintained now for over 24 years.

Edina is a fantastic community. There are good reasons we are in high demand as a place to live, to send kids to school, and grow a business. Edina is safe, strong, and economically healthy. Our citizens care about excellence and together we keep finding ways to make it better and better. We keep moving forward, with an eye to our future, executing the vision that we created together. Let’s keep our strong momentum moving forward and reelect Jim Hovland as our Mayor on November 5, 2024.”

Fred Richards, Former Mayor of Edina