Business View Civil Municipal - July 2023

233 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 WI LLMAR , MN traced back to the 1980s when local leaders made the strategic decision to relocate the municipal airport, formerly on the city’s edge, further west. This move, influenced by construction and maintenance considerations, sparked an intense desire to attract and retain commercial and industrial businesses. Now with a population of 21,000 residents nestled within a 44,000-person county, Willmar is the heart of business in west central Minnesota. Embracing the Outdoors and Diversity in Willmar One facet that might seem paradoxical about Willmar is its walkability score. “Our walk score has a considerable variance across the city,” states Justice Walker, the town’s Planning and Development Director, expressing the city’s spatial dichotomy. A few newly developed areas across the train tracks present isolation issues, affecting the overall walkability. But, inversely, Walker quickly highlights Willmar’s impressive