Business View Magazine | November 2019

346 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 is the key that provided that opportunity for this new residential boom.” The Ravine Parkway Project is a backbone to the city’s East Ravine area. Planning started back in 2003 with the East Ravine Master Plan and different portions of the roadway have been built since that time. Overall, it is over seven miles long, with a mile-and-a-half stretch that will serve over 500 acres of new housing in the city – single family and medium-density residential. The Mayor notes, “Now that the roadway is finally open and people are driving on it, they’re seeing the vistas, the pedestrian bridges, the walkways, and the architectural features we’ve done. We have limestone monuments, our own logo that is very specific to the Parkway, and we planted 436 trees and 800 perennials and shrubs. Just in this one area, it’s absolutely amazing. Now, developers are clamoring for property around there; coming forward with proposals for properties that abut this new roadway.” Running through part of the property is Military Road; in the olden days, an active road for settlers and the military moving through Cottage Grove to either Fort Snelling or the capital in St. Paul. It is a Washington County road and the city opted to work with them to create the Ravine Parkway while keeping the historical nature of Military Road. It has now been transformed into a trail system with educational and historical signage throughout, so people who are walking or biking will learn the history and be part of what used to be a significant access point in the early settler days. Since the Parkway project began in 2003, there have been little tweaks with building design standards, but the core idea – the look of it, the feel of it, the trail access, the historical nature – has resonated from council to council and staff to staff over the years. “Now we’re celebrating another leg of holding out for what was best for our community and what will be really cool for the future of Cottage Grove,” says Bailey. Manufacturing is a major industry in the city. The recent significant expansion by Renewal by City Administrator, Jennifer Levitt