Here is the solution to Lake Minnetonka tourism. Create biking and walking trails, similar to the Minneapolis lakes, at the waters edge. People will flock to the trails and spend days riding bikes from town to town. Now, all you have to do is get the 1% to give up thirty feet of lakeshore.

Money, money, money. Sounds like more towns interested in catering to the dollar than their residents.

There's already enough people out here and if folks don't know about all the great things around the lake, so much the better. It's always a lot quieter around Minnetonka after the drunks go home at the end of summer.

my son just got married and the reception was at the lafayette club; my nephew is getting married at gale woods farms. in both cases there are NO nearby hotels; a resort near mound would be fantastic.

Really, I don't think this lake needs MORE boats and people on it. Saturdays and Sundays are just too busy on the east end of the lake. I'm getting older and I still like a bit of the action, but it's always so wavy and busy on the weekends. I've grown to love going boating, waverunning, and water skiing on weekdays. With the water temp so high this year, I've kind of given up on the lake until it cools off as well.

It is the old story of wealthy residents against more public use. The wealthy understandably want to keep the lake as private as possible. And,they have done a pretty good job, considering. If you don't believe this, try to find convenient, affordable parking in, for example, Excelsior, on a nice summer's day. Streets and roads around the lake are festooned with No Parking signs. In a way you have to admire the wealthy, it is hard to maintain privacy in such an urban area; on the other hand the lake should be a public asset available to those who cannot afford a cabin on a distant lake.

Back in the 80's our gang of teens thought Excelsior was THE place to hang out in the summer. I don't even consider Lake Minnetonka a place to go anymore. It needs to be developed responsibly(not just throwing up cookie cutter hotels) Trails to bike. The Lake needs to be managed better because it is so busy. These lake towns needs to start promoting their areas. I would have no idea where to go in Mound to get on the lake. Are there shopping and restaurants near the lake in Mound? Wayzata? This resource is way under developed.

It's about time Lake Minnetonka became more "public" oriented. Back in the 60's 70's there were more places to enjoy along the lake and as the super rich bought the shoreland less and less of the real people had access. I realize we cannot go back to the days of huge hotels and resorts with trains, trails and cabins, but give it back to the public. Excelsior was a big attraction every weekend with the roller coaster, pavillion and main street vendors appealing to the common man.

@meemaa, all the stuff you want is there, it just takes a little looking.

I grew up in Mound in the '70s and I try to go back as little as possible. They keep tearing down the old character of the town to build new, which just makes it look like every other new suburb. Years ago they plowed under the old high school, built about 1917 and the landmark for the town. What did they put up in its place? A strip mall, just like every other strip mall on the planet.

If you want to attract people, you need to have something unique that people can't get elsewhere. Destroying your old buildings isn't going to accomplish that goal.