so Met Council, the regional planning & development agency didn't see this coming? Wow, maybe they're the ones that should be re-evaluated for progress toward goals not me. Instead of putting the unused money in the bank they're re-writing the rules and giving the money away for other uses? Brillant, throw good money after bad, knowing full well none of it will go toward the plans actually approved. Your tax money at work

Interesting, NewsMan, since you could easily find the following statement on the "about" page of the Met Council's web site: "The 17-member Metropolitan Council has 16 members who each represent a geographic district and one chair who serves at large. They are all appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor. The State Senate confirms Council member appointments." Do you think Gov. Pawlenty knows he's a bleeding heart liberal? One of the worst parts of the STRIB nowadays is the idiotic uneducated comments by SOME of the folks who seem to have nothing else to do but to make up stories that aren't true and attribute any and everything they don't like to Liberals. How about not wasting our time with statements that have nothing to do with reality?

Interesting, NewsMan, since you could easily find the following statement on the "about" page of the Met Council's web site: "The 17-member Metropolitan Council has 16 members who each represent a geographic district and one chair who serves at large. They are all appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor. The State Senate confirms Council member appointments." Do you think Gov. Pawlenty knows he's a bleeding heart liberal? One of the worst parts of the STRIB nowadays is the idiotic uneducated comments by SOME of the folks who seem to have nothing else to do but to make up stories that aren't true and attribute any and everything they don't like to Liberals. How about not wasting our time with statements that have nothing to do with reality?

There's a silver lining in every cloud and this is the silver lining in the housing slump. And yes, Pawlenty is a liberal. So is Norm Colman for that matter.

I'm not living there. No fool, me.

As a Burnsville resident, the Heart of the City is a major failure. A vast majority of the "affordable" housing is vacant and not affordable, they are building a performing arts center that has been proven by multiple sources to be a non-viable project and now they want to build a baseball stadium? For the love of money, Burnsville is a bedroom community, not a urban center, and it will never be an urban center. The only thing that will help the 'south of the river' suburbs is to bring light rail across the river, build bike paths, install sidewalks and have better mass transit. Bottom line, the suburbs are just that, they are NOT URBAN anything.....

Why do these 'Livable Communities' always need grants? What about the people who already own homes there? Isn't that already a community, and they are living there. This is just another disgusting liberal project to create section 8 housing.

Cut me some slack folks...Maybe take a vacant lot, plant some trees and have some green space mixed into this vision of manmade hell.

I often wonder why city leaders such as those of Apple Valley wish to create a 'viable' downtown? I moved South of the Metro to get away from urbanization, apartment plexes, baseball stadium taxes, and the Met Council and its transit buses. I like my bedroom community. If you don't like it, don't move here and try to change it, stay where you are!

nemaroller, I guess it's time for you to pack up and move again - further south?