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My Urban Environment

Amanda Stadther

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July 29th, 2014 - 05:09 PM

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My Urban Environment

By Amanda Stadther
Richfield, Minnesota. Some citizens can trace its origins to 1890 - 194 years ago. I have lived here for just 18 months.
A former agricultural town Minnesota's oldest suburb is one-tenth the size it used to be having been gradually swallowed up by neighboring high profile cities including Minneapolis and Bloomington.
Today it is home to 35,000 people, including young families, retirees, an expanding Hispanic community and electronic giant Best Buy's corporate headquarters.
Minneapolis-St Paul Airport and the Mall of America sit just across the city boundary with Bloomington.
Richfield is only five miles south of downtown Minneapolis, for the most part pretty safe and close to several large freeways.
Not surprisingly it seems everyone wants to live here with homes often changing hands in days, not weeks. Some not even advertised, selling by word of mouth alone.

I walk a lot. To some (like my husband) my daily walk of seven miles around Richfield seems excessive but I have certainly got to know this city in a way you wouldn't by driving around. I often have my camera, hoping to capture images from the past that are still relevant today.
Many times I come upon scenes that have a 1970's feel to them like the local bowling alley with classic cars from that era parked outside. Richfield High School with its football stadium seemingly straight out of the movie "Grease." Homes - simple but with immaculate gardens and lawns. Obviously much treasured and adored.
Some residents, like my husband, were born and raised here. His father, a butcher, had a store which is now part of a strip mall, its new occupants, a cable television company and pizza joint. A Hispanic Day Care in a building which had been a gas station and a bakery in its previous lives.
For some residents of Richfield change is not coming easily. A local private catholic school must sell off some valuable land adjacent to a Dairy Queen and Best Buy outlet. They say it is the only way they can pay off a $9 million debt. Those with banners protesting the sale made the evening news.
For others spending money does not sit well. In 2012 members of the Richfield High School Board decided to ignore public opposition and went ahead with a plan to spend $200,000 on lights for the school's baseball field. Richfield voters have a long memory and many board members were shown the door at election time.
Some of these photographs I have taken of my new hometown are for a photography competition run by the Richfield Arts Commission. They are looking for images to use as publicity for the city. Not much in the way of prizes but plenty of local glory for the winner!

amandastadther.com
kiwionline.us

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