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From YouTube: Bloomington Big Decisions – Parks and open space
Description
In this episode of Bloomington Big Decisions, we explore how Bloomington came to have so many parks and more than 11.5 square miles of open space.
A
Some
key
decisions
have
helped
make
Bloomington
a
successful
City.
Let's
take
a
deeper
look
at
how
those
big
decisions
were
made.
Hi
I'm,
Larry,
Lee
I
worked
for
the
city
for
40
years,
leading
the
community
development
department
as
Bloomington
grew
and
changed.
Today.
Let's
look
at
an
asset,
both
residents
and
visitors,
love,
Bloomington's,
extensive
parks
and
open
spaces.
Do
you
know
how
Bloomington
came
to
have
nearly
a
third
of
its
area
set
aside
for
open
space,
Greg
Ingram,
the
manager
of
parks
and
recreation
during
the
1990s
tells
us
the
story
when.
B
We've
done
this
so
much
open
space
for
a
lot
of
reasons.
One
is
because
I
think
of
the
exceptional
Natural
Resources
and
then
the
foresight
to
preserve
those
resources.
You
know
affording
parks
and
open
spaces
is
always
a
challenge,
but
in
Bloomington's
case
they
were
pretty
blessed
because
they
only
really
had
to
afford
or
pay
for
about
half
of
that.
B
A
These
factors
help
create
the
spacious
open,
green
landscape
we
enjoy.
Today,
Bloomington's
area
is
38
square
miles.
Eleven
and
a
half
square
miles
is
open
space
there
are
about
a
hundred
parks
in
Bloomington
and
99
percent
of
the
population
is
within
walking
distance
of
at
least
one
of
them.
Open
space
is
a
benefit
for
residents,
for
businesses
and
for
visitors
alike,
people.
B
Are
healthier
when
they
have
the
chance
directly
to
get
out
both
physically
and
mentally,
and
that's
certainly
a
huge
aspect
in
our
society
right
now:
there's
protection
from
flooding
with
preserving
that
land.
So
it
doesn't
impact
development
and
then
there's
you
know,
visitor
spending.
A
lot
of
you
know
both
sports
teams
and
people
come
to
Bloomington
for
the
recreational
and
environmental
opportunities
that
parks
have
and
then
I
would
also
say
that
economic
development
there's
a
real
kind
of
quid
pro
quo
between
proximity
to
parks
and
the
desirability
and
value
of
land
and
that
Spurs
development.
B
B
A
B
Dave
Durenberger
was
really
a
legislative
chant,
the
end
of
it,
and
then
there
was
a
lot
of
local
people
that
were
really
the
advocates
and
kind
of
the
grassroots
driving
force.
Those
kind
of
people
really
helped
get
it
on
the
map
going,
and
it
was
that
strong
ethic
to
preserve
that
whole
area,
and
it's
not
only
in
Bloomington.
It
goes
from
Fort
Snelling,
all
the
way
down
to
the
sewer
Minnesota.
So
it's
really
a
unique
habitat
and
recreational
opportunity,
while.
A
B
One
big
one
is
that
it
is
such
an
extensive
park
system
that
Park,
revitalization
and
kind
of
repair
and
maintenance
is
kind
of
an
ongoing
challenge
and
funding
that
as
well,
will
be
a
challenge
in
the
future.
The
other
aspect
is
just
simply:
the
demographics
in
Bloomington
have
changed
quite
a
bit
since
that,
early
time
when
there
was
a
lot
of
families
now
it's
kind
of
switched
over
and
there's
a
lot
of
old
folks
like
myself
that
are
still
active
but
use
the
parks
in
different
ways
that
plus
the
changing
diversity
within
our
society.