Lake City, MN

Lake City is a city located in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 10,711 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Minneapolis– Saint Paul metropolitan area.

Lake City was founded in 1856 by Charles W. Lake and named for its location on Lake Minnetonka. The city's early economy was based on agriculture and flour milling; today it is a center of commerce and services with a diversified industrial base.

The city has been home to several notable businesses and organizations, including Bausch & Lomb, General Mills, 3M Corporation, Carlson Companies (now part of Marriott International), Medtronic plc., Target Corporation (formerly SuperTarget), Wells Fargo Bank (formerly Wachovia Bank), and Baxter International Incorporated.

In recent years the city has made efforts to revitalize its downtown district with new development projects such as the renovation of the historic former Hennepin County Courthouse into an office building for Wells Fargo Bank; construction of a new Target store; redevelopment of an old department store into apartments; renovation of an old hotel into apartments and retail space; construction of two new hotels: one near Minneapolis- Saint Paul International Airport and one in downtown Lake City; expansion of restaurants and retail establishments in downtown district; creation or redevelopment of parks including Veterans Memorial Park, Heritage Park, Lakeside Park, Riverside Park (formerly known as Riverside Plaza) on Minnetonka Boulevard adjacent to I-494/I-694 interchange which opened in October 2016 with a $10 million donation from Target Corporation ;and establishment or redevelopment of business districts adjacent to these parks including Eastview Business District adjacent to Veterans Memorial Park which includes businesses such as Ace Hardware/Home Depot/Lowe's/Office Max/PetSmart among others ;West End Business District adjacent to Heritage Park which includes businesses such as CVS Pharmacy/Walgreens Drug Store/Panera Bread Company among others ;Southtown Business District adjacent to Lakeside Park which includes businesses such as JCPenney Company/Ross Dress For Less Company among others .

According to Forbes magazine " Lake City ranks No. 5 on our list [of] America’s Best Places for Businesses" based on factors such as job growth rate (3 percent), percentage increase in median household income since 2000 ($39,851 vs $41,994 nationally), percentage increase in patents filed per capita (5 percent) , percentage increase in college educated population since 2000 (29 percent) , low cost of living index score (.92 vs .94 nationally). In addition Lake City ranks No. 2 on MPR News' list " Minnesota’s Fastest Growing Cities" based on data from 2010-2015 showing that the average annual growth rate was 2 percent during that time period behind only Rochester but ahead of both Saint Paul and Bloomington .

According to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine "For 2016... LakeCity ranked No. 8 out 25 cities for job seekers." The article cites factors such as low unemployment rate at 3 percent compared with 4 percent nationwide , lower cost than most other metro areas for housing ($105 monthly vs $130 monthly nationally ), below average commute times (.68 hours vs .75 hours nationally ), lower cost than most other metro areas for groceries (.79 cents per pound vs 1 cent per pound nationally ).

According to WalletHub website "In 2017... LakeCity ranked No. 9 out 25 U.S cities with best quality Of Life." The website cites factors such as below average rates for crime (.77 crimes per 1,000 residents compared with national averageof 1 crime per 1,000 residents ), below average rates for traffic congestion (.69 miles driven each hour compared with national averageof 78 miles driven each hour ), above average rates for air quality (.83 days annually without ozone alerts comparedwith national averagethat number is 0 days annually ).