No urban legend: City replaces lake as place to relax

It's a fairly typical Minnesota lifestyle. Larry and Nancy Hummer work hard, perform civic and church duties, keep a tidy home -- and then head off to their weekend getaway retreat.

The Hummers' "cabin" is a 14th-floor pied-a-terre with floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking Bloomington. Their vista is not a serene lake dotted with scudding sailboats, but a parade of planes landing and departing against a backdrop of the Minneapolis skyline.

This fifth-generation farmer and his wife from Kiester, Minn., are among a growing number of baby boomers, empty nesters and upwardly mobile professionals who live in small towns, farms and rural communities but seek out the bright lights of the big city on weekends.

It's a sign, some say, that the Twin Cities art and culture scene has become a formidable competitor to the state's lakes and rivers. Even on the weekend, it seems, many baby boomers don't want to think about cutting the grass or pulling in the dock.

And many successful professionals and business owners no longer want to be limited to the cultural and entertainment options of a Rochester or Worthington.

"It is becoming more prevalent," said Tom Lund, senior director of real estate development for Opus in Minnetonka. "I think we'll continue to see it for a long time."

It's also posing challenges for the suddenly popular urban areas. Although the trend is helping fuel condo development projects in Minneapolis, St. Paul and some suburbs, the transient lifestyles of these part-timers mean less density for cities that are still trying to attract shops, restaurants and service-oriented businesses that cater to the day-to-day needs of permanent residents.

Not turning backs on nature

While the urban outpost trend is gaining traction, most vacation-home owners still get back to nature. A 2006 survey by the National Association of Realtors reported that more than 50 percent of all vacation homes are in resort or recreational areas and that two-thirds of vacation home buyers wanted to be close to a river, lake or ocean.

The poll also found that more than 20 percent own more than one vacation home and that 34 percent also own two or more investment properties.

Still, more than 20 percent of all of those who bought investment property last year purchased condominiums such as the units in Reflections at Bloomington Central Station, the all-glass Bloomington high-rise building where the Hummers created their urban retreat.

In part, the Hummers were drawn to the city by family. They spend about six days a month in the Twin Cities, visiting with their three daughters.

"We love the Guthrie, the Ordway, the D'Amico restaurants," said Larry. "We just saw the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the MIA. And we've gone to a lot of Timberwolves games, but now that [Kevin] Garnett's gone ..."

A big lure for them was having the Hiawatha light-rail line to downtown Minneapolis steps from their lobby door.

"We had heard about California farming couples who would get a small place in San Diego or on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles," said Mary Hummer, "and it just sounded right for us."

The idea was right for Zo and Gary Karlstad, too. The retirees love their full-time condo in Grand Forks, N.D, but they bought a condominium on the east bank of the Mississippi River and now have a place to camp out while they visit their children and grandchildren in Stillwater.

"We thought it would be fun to be closer to them, but not on top of them," Zo said. "It's worked out beautifully that way."

Fran Davis, a sales manager for Coldwell Banker Burnet in Minneapolis, says that the Twin Cities offer the kind of accessibility that you can't get in New York and Chicago, including a growing array of options for food and entertainment.

"In many cases it's an early purchase for a future home," Davis said. "But for others it's a way to balance their hometown activities with the convenience of taking advantage of the arts and culture."

And developers are now wooing such a crowd with a pampered lifestyle that wasn't widely available a decade ago.

At the Carlyle building in downtown Minneapolis, for example, residents live in a kind of adult Disney World with resort-style amenities and a full-time staff. There's a fully staffed world-class spa and fitness center and a wine room where residents can store their favorite vintages.

Longtime sales agent Kathy Harmon thinks the trend reflects a change in the way that baby boomers view retirement. Earlier generations looked forward to kicking back and whiling away the days in a hammock or fishing boat, but today's retirees are more likely to have "Type A" personalities suited to more stimulating environments where they dash from an art gallery to dinner to the theater.

For others, Lund says, it's a form of simplification. "With all the upkeep and maintenance of a cabin, people aren't necessarily attracted to that, they want something that's more maintenance-free -- they want a simpler life."

An urban oasis

The trend is also a reflection of how the Twin Cities have changed during the past decade. "We've grown up," Lund said. "There are places to go and things to do."

And that's why even some young professionals are eschewing a lake place for a city place. Many have big jobs in small towns and don't want the hassles -- or isolation -- of the country, and they crave the social opportunities that come with frequent visits to the city and the commitment and obligation that comes with being a taxpayer.

Rochester and its high proportion of well-paid doctors from all over the world has become fertile ground for agents pitching the lifestyle.

Harmon, who has had at least 11 urban cabin buyers at Reflections and the American Trio Lofts in downtown Minneapolis, says that many are from the health care industry, including a couple from a small town in South Dakota who combined two units at Reflections and built a replica of the bar at the St. Paul Grille as a way to present their Scotch collection.

Most Friday nights they fly to the Twin Cities, and in less an hour they can be at their tango lessons or the opera (they have season tickets) in less time than it takes for many Twin Cities-area commuters to make it home from work every night.

And another client is a Mayo doctor who bought a unit at American Trio so that he can take advantage of area bars and restaurants. "Once you've done the nightlife in Rochester, you've done the nightlife in Rochester," Harmon said.

Mark Davis, a 40-something doctor at the Mayo Clinic who trained in Ireland, said that he bought his Warehouse District condo in Minneapolis two years ago after too many late-night drives back to Rochester.

Like his colleagues who head to the cabin for the weekend, Davis appreciates the psychological break that he gets from hopping in his car on a Friday night and driving north. It's not the cry of the loons or the hum of the pines, however, that provides relief.

"I enjoy getting out of town and heading up to the city," he said. "I feel like I'm on vacation all of a sudden."

jbuchta@startribune.com • 612-673-7376 bill.ward@startribune.com • 612-673-7643