Building Maple Grove's downtown from scratch

Bob Waibel has always lived in older, traditional cities, most with older, traditional downtowns.

So it was "sort of an accident" that he spent his 31-year career in new and growing suburbs.

He spent 24 of those years in Maple Grove, where he worked as a planner and then as the community development director during the time when the city sprouted and grew its own version of a new downtown.

As he approaches retirement April 30, he talked about that evolution:

Q You've spoken about new urbanism. When did you discover that passion?

A Back in 1989, I had the tremendous benefit of being able to go to a workshop put on by [architect] Andreas Duany, who really started the whole business of neo-traditional planning. I had read an article about him in a planning magazine, and the city said, yeah, go.

Q What about his ideas struck you?

A When Duany spoke about town centers and Main Streets, I could relate, having experienced those environments. I grew up in New Ulm, went to school in Mankato, spent time in San Francisco and lived in Uptown. ...

And he presented the concepts as an alternative in the market -- a market-viable choice. It's not just dreams. It's really a way to provide profit to the developer, create vibrancy in the community.

Q How did those ideas translate to the Arbor Lakes and gravel-mining area of Maple Grove?

A I think there was a consensus among everyone -- council members, citizens, property owners -- that having a town center was really a key aspiration of the plan for the area.

Q Did it turn out as you had expected?

A At that stage, I probably had a pretty narrow view as far as what I thought it should and would be. I thought you'd copy/paste a true traditional, pre-automobile neighborhood there.

But can you do that in today's new-build environment? No, it's not practical.

It turned out that when those new ideas met the marketplace, it didn't turn out to be a copy/paste of Grand Avenue in St. Paul or 50th and France [in Edina]. But what was built was very satisfactory, if not considerably greater than that.

And maybe it's gotta evolve, too. It might take a generation or two.

Q What do you mean?

A You may get more robust transit, you may get land values that might justify more deck parking ... things might happen that pull things closer together. You might have less space between and therefore more pedestrian movement.

When the first phase of Arbor Lakes occurred, I was telling people, you've got to come back, because these buildings over here aren't finished yet. Those buildings over there aren't finished yet. That building across the street isn't finished yet.

And now I'm telling them, come back because there's going to be the amphitheater, the town green and the library [near the community and government centers] which expands this whole notion of town center again.

Q Will you be back?

A Of course. [He laughs.] I have to see how this all turns out.

Jenna Ross • 612-673-7168