Where: First-ring southwest suburb bordered by Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Bloomington, Richfield and Hopkins.
Size: 15 square miles | Population: 47,448
How it got its name: Scottish and Irish immigrants founded the village in 1888. It was named after the Edina Mill, whose Scottish owner had named it in honor of his hometown of Edinburgh.
Draw: Picturesque, well-maintained neighborhoods, high-achieving schools, stable housing values, plentiful parks and recreation, Fairview Southdale Hospital and proximity to the airport, Minneapolis and its lakes.
Housing mix: Includes condos converted from 1960s-era apartment complexes; 1950s and 1960s ramblers; architecturally diverse 1920s to 1940s homes in the ritzy Country Club district, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and upper-bracket residences in the new Parkwood Knolls subdivisions. Seventy six percent of housing is owner-occupied.
Housing trend: Many owners are tearing down outdated small homes and building new, or remodeling existing homes. As a result, the city amended its zoning ordinances to be more restrictive on height and side-yard setbacks for additions and new construction.
New homes in an old suburb: Edina is 98 percent developed, although 20 lots remain in the last phase of the Parkwood Knolls subdivision. One of the models, priced at $1.8 million, was a Fall Showcase dream home on the Builders Association of the Twin Cities Parade of Homes.
Shopping: Southdale Center, the nation's first enclosed mall; the 50th St. and France area, considered Edina's downtown; and the upscale Galleria.
