12 things to know about Burnsville

1. It's the state's 10th-largest city. Burnsville, bordered by the Minnesota River to the north and Lakeville to the south, has grown from a rural farming community in the 1960s to 62,000 residents today.

2. It finally has a downtown. "Heart of the City" is a new 54-acre mixed-use area centrally located with sidewalks, an arts center, a town-square style park and amphitheater, offices, restaurants and retailers anchored by Cub Foods. The $150 million project revitalized a once-blighted area and created new community spaces, as well as housing. One of the residential buildings, Nicollet Plaza, sits on a former K-mart site.

3. It's a good starter-home market. Housing stock is divided evenly between townhouses/condos and single-family homes. Townhouses start at $120,000 and most single-family homes (split-entry, two-story and rambler styles built in the 1960s to 1980s) are priced from $200,000 to $300,000, said Jim Lacher, a Remax Advantage Plus sales agent who lives and sells in Burnsville. The average sale price for a Burnsville home so far this year is $212,145.

4. There's plenty of new construction, too. 113 new apartments and 237 owner-occupied condos and townhouses have been built as part of the Heart of the City project and are available to rent or buy. For example, Park Crest condos range from $175,000 to $400,000 and Villas in the Heart of Burnsville are $250,000 to $399,000.

5. You can live on a lake. Upper-bracket homes are on Crystal Lake, the city's major recreational lake.

6. There's help for renters. The Dakota County Community Development Agency offers affordable rental townhouses, some in the Heart of the City, for qualifying moderate-income families. Go to www.dakotacda.org or call 651-675-4400.

7. It has an awesome dog park. Alimagnet Dog Park is a seven-acre off-leash fenced area with a swimming pond, wood-chip walking path, dog washing station, and even heated water bowls for the winter. It's off County Rd. 11, two blocks north of County Rd. 42; annual permit is $20.

9. Commuters have easy access to Minneapolis and St. Paul, which are 15 to 20 miles north on I-35W or I-35E.

10. A new performing arts center will open in January. The $20 million Burnsville Performing Arts Center includes a 1,000-seat theater for national touring and local concerts.

11. Mega-shopping is only minutes away. There's Burnsville Center and Mall of America in neighboring Bloomington.

12. It has an old-fashioned holiday tradition. More than 200,000 lights on a 30-foot-high tree will be switched on at 6 p.m. Nov. 26 in Nicollet Commons Park.

Two-bedroom condo built in 2006 has 1,290 square feet, granite counters, hardwood floors, fireplace and courtyard deck view.

Updated 1971 multi-level on a private wooded lot has three bedrooms, vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, fireplace and large deck.

SOLD: $314,900