Eden Prairie has matured from a suburb with some farm land to a fully developed affluent suburb. It also has built several aprtment complexes. The Eden Prairie Mall is stagnant. The city does not have a downtown and lacks a central robust community space of restaurants. Eden Prairie has excellent public school system and parks and wild place including many lakes. It borders the Minnesota River but lacks a connection to it. The current city council and mayor are entrenched incumbents who have done a good job to date, but lack new ideas and energy. The commercial tax base in Eden Prairie is depressed and as tax levy shifts to residents the average age of Eden Prairie is increasing. High school graduates leave Eden Prairie. INflux of southeast asian and somali populations are chaning the character of a previous swedish and german population bringing wonder diversity but also challenges. The Metro Green line light rail exttension insfrastrucutre has disrupted Eden Prairie and is due to be operational in summer 2027 increaing anxiety but also opened up public transporation employment opportunities and ocnveniences. Public safety offices like police and firefighters are now full time and professionalized due to need for responsive services and population increases but also add to the tax burden. While Eden Prairie average income is affluent there is an increasing lower class population ala Picketty double diamond. Eden Prairie needs need ideas to forge a new path of partnerships and capabilities for the years ahead, current governance is average 70 years old. Two incumbent city council candidates Kathy Nelson leans DFL and Mark Frieberg lean Republican both are 74 years old running for 4 year terms, lack exposure and understanding of AI and general rapid shifting in technological landscape. Five challengers, including myself Brad Canham face steep disadvantage due to incumbent name recognition and vote splitting. Brad Canham focused on stabilizing present conditions and mainainting 3% tax levy or lower for residents, promoting commercial developemnt and increasing attractiveness of eden prairie to centralizing downtown development near mall area.
Equipping Eden Prairie police, fire, and emergency medical teams with a SOLID safety budget that includes best-in-class tools and training is required for safe and secure neighborhoods. Recently, the Eden Prairie Police Department (EPPD) finalized its move to 8080 Mitchell Road (the Instagram vid of the move is a must see!). Emergency services are a significant percentage of Eden Prairie's budget . They provide steady and resilient community safety structures protecting every organization, person, family, and neighborhood. Eden Prairie modes of transportation, its paths and roads are growing more complex. It is critical to maintain roads and paths, reduce congestion, and improve pedestrian safety. It is critical to adapt to these changes with sensible governance decisions before a transportation safety concern becomes a tragedy. The 14.5 mile Southwest Light Rail Transit (METRO Green Line Extension) link between Minneapolis-St. Paul metro areas and Eden Prairie is set to take passengers in 2027. Adapting to changes to transit infrastructure, such as charging stations, electrical upgrades, road maintenance (important for both gas and electric vehicles), and issues around electric bikes on pathways, sidewalks, and roadways requires constant attention. Continuing to move Eden Prairie excellence forward by designing seamless links between residential areas, parks and pathways, and commercial hubs.
NATURE STEWARDSHIP Eden Prairie has parks to maintain (and adapt to all its citizens needs), air and water to protect, and nature to nurture. A bottom-up and top-down ecosystem approach is needed. At our Eden Prairie home, the sighting of Minnesota's state bees, the endangered Rusty Patch Bumblebee, is a cause for joy. Mindful that we can always do more, we do our best and are mindful of ways to give back to nature in Eden Prairie. This image was featured in a Sierra Magazine article Inside the Rise of Bee Lawns (used with the permission of the photographer) featuring a part of our home's pollinator friendly gardens. City of Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation partnerships with organizations like Friends of Eden Prairie Parks, water districts, Hennepin County and the Minnesota DNR can augment the quality and add resorces to the city's curation of and respect for Eden Prairie's legendary green spaces, lakes, and conservation areas. The master-planned parks are the foundation of community health and must be actively protected for future generations.
When considering economic development we need to think long-term, review the Eden Prairie 2025-2034 Capital Improvement Plan, and ask the question: Do we want to create a city our children return to (and live close by)? In short, Eden Prairie's population is aging. The average age was 36 in 2010, in 2026 it is 41.3. Economic growth ensures the city can balance support for empty-nesters on fixed incomes and remain an attractive destination for young families who replenish the city's tax base. Its ecosystem of first-class public and private schools and public parks, lakes, as well as city services coupled with streamlined permitting, economic opportunities, and a dynamic social environment for young and the finely-aged:-). We must ensure our commercial zones remain accessible, vibrant, and structurally supportive of home-grown innovation. Eden Prairie's financial picture is significant and growing. The Eden Prairie budget is growing. The General Fund budget is increasing 6.6% in 2026 and 4.4% in 2027. The total tax levy is projected to grow through 2032. Eden Prairie's revenue and expenditure funds (not including Enterprise, Internal Service, and Fiduciary funds) reflect a changing and dynamic city. Revenue funds totaled $86.54 million in 2024 and expenditure funds totaled $96.28 million in 2025 (an increase of 19.2% over 2024). The increase in the 2024-2025 expenditure fund is due to wage and benefit increases, five new Fire Department vehicles, and capital outlay projects, including a significant remodel of the Police Department and City Center. As financial factors continue to reflect changes in Eden Prairie I will listen to taxpayers. You deserve answers about Eden Prairie's finances. I believe investments must ultmately be tied back to quality of life improvements for individuals, households, and neighborhoods. That means maintaining fiscal discipline, a balanced city budget, and expenditures that prioritize long-term capital improvements over short-term fixes. When investments to fund critical infrastructure projects are made they must be done so transparently and efficiently.Responsible management of municipal real estate development requires guidance by a master plan. I've experienced the balancing of private and public sector infrastructure projects first hand. I initally moved to Eden Prairie in the later 1990s to work at ADC Telecommunications. Following the dotcom bust, I took a job with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and, on behalf of the Governor's office, worked on economic development projects in the metro and statewide. Additionally, my projects included working with the State Services for the Blind, as well as with workforce development boards (WIBs), non-profit providers, and unemployment services. I was appointed to the Governor's Workforce Council, and was also elected as the President of Local 1302, Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE). A few years later I returned to the private sector at an Eden Prairie network infrastructure firm, Allot Communications and participated in its successful exit to the NASDAQ. Eden Prairie has been in a development growth phase since I arrived. Real estate development projects are complex, as the controversy and concerns over development adjacent to the Frederick-Miller Spring continues to demonstrate. They involve state regulations, municipal ordinances and plans, as well as economic factors, codes, and a variety of stakeholders. Eden Prairie needs to guide new construction to complement its character and existing neighborhoods while also meeting the needs of its evolving demographics.
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