The city's growth exemplifies the ongoing, metrowide trend of newer suburbs gobbling up the majority of the Twin Cities metro area's growth. In the 1990s, metro-area growth was strongest in cities like Woodbury, Lakeville, Farmington, Savage and other outlying suburbs. In Woodbury, the construction of two large shopping areas in the early and mid-1990s spurred on already rapid growth and turned the city into a destination, rather than a starting point. He now directs a department of 47. The growth has not come without costs.
Traffic is on the rise, and public transportation is crowded.
Home prices have shot up in recent years, pinching the longtime residents through escalating property taxes and making it difficult for those with low or moderate incomes to find housing. Those downsides have been sources of consternation for longtime residents and newcomers alike. In response to residents' concerns, the city has scaled back. The city issued permits for 784 housing units last year, down from more than 1,600 in each of the two preceding years. This year and next, those numbers will drop further, before rising to 600 units a year and staying there.