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Want to take the community survey?
Go online to https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7047408/Survey2-PlanNewUlm.
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NEW ULM -- What will New Ulm look like in the next 20 years? The city is hard at work developing a new comprehensive plan to guide the community, but guidance from the community is needed.
A new community survey was released on Nov. 29 and will be available through mid-January. The survey can be found on New Ulm's City website along with other comp plan information. The survey is open for anyone to take and the information collected with help city staff create a shared vision of New Ulm's future.
"This is a plan that helps guide the city council, city police are zoning ordinance," City Planner John Knisley said. "It is basically the community's vision for the next 20 years."
Currently, over 200 surveys have been completed, but the target goal is to have a least 1,000 by mid-January.
This is the second community survey released to gather information for the new comp plan. Knisley said the latest survey is a little more detailed than the first. The survey has a greater range of options when answering the question.
Some of the questions include: What do you like most about living in New Ulm? What should the city's top priorities be for the future? What types of businesses or services are needed most? How would you improve downtown?
Knisley said in the short time the survey has been available, the city has already gained some surprising information.
On the question, "what do you like most about living in New Ulm?" The top answer so far is, "It’s a clean and well-maintained community."
Asked what could make New Ulm more attractive to young people. The top answer is new housing stock/variety of housing. The second most popular answer is the natural parks and trails.
The survey asks what type of outdoor park elements or amenities should be added. The number one answer is swimming pools.
Consulting group SEH commented that in all the communities they have worked in, New Ulm is the only community to prioritize swimming pools this high.
Knisley said it was expected that housing would be a top priority, but the type of housing in demand is changing. Single-family housing is popular, but so is multi-family and apartment housing. In addition, there are different types of housing styles and concepts that are unfamiliar to the region.
The "cottage living" style is one of the newest ideas being discussed. The idea is to create a residential block where all the houses are close together with minimal front or side yards. The houses would face the street on all four sides of the block and in the center would be a large common courtyard.
With this style, there are more houses on a single block, but the cost of utilities is lower. Utility costs are based on lot frontage during installation. With a lower frontage, property owners will have low utility costs when building.
The common courtyard space is basically an interior park. Other amenities could be put in the courtyard space. Possibly even a common house that could be rented for guests.
Another goal of the survey is to gather demographic details. Knisley said at this time, the city needs more data from young people. Most of those taking the survey are between 38 and 50 years old.
There is no age restriction on the survey and this city is encourage those 18 and younger to complete it.
New Ulm does have a large under-18 population, but the survey is not currently reaching them.
"Like many rural areas you see an exodus after high school," Knisley said. "How do we keep people here? What makes them want to stay?"
Starting next week, the city will promote the survey in the schools and special signs with a QR code will be placed around town. The code can be scanned at it will take users directly to the survey.
The survey can even be filled out by non-residents. Knisley said commuters who works in New Ulm are considered part of the community and the city wants to hear from them too.
The more people who fill out the survey, the better the comp plan can reflect the publics vision for New Ulm's future.
"If we really want this to be a community-driven vision, we need to hear from the community," Knisley said. "They are vitally important."
The survey is estimated to take 10 minutes to complete. It can be completed online at https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/7047408/Survey2-PlanNewUlm.
If anyone is struggling to fill the survey out online, they can seek assistance at the public library or reach out to Knisley directly.