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St. Croix Valley: Lay of the land
In the St. Croix Valley, the fast growth of the past decade will likely continue into the next. Growth has created economic opportunities for many, but has also created pressures and disparities. The construction boom has driven up land values, for example, and put pressure on schools, child care, transportation, and family farms. The natural environment and rural atmosphere are stressed as development transforms open land and the small-scale economy. Other important issues for the St. Croix Valley:
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THE ST. CROIX VALLEY
Residents, 1998 Pierce Polk St. Croix Washington Square miles
Source:
U.S. Census Bureau.
High employment, rising incomes, and aging of the population may obscure the problem of child poverty. Rising housing costs make it difficult for lowincome residents to live in the area.
As the senior population grows, more seniors will need assistance, but service providers may be short-handed and family members may be unavailable, if labor market trends continue.
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329,247 35,606 38,786 58,369 196,486 2,607
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Polk
Luck
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Limited transportation, expensive housing, and high employment rates may constrain business growth in the Valley as employers face difficulty finding skilled workers.
Balsam Lake
Forest Lake Osceola
Amery
Population and diversity
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Star Prairie
Fast growth More older people Little racial or ethnic diversity Higher-income households moving in High child poverty rates, especially in Polk County Local worries about the pace of growth
St. Croix
Stillwater New Richmond
Oakdale
Hudson
Baldwin
Washington
River Falls
Pierce
Prescott Ellsworth
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Wilder Research Center, January 2000
The St. Croix Valley's population has grown 25 percent since 1990, compared to 10 percent in the Twin Cities area. Washington County accounts for much of the growth. It comprises 60 percent of the Valley's population and has eight times more people per square mile than the other three counties. The Valley's population is becoming somewhat older. Its racial and ethnic diversity remains low more than 96 percent white. Washington is the most affluent county. Polk County is the poorest, followed by Pierce. Child poverty is very high in Polk County, indicated by the percentage of students approved for free or reduced-price school lunches (30%) and the child poverty rate (13%). However, per capita income has grown faster in the poorer counties, Pierce and Polk, since 1990. Overall, households moving into the region have higher incomes than those leaving. The pace of growth concerns many residents and policy-makers in the St. Croix Valley. County land use plans and other studies emphasize the desire to manage growth in order to preserve the natural environment and rural character.
Housing
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Construction boom Many low-income households pay too much for housing. Low-income people report having to leave the region to find housing.
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Dramatic population growth has fueled high demand for housing in Washington County and, to a lesser degree, in St. Croix County. The tighter housing market has also increased the housing cost burden for low-income households. Already in 1990, the most recent year for which local data are available, close to one-third of low-income households in the St. Croix Valley were paying more than 35 percent of their income for rent or home ownership. Seasonal homes make up one-quarter of the housing in Polk County, but less than 2 percent in the other counties. Participants in a focus group held with Washington County women currently in transitional housing perceived affordable housing as largely unavailable in the County, forcing them to move elsewhere. Child care and public transportation are also insufficient, according to the participants.
POVERTY RATES BY COUNTY, 1995
13%
PER CAPITA INCOME
$22,000 Washington St. Croix Pierce Polk $11,000
9% 8% 7% 5% 4% 7% 5%
$0 1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1993
Pierce
Polk All persons
St. Croix Children
Washington
Source:
U.S. Department of Commerce.
Source:
U.S. Census Bureau.
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NEW HOUSING IN ST. CROIX VALLEY: BUILDING PERMITS
3,000
ONE-YEAR RISE IN MEDIAN HOME SALE PRICE
$180,000
Washington
$90,000
1,500
0 1982 1984
St. Croix Polk Pierce 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1997
$0
Pierce Polk 1998
St. Croix Washington 1999
Source:
U.S. Census Bureau.
Source:
Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors.
Health and social services
The most common services provided by public and nonprofit agencies in the St. Croix Valley:
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services top the list of emerging needs over the next 5 to 10 years. One recent survey of low-income households in western Wisconsin (including the St. Croix Valley) indicated that over one-third of poor families with children have no health insurance for any family member. Indeed, the study identified health care as the highest-priority need for low-income households in the region. A 1998 household survey of Washington County found that 95 percent of respondents have medical insurance, but even so, 14 percent reported that during the past year they had not gotten or had delayed getting needed medical treatment.
Advocacy and information Health care Education (other than K-12) Support groups
Greatest unmet needs, according to agency leaders:
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Housing, especially low-income housing Transportation Youth development Senior services Employment and small business assistance
Agencies reported little excess service capacity in the most commonly cited areas of emerging need. Service agencies in the St. Croix Valley are generally small, with a median staff size of about five employees and a median annual budget of about $135,000 in 1999. Their funding comes primarily from client fees or service revenues, and from government contracts and grants. Agency directors most commonly mentioned lowincome housing and transportation as currently unmet needs. Low-income housing and senior
ESTIMATED PERCENTAGE (AND NUMBER) OF POPULATION SERVED BY FOOD SHELVES, 1998
8% (3,057)
3% (31,713)
3% (926)
2% (917)
2% (3,614)
East Metro Pierce
Polk
Washington St. Croix
Sources: Second Harvest; Saint Paul Food Bank.
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Youth
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AGE GROUPS IN ST. CROIX VALLEY, 1998
10% 19% 39% 9% 21% 38% 7% 22% 39% 65+ years 45-64 20-44 19 & younger
School achievement: better than urban schools, but room for improvement Tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use appears high. Teens want places to “hang out.”
15% 22% 33% 30%
More than 17,000 St. Croix Valley youth participate in Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts or 4-H clubs. In all four counties, over 73 percent of eighth-graders meet or surpass basic math and reading achievement standards and over 90 percent graduate from high school. While these rates exceed those found in Twin Cities urban schools, considerable room for improvement remains. Unmarried teen birth rates are highest in St. Croix County. Juvenile arrest rates appear high in Polk County. Previous studies suggest substantial youth use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs in the St. Croix Valley. In some high schools, over one-third of surveyed students said they had smoked cigarettes in the last month. Between 12 and 42 percent said they had tried marijuana. Other research shows that fewer than one-third of youths surveyed feel that their schools provide “caring, encouraging” environments. The strongest need expressed by youth at six focus groups in the region was for a place to “hang out,” without being chased away by police, other authorities, or dominant social cliques.
32% Pierce
32%
32%
Polk
Source:
St. Croix Washington
U.S. Census Bureau, 1998 estimates.
PERCENTAGE (AND NUMBER) OF STUDENTS APPROVED FOR FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE LUNCH, 1998
30% (1,599) 24% (45,881)
13% (974)
12% (1,100)
10% (3,487)
East Metro Pierce
Polk St. Croix
Washington
Sources: Minnesota Department of Children, Families, & Learning; Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
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Seniors
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Economy, business, workforce
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Sharp growth in senior population 16% need some help with daily activities. Increased need for transportation, homedelivered services, home repair
High employment rates Job growth in manufacturing, retail, services, and construction
The number of seniors age 65 and older in the St. Croix Valley will increase dramatically over the next 30 years, with a projected 350 percent increase in Washington County alone. While housing data are incomplete, the supply of senior housing appears least sufficient in Washington County and best in St. Croix County. In the Twin Cities area, an estimated 16 percent of seniors need assistance with basic personal care or getting around outside the home. Using this estimate, approximately 4,475 seniors in the St. Croix Valley currently need some level of assistance. The need will rise sharply in the coming decades. As the region's senior population grows and more people choose to remain in their own homes and communities as they age, emerging needs are likely to include transportation, home maintenance, and other services that allow them to live as independently as possible.
GROWING ELDERLY POPULATION NEEDING ASSISTANCE, AGE 65+
2,200
Employment rates are high in the St. Croix Valley, with substantial growth this decade in jobs related to manufacturing, services, shopping, and construction. For the Valley as a whole, trade, manufacturing, and services account for 70 percent of all employment. On balance, far more workers commute from the three Wisconsin counties to jobs in Minnesota than the other way around. Growth and development have put pressure on farmland, with land values increasing and farm sizes declining.
TYPES OF JOBS FOR ST. CROIX RESIDENTS, 1996
Washington
Other 14%
1,100
Trade 27%
St. Croix Polk Pierce
Government 17% Manufacturing 22%
0 1990
1998
Service 20%
Sources: 1990 U.S. Census; 1998 Census Bureau estimates.
Sources: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development; Minnesota Department of Economic Security.
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Public safety
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About this report
To better understand the needs and resources of the St. Croix Valley, the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, the United Ways serving the St. Croix Valley, and other interested parties asked the Wilder Research Center to prepare this study of major social, demographic, and economic trends and to explore the region’s unmet and emerging needs. St. Croix Valley: Lay of the land combines statistical indicators, findings of previous studies, and two new pieces of research: an inventory of social service agencies in the St. Croix Valley and a series of focus group discussions with Valley residents. The report was prepared by Richard A. Chase, Douglas Clement, and Ellen Shelton. This “lay of the land” overview, drawn primarily from existing data, is limited by gaps in information. More research is needed to better understand community networks, informal sources of help, and the extent of unmet need for services such as health care, transportation, child care, and senior services.
Relatively little crime
According to published crime statistics, violent and property crime rates are considerably lower in the St. Croix Valley than in the seven-county Twin Cities area. Violent crime rates are highest in the more affluent counties of Washington (131 per 100,000 residents) and St. Croix (130), but still lower than in the Twin Cities area (502). Property crime rates range between 1,891 and 3,195 per 100,000 residents, compared to 5,199 in the Twin Cities area. Since 1990, property crime rates are down in Washington, flat in Polk and rising in Pierce and St. Croix. Pierce and Polk have both had larger increases in violent crime rates since 1990 than St. Croix and Washington.
Public recreation and enjoyment
While the Valley has a considerable number of cultural institutions and services, perhaps its greatest recreational resource is its natural environment. County land use plans reflect the desire to protect this asset while managing rapid growth of the population and economy. In focus groups, St. Croix Valley youth emphasized the scarcity of places for youth recreation, especially for activities such as skateboarding and dancing.
For more information This summary presents highlights from St. Croix Valley: Lay of the land. Please see the full report for important context. For copies of this summary or the full report, contact the Hugh J. Andersen Foundation at 651-439-1557 or toll-free at 888-439-9508, or find documents on the internet at www.wilder.org/wrc.
Printed on paper with post-consumer recycled content.
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