Medina

Medina was part of the “Big Woods” which was a region of hardwood forests, broken only by lakes, streams and marshes. In 1853, the Traverse de Sioux Treaty opened up the region to white settlers. The first settlers arrived in Medina in 1855. In 1858, the County Commissioner gave the city an official name “Hamburg Township.” Local residents preferred the name “Medina” after the Arabian holy city. In 1858. Medina has many hobby farms and is known for it's rural atmosphere.

Medina

Medina may be a small city in Minnesota but it has made the local headlines as the birthplace of Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball player Ryan Saunders. Other Medina residents that have helped place the city in the papers include Steve Hutchinson of the Minnesota Viking, Coach Flip Saunders of the Detroit Pistons, Corey Koskie-third baseman of the Milwaukee Brewers, Johan Randle of the National Football League and bike racer Greg LeMond.

It is a relatively peaceful city and has a low crime rate compared to Hennepin County and Minnesota. The 2004 crime statistics shows a 2.19% property crime rate, compared to Hennepin County’s 3.01% and Minnesota’s 3.38%. Property crime involves arson, burglary, larceny theft and motor vehicle theft. Violent crime statistics in Medina (which includes aggravated assault, murder, rape and robbery) is only 0.05% compared to Hennepin County’s 0.18% and Minnesota’s .23%.

Population Profile

With a population of 4,005 as of the 2000 census and a density of 185 people for every square mile, Medina is one of the smaller cities in Minnesota. Majority or 97.3% of the residents are Whites followed by Asians (1.20%). The rest of the population is a mixture of Hispanics or Latinos, African Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and other races.

Of the 1,309 total households, 78.4% consist of married couples (which is greater than the statistics for the other cities). This may be the reason why they say that Medina is the place to go to when you are already married because the percentage of married coupled makes it almost impossible for you to find a mate there. It has a relatively young population with an average age of 38 years.

The poverty level of 1.3% of the total population or only 0.4% of the total number of families is remarkably lesser compared to the other cities. There is also a high income level for families with each family having an average income of $96,909. This goes to show that residents of Medina have money to spend.

A great majority or 87% (1,755) of Medina residents use their cars alone when going to work while 5% (106) make use of the carpool method. Only 1% of the residents use the bus when going to work while 5% (106) of the residents work at home.

Housing

Medina experienced a high rate of home construction projects from1960 to 1989, with 21.91% of the homes built from 1980 to 1989, 17.03% of the homes built from 1970 to 1979 and 15.60% of the homes built from 1960 to 1969. Home building projects were slow from 1940 to 1949 with only 4.28% and from 1999 to March 2000 with only 4.73%. The average gross rent for apartments and houses in the city is at $594 as of the year 2000.
Of the 1,333 occupied housing units, 7% or 87 are rented while 1,218 are occupied by the owners. There are 52 houses for every square mile of land in Medina. Of the total housing units, 801 are mortgaged while 178 houses are without a mortgage.
Majority or 81% of houses and condos in Medina use utility gas as house heating fuel, 7% use tank, bottled or LP gas, 6% use fuel oil or kerosene, 4% use electricity while 2% use wood. Most apartments however use utility gas (62%) for their house heating fuel while usage for electricity and fuel oil and kerosene is basically the same at 15% and 14% respectively.
While some people rue the high property taxes in the city, some consider this a sign of the city’s good economic wealth and financial stability which is desirable for most people. Most of the residents also have a college degree.