Editor's Notebook

VIDEO: In Defense of Apartments

Mayor Gene Maxwell’s comments at the State of the City are a reminder that apartments can be an opportunity, not just a challenge.

Apartments often get a bad rap in Hopkins, but Mayor Gene Maxwell is fighting back against that. While apartments have long been seen as a problem to solve, Maxwell told residents at last week’s State of the City that apartments are here to stay—and that they can even be a part of smart development. “You have people have saying, ‘We have too many apartments,’” Maxwell said. “Well, gentlemen, ladies, we’re not going to be able to build single-family homes. We don’t have any room for them. … The only thing we can do is build quality apartments.” There’s no denying that Hopkins is in a unique situation when it comes to apartments and other rental units. The community’s 39 percent homeownership rate is among the lowest in the metro—22 …

• Videos (1)

Apartments Help Hopkins Fend off Worst of Housing Crisis

Fewer available homes mean fewer foreclosures, which in turn signify an underlying strength of the Hopkins real estate market.

Look around Hopkins and you'll find plenty of apartments. High-rise, low-rise, senior housing, assisted-living — all available. Then there are the condos, duplexes, fourplexes and all the other ways families gather under one roof. On the surface, this might seem as another dreary marketplace example of supply exceeding demand. But all those apartments may have helped Hopkins weather the housing crash a bit better than other communities did. The city's foreclosure rate is less than half that of Hennepin County, as a whole, and a little more than a third of the national average, according to data from RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosure rates across the country. Beneath this is another telling statistic: Just 30 percent of Hopkins' …

• Photos (1)