Блейн, Миннесота: История, География и Развитие города

Blaine is a suburban city in Anoka and Ramsey counties in Minnesota, United States. Once a rural town, Blaine's population has increased significantly in the last 60 years. For several years, Blaine led the Twin Cities metro region in new home construction. The population was 70,222 at the 2020 census. The city is mainly in Anoka County, and is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Interstate 35W, U. S. Highway 10, and Minnesota State Highway 65 are three of the main routes in the city.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 34.05 square miles (88 km2), of which 33.85 square miles (88 km2) is land and 0.20 square miles (1 km2) is water. Blaine is 13 mile (21 km)) from Minneapolis and 20 mile (32 km) from St. Paul. Blaine can be accessed from several major roadways in the Twin Cities, including Minnesota State Highway 65, Interstate 35W, University Avenue, Lexington Avenue, Hamline Avenue, U. S. Highway 10 and Minnesota State Highway 610.

The Blaine area was covered by a large glacier that shaped the landscape during the late Wisconsinan glaciation. The land used to be covered by river valleys 200 feet deep. The valleys filled with sediment. One valley ran northeast to southwest under Lino Lakes. As the glaciers retreated, the water gathered into a lake that covered much of Anoka County. Huge ice chunks were left in the glacier's wake. They melted and formed depressions that filled with water. This became the chain of lakes between Lino Lakes and Circle Pines. There are four major named water bodies partially or completely within the city limits. Sunrise Lake as part of The Lakes housing development is the largest body at 158 acres, with a depth near 40 feet in some places. The next largest body is Laddie Lake, the only naturally occurring lake in Blaine, which is also partially in Spring Lake Park, at 77 acres, reaching a maximum depth of six feet. The next largest body is Club West Lake at 39 acres and depths up to 25 feet, also man made, in the Club West Housing development. The last named body of water in the city is Loch Ness; 11 acres, it is managed by the city and has a fishing dock. Several other large bodies of water found around the TPC of the Twin Cities, Pleasure Creek Neighborhood, Knoll Creek Development, and Crescent Ponds are not classified as lakes. Blaine is also creating a 500 acre open space plan. It started acquiring portions of the property in the late 1990s, but most of it was acquired after Blaine voters approved a $3.5 million referendum in 2000. A tentative long range plan calls for the construction of a nature center by 2020. The 70 acre Kane Meadows Park next to The Lakes development has been the centerpiece of this program.

The 3M Open, a PGA Tour event, is held at TPC Twin Cities. The National Sports Center was the home of Minnesota's professional soccer teams for 23 years. From 1990 to 2003 and 2008–2009 the National Sports Center was home for the now defunct Minnesota Thunder. After the Thunder folded, the sports center quickly stepped in and created the NSC Minnesota Stars for the 2009 season. The United States Soccer Federation ruled the stadium could not own the team, due to an increase in financial standards the stadium did not have, and the team re branded to become the Minnesota Stars FC for the 2010–2012 seasons. The Minnesota United FC, after being re branded in early 2013 to represent the history of soccer in Minnesota, played at the National Sports Center until their promotion to Major League Soccer in 2017, and they now play at Allianz Field in St. Paul but continue to use the National Sports Center as their training facility. The National Sports Center is also home to Victory Links Golf Course, a stadium with an artificial turf field, over 50 full size soccer fields, an eight sheet ice arena, the largest of its kind in the world, an expo center, and a meeting and convention facility.

Blaine has 66 parks and hundreds of miles of trails. Its parks include Aquartore Park, Happy Acres Park, Lexington Athletic Complex, the Blaine Baseball Complex, and Lakeside Commons Park. The Blaine Wetland Sanctuary is 500 acres of protected open space featuring a boardwalk and trails.

Three different school districts serve Blaine. The Anoka Hennepin School District covers most of the city, from Highway 65 to University Avenue north of 99th Ave NE and the areas north of Cloud Drive, and zigzags through the Lakes neighborhood up to Main Street, where it covers everything north all the way across to Sunset, the city's eastern edge. The Spring Lake Park School District covers nearly everything south of 99th Ave NE, the east side of Highway 65 north to where it bumps into District 11 and east to Lexington, where it bumps into the Centennial School District. District 12—Centennial Schools—covers east of Lexington almost up to Main Street and everything south and east of Interstate 35W. There are three high schools in the city: Blaine High School in the Anoka Hennepin School District, Centennial High School in the Centennial School District, and Paladin Career and Technical High School, a public charter school. In addition, some Blaine students attend Spring Lake Park High School in the Spring Lake Park School District. Rasmussen University, a private, for profit school offering bachelor's and associate degrees, has a location in Blaine.