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is an edge city 12 miles (22 km) southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County and the 12th largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies on the north bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from the confluence with the Mississippi River. As the seventh largest suburb, Eden Prairie and nearby suburbs form the southwest portion of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.2 million residents. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded the city's population at 54,901 in 2000.
Composed of large lakes and ponds, the city has more than of multi-use trails, of parks, and of open space. Previously a bedroom suburb in the 1960s, the city is now home to more than 2,200 businesses and headquarters for Supervalu, ADC Telecommunications, MTS Systems Corporation and the Minnesota Vikings. Regionally known for Eden Prairie Center, it is also the hub for SouthWest Transit, serving public transportation to three adjacent suburbs. Eden Prairie was selected as the 10th best place to live in the United States by Money Magazine in 2006.
is attributed to the Anderson family. Robert Anderson was a founder of the settlement and the name was chosen as a testament to the beauty of the land and it was considered Eden.
For most of its existence, Eden Prairie has been a slow-growing, pastoral village on the far southwestern fringes of the Twin Cities area. Between 1880 and 1960, Eden Prairie’s population grew by only 1,300 people, from 739 to 2,000.
Native Americans were the first to live in the area. In 1851, a treaty opened land west of the Mississippi River to settlement allowing pioneers to settle in what is now Eden Prairie. The town board of Eden Prairie held its first meeting in a log school house on May 11, 1858, the same day Minnesota became a state. However, Eden Prairie's farming community grew slowly over the years. Flying Cloud Airport was the first sign of big development in 1946. The 1960s and 1970s were decades of growth for the City's parks and recreation system. In the mid-70s, the community earned a higher profile with the addition of Interstate Highway 494 and the Eden Prairie Shopping Center. Eden Prairie became a Village in 1962 and a statutory city in 1974.