By Roz Kohls
Staff Writer

The number of permits for new housing built in rural areas shows an interesting trend since 1995. Almost everywhere in the four-county region grew. The rate of growth from 2000 to 2003 in the townships, though, vastly exceeded the growth of cities and towns in the same area.

The only cities and towns that grew at a comparable rate as the townships were Mayer and Montrose, which doubled in population, and Waverly which grew 30 percent. Delano grew 18 percent from 2000 to 2005.

The year 2003 was a banner year for area townships in Wright, Meeker, and McLeod Counties.

In Wright County, for example, there were a total of 92 building permits for new home construction applied for in 2003 in Cokato, Franklin, French Lake, Marysville, Middleville, Rockford, Victor and Woodland Townships. The total for 2003 is more than any year since 1995.

The average number of new home building permits in Wright County since 2000 was 83, a 20 percent increase over the average of new home building permits in the four years prior to 2000. The year 2000 was used as a comparison because there was US census information for both townships and cities then.

Rockford Township, for example, had 21 new home building permits issued in 2003, the most of any Wright County township in the Herald Journal Publishing area of the year. There also were more new home building permits in 2003 than any year between 1995 and 2005.

Meeker County’s rate of growth from 2000 to 2003 for new home construction also exceeded the cities of Dassel, Kingston and Darwin between 2000 and 2005. Rural Meeker County also topped out at 141 total building permits in 2003. The average number of permits between 2003 and 2000 was 116, an increase of 18 percent over the average of the four years prior.

In Bergen and Winsted Townships of McLeod County, 2003 also had the most new home building permits, 31. The average number of permits issued after 2000 doubled from the average number issued the four years prior to 2000.

The City of Lester Prairie, also in McLeod County, grew 16 percent from 2000 to 2005.

Camden and Hollywood Townships in Carver County were the only townships that grew at much the same rate before and after 2000. Their best year was 1999, with 18 permits for new home construction, although 2003 also had an above average number of building permits for new home construction, with 13. The townships grew, though, in comparison to the City of New Germany, which lost 5 percent of its population between 2000 and 2005.

Middleville and Victor Townships are the only townships losing population since 1990, even though they are part of a high growth area for new home construction in Wright County.

Total population of area cities, twps

Cities -1990 population - 2000 population - 2005 population

Cokato 2,180 2,727 2,700
Dassel 1,082 1,233 1,268
Kingston 131 120 121
Darwin 284 276 301

Howard Lake 1,343 1,853 1,957
Winsted 1,581 2,094 2,367
Waverly 601 732 952
Montrose 1,007 1,143 2,246
Lester Prairie 1,180 1,377 1,601
Mayer 502 554 1,139
New Germany 307 346 326

Delano 2,709 3,837 4,551

Townships

Collinwood 844 1,037 1,058
Cokato 1,100 1,238 1,299
Kingston 1,064 1,266 1,334
Darwin 684 713 719
Dassel 1,000 1,361 1,537
Ellsworth 697 854 904
French Lake 945 1,130 1,114
Stockholm 773 805 819

Bergen 844 881 925
Winsted 1,103 987 2,374

Camden 910 955 962
Hollywood 1,060 1,102 1,107

Marysville 1,839 2,097 2,109
Middleville 1,017 925 916
Victor 1,083 1,069 1,046
Woodland 1,091 1,137 1,123
Rockford 3,380 3,444 3,316
Franklin 2,742 2,774 2,642