Golden Valley, Minnesota

Golden Valley is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. It is a western suburb of Minneapolis and is the main corporate headquarters of General Mills and Pentair. Golden Valley is also the home of NBC affiliate KARE, the Perpich Center for Arts Education and Breck School. The population was 20,371 at the 2010 census.

History
Tribes of Chippewa and Sioux had encampments on nearby Medicine Lake. The first white settlers arrived in the early 1850s. Golden Valley was incorporated December 17, 1886. In the early twentieth century it was mostly a farming community.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.5 square miles (27.2 km²), of which, 10.2 square miles (26.5 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.8 km²) of it (2.76%) is water. The 45th parallel north runs through Golden Valley, coinciding approximately with Duluth Street.

Interstate 394, U.S. Route 169, and Minnesota State Highways 55 and 100 are four of the main arterial routes in the city.



Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,281 people, 8,449 households, and 5,508 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,982.3 people per square mile (765.4/km²). There were 8,589 housing units at an average density of 839.5 per square mile (324.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.07% White, 3.59% African American, 0.29% Native American, 2.87% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 1.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.76% of the population.

There were 8,449 households out of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.5% were married couples living together, 7.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $62,063, and the median income for a family was $75,899 (these figures had risen to $77,976 and $87,828 respectively as of a 2007 estimate ). Males had a median income of $49,890 versus $35,967 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,094. About 0.8% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

Business
Major employers in the City include:
 * Tennant Company
 * General Mills
 * Pentair
 * KARE, NBC Affiliate for the Twin Cities
 * Bluestone Garden
 * Honeywell International
 * UnitedHealth Group
 * USFamily.net

Even though the population of Golden Valley is only around 20,000, more than 30,000 people work in Golden Valley. This is because of the presence of large employers such as General Mills, Honeywell, and Pentair.

Politics
Golden Valley is located in Minnesota's 5th congressional district, represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Minneapolis lawyer Keith Ellison, a Democrat. The city is split between two state legislative districts: 44B, represented by Representative Ryan Winkler and Senator Ron Latz, and 45B, represented by Representative Lyndon Carlson and Senator Ann Rest. All four are Democrats.

Government
Golden Valley is a statutory city, where the Mayor votes with the City Council. Golden Valley operates under the council/manager form of government. This means the City Council sets the policy and overall direction for the City and appoints a city manager to serve as administrator. The city manager directs City staff in carrying out council decisions and providing services.

The Mayor serves a four-year term. There are four council members serving staggered four-year terms. Two council seats are up for election every two years, in odd-numbered years. The council members run citywide; there are no wards. The current Mayor is Linda Loomis. The current City Council is Mike Freiberg, Paula Pentel, DeDe Scanlon, and Bob Shaffer.

Education
Most children who live in Golden Valley attend the Robbinsdale School District or the Hopkins School District, as all of the territory of the city belongs to one or the other school district. Some students attend public schools in other school districts chosen by their families under Minnesota's open enrollment statute.

Golden Valley High School was founded in 1957 and the adjacent Golden Valley Middle School was opened in 1964, and were closed in the early 1980s after the Golden Valley School District merged with Hopkins School District. Carl Sandburg Junior High School opened in 1959. In 1988 it became Sandburg Middle School. In 1981, the Breck School, a private Episcopal school, purchased the former Golden Valley High School and Middle School property and moved from Minneapolis to the campus of the former Golden Valley schools.

There is also a private elementary Catholic School named Good Shepherd Catholic School. (Its name was changed in 2006 from Parkvalley Catholic)

What is currently the site of the Perpich Center for Arts Education was originally the Golden Valley Lutheran College, which closed in 1985.

Notable people from Golden Valley

 * Tom Barnard - KQRS Morning Show Host, Voice-over artist
 * Nancy Nord Bence - Pastor & Musician
 * Scott Z. Burns - screenwriter
 * Kate Clarke - actress
 * Jordan Leopold- National Hockey League Member of U.S. Olympic hockey team and the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins.
 * Gerald McCullagh - Golf Magazine's Top 100 Instructors
 * Aaron Sele - Major League Baseball pitcher
 * David King (musician) - Drummer of The Bad Plus, Happy Apple and other groups
 * Kelly Lynch - Actress