About 100 apartment buildings are packed into less than 7 square miles in the city of Anoka — and that's not counting the suburb's dozens of duplexes and the more than 200 single-family homes licensed as rentals.
With renters making up 48 percent of Anoka households, the city of 17,000 has one of the highest ratios of rentals in the seven-county Twin Cities metro area, census data show. Its rate rivals even Minneapolis and St. Paul and has spurred city leaders in the historic river town to take action.
While some of the suburb's neighbors are throwing the doors open to apartment developments, Anoka is bucking the trend and halting new construction or expansion of rental dwellings for up to a year.
"We've always had the understanding that we have more rental housing in Anoka than we would like to have," said City Council Member Carl Anderson. "Part of the reason is that we're an older community and have an older housing stock."
The Anoka City Council this week passed a moratorium on building or expanding rental housing. The move coincides with the city's efforts to update its comprehensive plan and reflect on its future housing makeup. The temporary ban also comes at a time when the apartment vacancy rate across the metro remains tight, hovering under 3 percent.
Anoka's decision has so far been met with little pushback, with many residents having long fretted about the suburb's housing mix, city officials say.
"It's clear that people are very concerned about it," said Carolyn Braun, Anoka's special projects manager. "We have to see if there's anything we can do."
As Anoka takes a closer look at its rentals, the city sits surrounded by suburbs welcoming a boom in apartment developments. From Blaine to Brooklyn Park to Shoreview, market-rate apartments are taking root, often driven by a growing cohort of young professionals and retiring baby boomers looking to rent.
