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Ground Level®: Amplifying Community Voices

Your story is powerful. The stories you share with others honor the complexity of our communities while forging a more equitable and vibrant future.

Call 651-228-4800 and leave us a voice memo. If you're more comfortable texting, you can text “Hello” to 1-833-870-4111. You can also email us at tell@mpr.org and join in on conversations in our Ground Level Facebook group.

We’d like to hear your thoughts and questions. Your ideas about solutions. How are your communities? What are you seeing today? And what do you want to see tomorrow?

Note that while we will exercise editorial judgment for language, length and avoiding personal attacks, we will not sacrifice your meaning. We will ensure your main message comes through on air and online.

Behind the “brain gain:” Ups and downs of going rural

Behind the “brain gain:” Ups and downs of going rural

People who move to rural Minnesota from the city rave about the beauty and personal freedom, but the jobs picture proves more problematic.
by Jennifer Vogel

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Why move to rural Minnesota?

Why move to rural Minnesota?

We asked sources in our Public Insight Network why they had moved to (or back to) rural Minnesota and how the experience has been. The benefits and challenges seem to break down into three categories: community, lifestyle and economics. Here’s what some of our sources had to say.
by Molly Bloom

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Central Minnesotans kick the tires of regional plan

Central Minnesotans kick the tires of regional plan

At a meeting in Baxter on Tuesday, more than 100 people gathered to comment on draft recommendations for a central Minnesota regional plan.
by Jennifer Vogel

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Outstate Minnesota’s great divides

Outstate members of our Public Insight Network described factors that divide their communities, from mining issues to race and religious differences.
by Jennifer Vogel

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Getting There: A conversation

Join a live chat online at noon May 2 to learn and talk about rural transit in Minnesota.
by Dave Peters

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How do you get where you need to go?

How do you get where you need to go?

What does the transportation picture look like where you live?
by Michael Olson

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Volunteer drivers harder to find

One solution to rural transit needs is the growth of volunteer driver networks. But volunteers are getting harder to find.
by Dave Peters

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Getting to the concert in Pipestone and other unmet needs

Getting to the concert in Pipestone and other unmet needs

Outstate Minnesota’s unmet transportation needs range from getting to an evening concert to finding a way to ride a bus to the Twin Cities, members of the Public Insight Network say.
by Dave Peters

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After inflation, county spending flat; tax revenue portion rising

After inflation, county spending flat; tax revenue portion rising

Spending by Minnesota’s 87 counties has declined slightly over 10 years when adjusted for inflation, the new annual report from the state auditor shows. Property taxes are gradually accounting for more of the counties’ revenue.
by Dave Peters

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More people are getting there in Montevideo

More people are getting there in Montevideo

Minnesota’s fastest growing transit system over the past five years? The one run by the small town of Montevideo.
by Dave Peters

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