"City of Lakes and Parks" may be Victoria's official tagline, but it tells only part of the story as it makes one think more of fish and frogs, and deer and ducks, than people.
You might learn a bit more if the tagline were "City of Bedrooms and Bathrooms."  Victoria people spend much more time in their bedrooms and bathrooms than they do in their lakes and parks. 
To top it off, there is probably no community that has more bedrooms and bathrooms per home than Victoria.  Maybe it's worth a second look, especially as we give a goodnight kiss to 2005 and walk down the hall to 2006.
Last year (2005) Victoria increased in size by 696 bedrooms and 696 bathrooms.  In other words, it was a very good year for sleeping and cleaning up after ourselves, especially if you count the 6,000 bath-rooms and 6,000 bedrooms that were in Victoria prior to 2005.  That's assuming homes once averaged only three bedrooms and bathrooms per home rather than the current four or more of each.
Tom Gray, Building Official for the City of Victoria, probably knows more about the new homes coming into town than anyone else.  Tom graciously agreed to share his wealth of information as the Gazette attempted to wrap up 2005 with a perspective that went beyond the big new school, the big new ice arena, the big new church, the big new office building, the big new condo project, the big new streets, the big new senior care facility, the big new park, the big new bridge, the big new playground.
There are also big new homes being built in Victoria.
Last year, 2005, Tom issued 174 building permits for single family homes, including townhomes, in the City of Vic-toria.  In 2004 that number was 126.  Victoria City Councilmembers have re-quested the annual average remain near 150 so as not to overwhelm the city's infrastructure, including streets, sewer, and water.
Most of the people who moved into Victoria in 2005 were members of young families.  It's a trend that is expected to continue, at least into the near future of Victoria.  There are definitely more births than deaths in Victoria, giving additional meaning to the characterization of "bedroom community."
Where are the new residents coming from?  Tom said most are arriving from Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, and Edina.
Why are families choosing to pull up stakes to move only 10 to 20 miles down the road to Victoria?  "To get away from bigger cities.  People prefer the small town feeling," he said. 
Indeed, Victoria is a good place to raise children.  It seems protected.  It seems removed from the hectic pace of other Twin City suburbs.  The vision and planning of Victoria City Councilmem-bers these past ten years contribute to these aesthetics.  Construction of roadside berms, roadside plantings, and natural open spaces have been required of devel-opers.

Four neighborhoods in Victoria were responsible for the most number of families moving here in 2005:  Greenway on the Park, Laketown, Watermark, and Overlook at Tamarack.
1) Greenway on the Park saw 58 new homes in the past 15 months.  The neigh-borhood is located at the northwest corner of Bavaria Road and 86^th Street.  Develop-er and owner of this former "McMahon farm" is Rich Gannon. 
2) Laketown, named after the town-ship from which it was recently annexed to the City of Victoria, saw permits for 84 dwellings in 2005.  This very large devel-opment, which will be constructed in four phases, is in its first phase.  Laketown is being built around the new Victoria Elementary School, just south of Deer Run, with a few lots on Lake Wasserman.  Lennar Homes, the second largest builder in the nation, owns Laketown.  Lennar Homes also owns builders and developers including Lundgren Brothers, U.S. Homes, and Orrin Thompson.
3) The Watermark development is currently in its fourth phase of construc-tion along County Road 43, between Kelzer's Pond and Lake Wasserman.  Over time it will bring nearly 150 families to Victoria.  Owners/developers of Water-mark are local people:  Cal Haasken, Hartman Communities, and Lyman Development.
4) Overlook at Tamarack, located on the west shores of Lake Tamarack and accessed by Rolling Acres Road, brought about a dozen new families to Victoria in 2005.  Plowshares is Steve Kroiss, a local owner/seller/builder
Other neighborhoods, such as Tall Trees, brought smaller numbers of families to Victoria in 2005.  Tall Trees is located at Aster Trail, in the northeast tip of Victoria city limits, only a few yards from Lake Virginia.
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