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Where: First-ring southwest suburb bordered by Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Bloomington, Richfield and Hopkins.

Size: 15 square miles | Population: 47,448

How it got its name: Scottish and Irish immigrants founded the village in 1888. It was named after the Edina Mill, whose Scottish owner had named it in honor of his hometown of Edinburgh.

Draw: Picturesque, well-maintained neighborhoods, high-achieving schools, stable housing values, plentiful parks and recreation, Fairview Southdale Hospital and proximity to the airport, Minneapolis and its lakes.

Housing mix: Includes condos converted from 1960s-era apartment complexes; 1950s and 1960s ramblers; architecturally diverse 1920s to 1940s homes in the ritzy Country Club district, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and upper-bracket residences in the new Parkwood Knolls subdivisions. Seventy six percent of housing is owner-occupied.

Housing trend: Many owners are tearing down outdated small homes and building new, or remodeling existing homes. As a result, the city amended its zoning ordinances to be more restrictive on height and side-yard setbacks for additions and new construction.

New homes in an old suburb: Edina is 98 percent developed, although 20 lots remain in the last phase of the Parkwood Knolls subdivision. One of the models, priced at $1.8 million, was a Fall Showcase dream home on the Builders Association of the Twin Cities Parade of Homes.

Shopping: Southdale Center, the nation's first enclosed mall; the 50th St. and France area, considered Edina's downtown; and the upscale Galleria.

Leisure time: 42 parks, an aquatic center and four golf courses.

On the horizon: A 43-acre redevelopment project of the Pentagon Park office complex will include a senior-assisted living complex, the Aloft Hotel and two new office towers.