Portal:Minnesota/Selected article

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Burnsville (pronounced /ˈbɜrnzvɪl/) is a suburb 15 miles (25 km) south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County in the U.S. state of Minnesota . The city lies just south of the Minnesota River. Commonly referred to as South of the River, Burnsville and nearby suburbs comprise the southern portion of Minneapolis-St. Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau recorded the population of the city of Burnsville at 60,220 people in 2000. The Metropolitan Council estimate for 2006 was 61,048.

Rich in water and parkland, the city has nine lakes, over fifty ponds, the Minnesota riverfront, as well as a section of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, section of Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve, and about twenty developed parks. Originally an Irish farming community, Burnsville was the tenth largest city in Minnesota by the 2000 Census and one of the largest suburbs in the metro area with a regional mall, Burnsville Center. Fully built by the late 2000s, Burnsville has begun redeveloping itself by creating a new downtown called Heart of the City and serving as the hub for the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, providing southern regional bus service to five other suburbs. The majority of the population are white middle-class families.

The name Burnsville is attributed to an early settler and land owner, William Byrne, who's name was sometimes recorded as Burns and later never corrected.^[1] Amongst metro area residents, Burnsville is referred to as "South of the River" apart from "the Cities" of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Many local organizations take on this nickname.