Circle Pines is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 5,025 at the 2020 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Lake Drive / County 23 serves as a main route in the community. Interstate 35W is in close proximity to the city. Circle Pines is approximately 17 miles from the heart of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro area.
Rice Creek flows through the city.
Education
Centennial Schools (Independent School District #12) serves the community of Circle Pines and the surrounding cities of Blaine, Lino Lakes, Centerville, and Lexington. Children in Circle Pines attend Centennial Elementary, Rice Lake Elementary, Blue Heron Elementary, or Golden Lake Elementary before continuing their education at Centennial Middle School and Centennial High School.
Governance
Circle Pines is a Plan A statutory city under Minnesota law. The Circle Pines mayor is elected for a two-year term and city council members for a four-year term.
The current mayor of Circle Pines is Matt Percy. Current council members include Steve McChesney, Nici Dorner and Meagan Bachmayer. The current City Administrator is Patrick Antonen, who is responsible for running the city on a day-to-day basis.
Notes
Circle Pines is served by the Centennial School District, the Centennial Lakes Police Department, and the Centennial Fire Department.
Circle Pines was ranked as the third most perfect suburb to live in by CNBC in 2011 based on housing, education, crime, and employment.
History
Circle Pines was founded as a planned cooperative community in which homeowners owned equal shares in the cooperative association which owned and developed the community. The name was selected because the cooperative movement in the United States in the 1940s used a circle encompassing two pine trees as its symbol. Although the community is no longer governed as a co–op, a municipally–owned gas utility remains as an operational memorial to Circle Pines' community heritage.
The Gibas family were one of the original families of the Circle Pines cooperative. Their papers offer further insight into the origins of Circle Pines, Minnesota. Articles and speeches, news clippings, correspondence, and photographs are available for research use.