Not many country folks want to become city folks.
At least, that’s what Pottawatomie County leaders learned in 2019 when they asked residents of the Green Valley area whether they wanted to incorporate and create an independent town.
At that time, 70% of residents said they didn’t want to form a new city, and 70% said they didn’t want Manhattan to annex Green Valley, either.
But the area directly east of Manhattan, roughly the southern part of Blue Township, continues to grow. The population of Blue Township has risen from 4,926 in 2020 to an estimated 5,541 in 2026, an increase of nearly 12%. That has brought with it changes in commercial development and traffic.
