The Area

The City of Thorp is located along STH 29 in the northern portion of Clark County in west central Wisconsin. The community is within an hours drive of larger urban areas, such as Eau Claire to the west, Wausau to the east, and Marshfield to the southeast. The community of 1,536 residents lies in an area of gently rolling farmland with soils generally conducive to agricultural production. The topography is gently sloping from the northeast to the southwest with McGrogan Creek serving as the primary surface water drainage system through the community. Due to its location in a predominately agricultural-based county, the City of Thorp has served as an agricultural service center. However, declining trends in the farm economy, combined with a decreasing farm population and changing culture within the farming community, have prompted City officials to pursue a more diversified economy to help maintain the quality of life the residents of this small rural community have enjoyed.

Land identified for recreational purposes has almost doubled in the City of Thorp, increasing from 20 acres in 1973 to 39 acres of municipal parks and play fields in 2000. However, recreational land still comprises less than five percent of the total land area of the City. The City's current Outdoor Recreation Plan, 1999-2004 more than doubles the amount of recreational land by including the recreational facilities of the public and parochial school systems. Based upon accepted park standards of 12.5 acres per 1,000 persons, it would appear that Thorp has a more than adequate supply of dedicated recreational acreage to serve the residents of the community now and through the planning period. Thorp's Outdoor Recreation Plan is incorporated into this comprehensive plan by reference and its recommendations for planned improvements to the City's recreational land areas are also endorsed within this planning document. Essentially, the City's Outdoor Recreation Plan calls for on-going improvements and enhancements to existing public recreational sites, with the future development of a pathway along McGrogan Creek to connect major park areas. The City should continue to monitor the recreational needs of the community's residents and maintain an up-to-date improvement plan to address those needs.

In addition, when asked "What do you like about living in Thorp?", residents listed the following top five reasons:

• Nice people
• Small town atmosphere
• Clean
• Peaceful
• Low crime

These responses reflect a level of comfort with living in a small rural community and a desire to maintain those quality of life attributes.

The Thorp Planning Commission, after considering resident input and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the community at-large, developed the following direction statement to help guide the future development of the community.

The City of Thorp will continue to strive to maintain the quality of life enjoyed by the residents of a small rural community by providing an essential level of municipal services to protect the public's health, safety and welfare, while ensuring the availability of affordable quality housing options, and promoting the economic well being of the community through planned development.