New numbers from the Metropolitan Council show that if present trends continue a ring of small towns around the fringe of the Twin Cities will experience explosive population growth over the next thirty years. The council's projections now put the region's overall growth pattern at the high end of earlier predictions. The numbers also show growth in the central cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul will be stronger than earlier forecasts. Minnesota Public Radio's Dan Olson reports. According to the Metropolitan Council, residents of Elko, where there are now 155 households, can expect a thousand households by 2030. Folks in neighboring New Market with 131 households can expect 2300 households by 2030. Both cities are twenty miles south of downtown Minneapolis. Metropolitan Council researcher Michael Munson says a ring of small towns around the Twin Cities will see similar growth.