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Manitoba Town Offers New Residents Land For $10

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Reston, Manitoba, population 550, wants you and your $10. The town is offering plots of land for $10 Canadian.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Reston is located about 45 miles north of North Dakota and the town hopes the offer will attract new blood to the area. Interest is rolling in from sides of the border.

TANIS CHALMERS: I'm still struggling to get through emails that were sent last week.

(LAUGHTER)

CHALMERS: I haven't responded to over 800 emails.

BLOCK: That's Tanis Chalmers. She's the economic development officer for the rural municipality of Pipestone, which oversees Reston. So what does Reston have to offer?

CHALMERS: We have a grocery store, pharmacy, lumber yard, credit union.

CORNISH: But what about recreation?

CHALMERS: Nine-hole golf course, as well as there's an arena, a curling surface.

CORNISH: And if curling isn't your game, you can cheer on the local baseball team, the Reston Rockets.

BLOCK: But if you're thinking of sending in your application, there is a bit of a catch. You have to put down $1,000 as a deposit. If you build on the property within a year, you get all but $10 back.

CORNISH: Amy Edwards and her family are thinking about making the move. They currently live outside of Toronto and are attracted to Reston's low crime rate, wide open spaces and, of course, the cost.

AMY EDWARDS: Wow, it's like here the population here is like 30,000 to like 80,000. And then, if you look property there is $1, $10, $25, $100.

CORNISH: But to get on that $10 offer, you need to act fast. There are only 13 lots available and it is first come first served.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

BLOCK: We'll have more ALL THINGS CONSIDERED right after this. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.