The Wedge Times-Picayune

After years of staff planning and public outreach, the Minneapolis City Council met yesterday for the first time to publicly debate changes to the city’s long-range comprehensive plan called Minneapolis 2040.

If you’re someone who thinks revisions to the plan should be moving in the direction of allowing more people to live near billion dollar transit investments, the most distressing proposed changes are to the built form maps that will guide next year’s rezoning process. After a morning mark-up session to amend the plan, two maps were published on the city’s website outlining proposed changes (the maps were removed almost immediately, but preserved by #wedgileaks).

Continue reading “Minneapolis City Council starts amending 2040 plan”

I can tell that things are coming down to the wire with the Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan because people from Southwest Minneapolis are signing up for brand new Twitter accounts in order to send me unhappy messages.

Last Wednesday was the final public hearing for the 2040 plan. An impressive number of people turned out to support: more homes in all parts of the city; a greater diversity of housing types; and a sustainable city where more people can drive less by living closer to daily destinations. Opponents expressed concerns like nobody knows this is happening/we need more time/your plan is divisive/we’ve been treated unfairly. Continue reading “Minneapolis 2040: The Final Countdown”

With the final public hearing scheduled for this Wednesday, November 14 (4:30 pm, City Hall), it’s a good time to review the arguments you will hear from opponents of the Minneapolis 2040 plan. As we get closer to adoption of the plan, arguments increasingly consist of process complaints and delay tactics.

Continue reading “How the opposition argues against the 2040 plan”

The final public hearing for the Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan is on Wednesday, November 14 (4:30 pm, City Hall). I’m guilty of spending a disproportionate amount of time talking about the critics and their apocalyptic arguments. But who are the supporters of the 2040 plan? What do they say? Continue reading “Who Supports the Minneapolis 2040 Plan?”

The Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan had a public hearing at the Planning Commission last night. This long-range plan has been the subject of a years-long engagement process and a wide-ranging public debate. One side has taken to displaying red yard signs, largely in upscale Southwest Minneapolis, predicting imminent neighborhood destruction. Another group, called Neighbors for More Neighbors (of which I am a co-founder), says Minneapolis has failed to produce a sufficient quantity and diversity of housing in all neighborhoods — a prerequisite to meeting affordability, sustainability, and equity goals. I’ve written about the 2040 plan quite a bit.

Below is a lightly edited twitter transcript of five hours of spirited — sometimes angry, sometimes weird, sometimes thoughtful — testimony at last night’s Planning Commission. Continue reading “Mpls 2040 Planning Commission Live Coverage”

Do you feel that stinging sensation on your butt cheeks? The Star Tribune is reporting there’s some domination going on.

Continue reading “Don’t Get Dominated”

Here’s last night’s live coverage of a Minneapolis 2040 session in the Linden Hills neighborhood, featuring Ward 13 Council Member Linea Palmisano. If you’re unfamiliar with this topic, read this post on what’s at stake and why I think the 2040 plan is worth supporting. It’s bittersweet, as this may have been my last #Mpls2040 adventure in swanky Southwest Minneapolis. Continue reading “Terror in Ward 13: “I’m so upset I’m shaking””

The Star Tribune got big local developer Kelly Doran to talk about Minneapolis 2040, a plan that would allow more housing across all parts of the city. Doran said 2040 was “silly,” and that triplexes won’t turn him a profit. He even sees it as a threat to neighborhood character.

It’s funny because Doran is constructing a five-story building very near to my home (the pile-driving is still ringing in my ears!). Now, personally I’m glad for the additional housing. I couldn’t be happier about the grocery store in the new building. But while we’re on the subject of neighborhood character, Doran’s building takes up a third of a block. It has two levels of underground parking. And I’m sure you can imagine the large volume of complaints about how it would destroy neighborhood character. Continue reading “Big Developers, Big Business, Big Southwest Agree on Mpls 2040”