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After years of engagement across two City Council terms and a lively, often contentious debate, the final vote on the Minneapolis 2040 plan showed remarkable consensus. The margin was 12-1 in favor of a plan with ambitious goals to eliminate racial disparities, combat climate change, and roll back decades of exclusionary zoning.
Continue reading “FINAL: Mpls 2040 passes on 12-1 Council vote”
After a morning hearing, Hennepin County district court Judge Joseph R. Klein took a few hours to decide not to delay a vote on the Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan. He denied a request for a temporary restraining order from an anti-2040 group recently formed under the name Smart Growth Minneapolis. The group has been planning a legal action to stop the plan for months.
The City Council’s final vote on the plan will happen tomorrow as scheduled. The lawsuit may still go forward. Continue reading “Judge denies request to delay Mpls 2040 vote”
At yesterday’s 2019 budget hearing a large contingent of folks showed up to Minneapolis City Hall to ask the City Council to divest 5% from police, and invest in community instead. Among them was Wedge resident Andrew Beeman:
“I’m also a public health worker. I can tell you an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let’s think about some of that preventative work we can do.”
Mayor Frey’s budget provides $40 million in funding for affordable housing programs. It also includes a 2.8% increase in funding for the police department, for a total of $184.5 million. The Mayor has proposed a total budget for 2019 of $1.55 billion. The City Council will amend and vote on Mayor Frey’s proposed 2019 budget next week. Continue reading “Police divestment a focus of Minneapolis budget hearing”
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?”
Election day is Tuesday, November 6. That’s tomorrow. You should vote! Here’s my guide to races in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. Go to mnvotes.org to find your polling place. Continue reading “2018 Minneapolis and Hennepin County Endorsements”
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.
