Retail Districts Need a Local Base
The national problem of sagging shopping districts can be fixed with local stores in Uptown and Downtown Minneapolis and on Grand in St. Paul.
Author: Alex Schieferdecker
Optimism About Minneapolis for the New Year, and Beyond
No, Minneapolis is not Oslo or Vienna. And it lacks some vibrant traits of Boston and Montreal. But it is forward-looking and embracing progress.
Two Types of Rent Regulation: Control and Stabilization
There’s been a lot of heat and not enough light in the discourse around rent control and rent stabilization. Here’s a primer on what they’re all about.
Minnesota Is Not California
Cities are not all the same! And we need to bear that in mind when considering new housing policies, because results may vary.
How to Make Better Arguments Before the Planning Commission (or Similar Bodies)
Many residents who testify about housing developments don’t fully understand how the relevant decisions are made, leaving them disillusioned and unsatisfied with the city planning process.
How Minneapolis Could Become A Missing Middle Housing Factory
Despite changing zoning codes to allow for more small multi-family housing, Minneapolis hasn’t seen much development. Here are some ways to improve the situation.
The reality and myth of the Minneapolis 2040 plan
The Minneapolis 2040 plan is back in the news, but not for fun reasons. Last week, a Hennepin County district court judge ordered the City of Minneapolis to stop implementing that groundbreaking comprehensive plan until the city could demonstrate that it complied with state environmental legislation. The plan, which was adopted over three years ago, […]
Assessing the Legacy of Minneapolis’s Progressive Urbanist City Council
The 2021 general election is over. All across the country it was a deeply divisive and angry campaign and the results reflected that dismal process. In Minneapolis, it was no different. It was a bad time to be earnest about the future. The cynics won in a rout. Among the losses were four councilmembers, Cam […]
Some Relatively Optimistic Predictions About Post-COVID Cities
Fears about the post-pandemic demise of our cities may have been greatly exaggerated.
Five Takeaways From Ten Years Of Minneapolis Planning Commission Approvals
Yesterday, I shared five takeaways from forty-one years of housing starts data in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro region. This data, collected from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, can be useful to get a look at how much housing is being built across a range of geographies, down to the municipality level. But […]