On a 6-1 vote on August 3, the Blaine (MN) City Council approved an actual high-density housing development. I have previously questioned Blaine’s priorities for development, including years of bizarre hand-wringing over putting high-density housing in other locations, like in The Lakes development. However, Blaine has decided that it is time to approve some density. […]
Many people have observed on this site and others that we’re not building enough housing in the United States, and that this has a significant impact on affordability. Housing lasts for a long time if properly looked after, so if the population and people’s household arrangements don’t change, we don’t need to build much housing. Neither […]
One of the more popular ways for progressive candidates to excite a crowd or for pro-housing advocates to frame their arguments is to assert “Housing is a human right.” We should stop saying this, and call out candidates when they say it. It’s a lie. Housing isn’t a human right—at least not in practice. I […]
The streets.mn Summer Picnic is July 15! which means it’s getting closer. streets.mn will provide grill-ables (animal and vegetable); you bring conversation, food you’d like to share, and your friends. streets.mn board members will also host an informal meeting for about an hour before the picnic with updates on the organization and giving you a chance […]
Efforts are underway to preserve existing “naturally occurring affordable housing” (NOAH) in Minneapolis. A $25 million loan program created by the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF) will provide non-profit housing organizations with low-interest loans in order to purchase and preserve existing NOAH properties. What is a NOAH property? The GMHF site puts it this way: […]
Hope everyone enjoyed the first three episodes of the Here to There podcast last week. This week’s new episode asks the question: what do we need to not just live but to be truly alive? It’s more than just a stable 9-to-5. Quality of life is effected by our ability to safely, affordably, and conveniently access […]
Originally posted on Neighbors for More Neighbors. The news that Minneapolis had again passed 400,000 residents last summer is a reminder that we did it before. Buried in our history is a story of a post-war Minneapolis that at one time had more than 520,000 residents, and has not seen as many since. Part of the […]
The podcast this week is a conversation with Jillia Pessenda, a community organizer who is running for city council representing Minneapolis’ Ward 1 in the northeast corner of the city. We sat down a few weeks ago at Maya Cuisine on Central Avenue to chat about her background and her campaign, affordable housing in Minneapolis, […]
The podcast this week is a conversation with Jeremy Schroeder, a director of a non-profit focused on affordable housing. Schroeder is running for City Council in Ward 11, on the city border in South Minneapolis. We sat down a few months ago at the Wild Mind Ales brewery to talk about his background, the Twin […]
You may have heard about the proposal to re-zone the Lowry Hill East neighborhood of Minneapolis (commonly known as The Wedge, not to be confused with the defunct neighborhood newspaper or grocery co-op of the same name). Some people are opposed. I am one of them. I’ve been meaning to write something specific about the merits of […]