The Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan: Community Engagement and Policy Development Addressing Housing

摘要

On December 7, 2018, the Minneapolis City Council passed the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan by a vote of 12-1. They reaffirmed their support when they voted 10-1 for the final adoption on October 25, 2019. It is the first major policy document in the city's history to call out the connection between racially discriminatory housing and land use policies, and their link to the deep and persistent racial disparities in the Minneapolis community. It also represents the first time that a major US city has adopted a land use policy document that addresses the prevalent use of single-family zoning, or exclusionary zoning, which was part of biased housing policies in the early part of the twentieth century. Construction of more "missing middle" housing, the addition of more development by right, and the expansion of land use regulations to allow for up to three units per lot in formerly single-family-zoned areas are all features of the 2040 plan, addressing many policy areas, including climate change, transit and transportation, systems like sewers and water, and demographic changes and challenges for the future. While the scope of the Comprehensive Plan in Minneapolis is broad, this analysis focuses on a review of the processes involved in developing the plan to change the zoning and land use policy in ways that lead to greater racial equity while addressing climate change and population growth.