Rich
Ted Mondale, the head of the Met council was on MPR today commenting on the
Kare 11 report.
I did not watch it, regretably, but just looking at the ad, I could tell it
was going to be of the editorial variety...as you put it.
I think your analysis of the report is good. The council, while it doesnt
do enough (do to its lack of legislative authority) in my mind, does do
very good considering the political obstacles present in the region...
The line you speak of is the MUSA line...metro urban services area. It is a
designation created by the council where urban services will not extend
past. This is the historical method the council has used to control sprawl
and growth in the twin cities region. All of this is much to the dismay of
suburban legislators and snickering media people, like We dont KARE-11.
Robb Clarksen
SE Mpls
Writing my senior thesis on regional government in the TC metro area..and
looking for input from those interested.
On Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:23:16 -0600,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote...
>This may be slightly off Minneapolis specific - but it definitely affects
>us.
>
>KARE TV is running an "Extra" series on why TC housing, including
>Minneapolis, is so expensive. They are blaming the Metro Council for
>restricting the amount of land available for new houses, and this is
>driving up prices.
>
>To me it sounded a lot more like editorial than news reporting. I haven't
>heard them say anything about the problems associated with the new
>development that they seem want. Their main complaint is that the land
>costs for a lot have gone from $80,000 inside some line set by the Met
>Council to $20,000 outside of the line.
>
>They also didn't bother to discuss the huge number of vacant lots in
>Minneapolis that could be converted to housing, and the number of vacant
>houses that could be rennovated.
>
>One would hope that they would put the other reporting that they have done
>on what is happening out their since the ramp meter shutoff together with
>the ex-urban development that they seem to want. Then hopefully they would
>see the traffic congestion as a hint of why Metro Council exists and tries
>to restrict growth.
>
>They showed pictures of developments on one side of the line where the
>inside development was a lot more dense than a few feet away on the
>outside of the line. They presented this as if it were an undesirable
>result - which for them it probably is.
>
>I think that there is also an article on this in the Strib today.
>
>
>Rich McMartin
>Bryant Neighborhood.
>
>
>
