A good article today in Metro/State about the Met Council's attempt to overcome barriers to affordable housing production in the suburbs etc. This is tied to the new smart growth program. Some questions I have here. How does this policy impact Minneapolis in terms of funding it receives from the Met Council through program like Livable Communities? Will those areas that are considered saturated or impacted be able to compete for funding with projects that add more affordable housing units? Will projects that rehabilite existing affordable housing stock be considered? What is the target market for these fund? Is it 30%, 50%, or 80% of median income? Is it Metro median? My concern here is that what poorer neighborhoods in Minneapolis consider market rate, may be considered in the affordable catagory by the Met Council or State based on using Metro Median income without consideration to Minneapolis Median income. I have already run into this dilemma with a couple projects I have worked on with neighborhoods. My other concern is that suburbs may opt to do housing projects for those who earn 80% of the Metro Median income to qualify for the funds and completely ignore those people with 30% median income. That leaves a very large population which is underserved. I just want to start a discussion on this issue and see what we hear from the experts out there. Barb Lickness Whittier Ward 6 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/
