Reasons why the City should support the North-SouthConnector
The Harrison Neighborhood Association is posting thisinformation because the
City Council will be considering the funding of astreet that would connect
North and South Minneapolis. This is referred to asthe North-South Connector
and is part of the Hollman Decree Settlement. Thebackground is as follows:
The Harrison Neighborhood Association, in collaboration withthe Bryn Mawr
Neighborhood Association, area business, appointee ofCouncilperson Goodman
and Councilperson Cherryhomes and other interested parties,has been working
on a Master Plan for an area that lies in both the Harrisonand Bryn Mawr
neighborhoods including the current site of the Impound Lot andthe
Minneapolis rock crushing facility. The entire Master Plan can be found onthe
City of Minneapolis website at www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us(use Basset Creek
Valley Masterplan as the key words).
The plan envisions preserving existing affordable housing inthe area and
developing new housing that would include both a mix of rental andownership
options and a mix of affordability. We had originally envisioned alow-density
housing development. However, if this proves to be not economicallyfeasible,
we would support higher densities.
The North-South Connector is important to our vision as itwill be difficult
to develop housing in our neighborhood as long as this arearemains isolated
from the rest of the City and from downtown. We believe wewould not be able
to develop affordable housing in this area without theNorth-South Connector,
and that the affordable housing currently in the areawould be lost to the
industrial businesses that have been steadily cutting intothe housing stock
in the area.
It is very important that the City of Minneapolis funds theNorth-South
Connector not just to Glenwood Avenue but, as outlined in theHollman Decree,
all the way through to Dunwoody Blvd.
The Harrison Neighborhood Association has a long-standingcommitment to
housing. We spent 58% of our Phase I NRP dollars on housing. Wewelcomed 100
section 8 certificates into the neighborhood so that a currentlyexisting
apartment complex could be rehabilitated.
Currently, the land is underutilized and not developed interms to increase
the Cities tax base. We believe that developing housing inthis area will
increase the property taxes available to the City.
The City has said that it would like to add 10,0000 housingunits to
Minneapolis housing stock by 2020. This is one of the largestunderdeveloped
land parcels in the City. It does not make sense to create asituation that
decreases the possibility of housing development in this area.The North-South
Connector will increase the likelihood that a developer willwant to develop
housing in this area.
Recently, the media talked about the increased congestion inthe metropolitan
area and how this negatively impacts our health. This is anarea that in close
to downtown and to jobs. We believe its best use is housing.We believe
connecting this area to the rest of the City is the best way toensure that
this land is used for housing. We see this as a smart growthstrategy, which
fits with the Cities goals for growth and affordability.
Submitted by,
Larry Hiscock
HNA Director/Lead Organizer
(resident of Willard-Hay)
The people on the City Council Ways and Means Committee are:
Joan Campbell (673-2202)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Kathy Thurber (673-2209)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lisa McDonald (673-2210)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Paul Ostrow (673-2201)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sandra Colvin Roy (673-2212)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
