Further, to Mayor Rybak and to councilmember Lisa Goodman, what can you
suggest the City do to open up non-saturated neighborhoods to supportive
housing?
Good question, Ms. Lowder, and though it wasn't addressed to me I hope you don't mind my taking a shot at it. This question not only promotes the discussion of the placement of supportive housing developments in Minneapolis, but also brings forward the question of where and how we site all future housing development here.
I believe our approach can be simple and systematic. Using data projecting population growth for the city and region that is available today, we can create a pretty accurate picture of our housing needs in a prescribed time period - say 15 years. With these projections we can make some specific determinations about our future housing needs; like the number of rental units needed v. the number of ownership units, levels of density required, etc. We can look at the full spectrum of housing types and costs - from facilities for the homeless and supportive housing to upper-end market rate. We can then place the projected units equitably throughout the entire city.
Using this plan to place future supportive housing facilities in non-saturated communities and at least 1/4 mile apart is a way of enforcing the spacing ordinance for supportive housing. Also, it is a way to more evenly distribute increases in the density of housing that is necessary to make our city stronger by placing multi-unit developments in non-traditional communities (the lagging population growth in Wards like 11, 12 and 13 are going to make Minneapolis' redistricting much more challenging). This will mean changing the way we do housing development. It will take more flexibility in our zoning codes, licensing, and regulatory procedures, but I think we will be moving toward a more vibrant, diverse and healthy city. It will take a committed, strong and farseeing city council and mayor to accomplish this.
Yours,
Robert Lilligren
Ward 8
Phillips West
