I was waiting for a response like this. IF the McKensey report is talking about a net increase of 52 units, I'm sure that the Hollman law suit plays a big part in that. However is that a fair comparison?
Because of the Hollman lawsuit, 480 of the units that were formally on the City's Near North side are now located in the suburbs. Of that 480, 300 are built and occupied, 80 are under construction and the last 100 are getting their final approvals and will be constructed by this time next year. ALL of these units are affordable to families at or below 30 percent of AMI and are scattered throughout the metro area in Cities as disparate as Edina, Columbia Heights, Roseville, Coon Rapids, Woodbury, and Shakopee. These units will never show up in any City report and will always skew the numbers in the City's disfavor. In addition, 300 of the units being built at Heritage Park are affordable to families at 30 percent AMI and another 90 will be built for families at 60 percent AMI or below. 55 Homeownership units will be Habitat for Humanity houses and another 55 homeownership units will be made available to families at 80 percent AMI or below. Another 100 public housing units (30 percent AMI or below) were/are being located in non-concentrated parts of the City. The Heritage Park units are under construction and the first units will be homes to low income families this Fall. 900 total units will be built at Heritage Park and when it is all said and done and even with the loss of the 480 units to the suburbs, Hollman will have created more NET housing in the City of Minneapolis than it demolished. Schools were also mentioned. Yes, houses were cleared for schools (especially in the City's northside) but wasn't it worth it to get new schools in parts of the City that were woefully underschooled? That's the tradeoff. Which goal is more valid? I'm still not convinced that 52 NET units is correct. However, even if it is, I think we can't look at that number in a vacuum. There's a lot of context surrounding it. Can the City do better? Damn straight they can, and hopefully we will see that better effort in the next few years. Dean Carlson East Harriet, Ward 10 Quoting michael libby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: Snip.. > > If you need a good example of where the missing housing is, I would direct > your attention to the north side (for starters) where almost every block > seems to have a vacant lot or boarded house (and where recently lots of > housing starts have also happened). You might also notice that where once > a huge housing project stood is now a giant construction zone-- work is > actively occurring (but behind schedule?) on replacement housing (that > won't house most of the displaced population, since they won't be able to > afford to live in the mixed income development until after the sheen of > gentrification wears off). > > I can also think of a two block area near my house where every single home > was torn down (ok, maybe a couple were moved) to build an elementary > school. This one project easily offsets the 100 units your hard work put > in place in Whittier. Oh, and just kitty-corner from the new school across > Penn & Lowry is another huge empty lot that is supposed to have some > development done, but apparently only the gods know when it will actually > begin. It's been a green field with a sign announcing the development in > it for something like two years now. > _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
