Minneapolis Southwest Corridor
Twin Cities, Minnesota
Ken Greenberg has provided assistance to ULI Minnesota in 2009 facilitating a series of Workshops for the Southwest Corridor where a new light rail initiative is proposed for a line that will extend through multiple jurisdictions (Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie) from downtown Minneapolis city center to the suburban fringe. Partnering with Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council, the ULI has brought the participants together to explore opportunities for joint action and coordination of efforts. There is broad based support for this initiative. Minnesota Housing has technical assistance funding available, through the ULI MN/RCM Housing Initiative. There also support from the McKnight Foundation through the Connecting Transportation and Land Use Systems Initiative. The SW Corridor offers an opportunity to align planning, policy, practice and investment strategies based on performance objectives, pulling together many parallel efforts. The Workshops addressed the need for an integrated approach to a range of challenges and issues including:
How to develop flexible planning frameworks that set clear goals but allow incremental implementation
Targets for growth and balance between residents and employees
Ability of private markets to address the targets – strength of different sectors, need for incentives and performance goals
How to foster job growth – innovation, research and development
How to provide 'affordable housing'
Achieving a sustainable housing mix including young people, families, empty nesters and seniors,– Full Life Cycle Housing
How to get neighborhood supporting amenities – shopping, schools, daycare, healthcare, recreation – building Complete Communities
A focus on place making
Built form – heights and densities, building typologies
Expanding the public realm
Connections and linkages
Leveraging key local assets and resources
Transportation impacts – developing alternatives and facilitating a modal shift from private auto dependency
Integrating sustainability initiatives – energy, waste management, storm water management – setting performance goals at both the district scale and for individual buildings
What are the appropriate planning tools which can be adapted for the SW Corridor to meet the specific challenges