Housing & Transportation
Amid rising evictions and rents, states grapple with protections in tenant-landlord laws
At 90 years old, Hilda Chavera has found a new purpose in life: tenant organizing. A Minneapolis resident for 50 years, Chavera said she has seen her city change, with many of her neighbors struggling to stay in their homes. “People can’t afford their rent. They are getting kicked out of their homes. They feel […]
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority unveils new affordable housing as city fights for 2040 plan
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey used an unveiling of a new affordable housing fourplex on Tuesday to hammer the city’s legal foes in the ongoing court fight to allow more density. “A judge recently smashed our ability to put up this kind of housing. This would not be possible but for the 2040 plan, this won’t […]
The Legislature almost killed the lawsuit against the Minneapolis 2040 Plan
Earlier this year, the Minnesota Legislature nearly passed a law that would have killed the lawsuit that has dogged the city of Minneapolis for years over its 2040 Plan, which calls for ending single-family zoning and adding housing density across the city. The two nonprofit groups that sued the city under a state environmental law […]
Here’s the Minnesota projects funded through the federal infrastructure bill
LITTLE FALLS — Avon resident Ricky Zyvoloski crosses the Memorial Bridge in Little Falls twice a week to visit family. Sometimes he has to wait for one of the 46 trains per day that cross the road just before the bridge. But with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by President Joe Biden in […]
Some condo workers released from shadow noncompetes by FirstService Residential
Residents of the River Towers condominiums in Minneapolis like their building’s staff. The building’s staff like the residents — many have worked in the building for years. But a provision in the contract between the condo association and the building’s property management company, FirstService Residential Minnesota, means neither the residents nor the workers have a […]
Light rail audit: Met Council failed to enforce construction contracts, costing millions
The Metropolitan Council bungled oversight of the construction of the Southwest Light Rail by failing to enforce its agreements with its contractors, adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the project’s cost and causing further delays, according to a report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor released Wednesday. The Southwest Light Rail line so […]
Minnesota is the Midwest leader on electric vehicles, report says
Minnesota is the Midwestern leader on policies encouraging the widespread use of electric vehicles, according to a new scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, an advocacy group. But the state still has considerable work to do to catch up to national leaders like California, New York and Colorado, according to the report, […]
Minnesota bucks national trend of rising pedestrian deaths
Pedestrian traffic deaths on American roadways have risen to their highest level in over 40 years, according to a new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association. But Minnesota is bucking that national trend: Pedestrian deaths here have stabilized following a sharp uptick in the mid-2010s. In 2022, 46 Minnesota pedestrians were struck and killed […]
The Easter eggs: The good stuff the Legislature passed you may not have heard about
For months in 2022, a few county boards were forced to deal with unruly crowds of right-wing activists who pressured the elected officials to switch to hand-counting paper ballots. Doing so would have been an unwieldy nightmare for the counties — hand counting is more expensive and less accurate than machine counts, and the grueling process […]
Can affordable housing be energy efficient? These developers say yes.
Sustainability has long been promoted as a luxury amenity, with energy efficiency features marketed as a selling point for upscale residential and retail development — along with elegance, beauty and tranquility, and amenities such as private rooftop gardens. For example, just south of St. Petersburg, Florida, Hunters Point Pearl Homes & Marina features high-end single-family […]
‘My first smile came in the homeless shelter, because I was painting.’
Every usable surface in Ellie Allakhverdiyev’s one-bedroom Edina apartment is cluttered with art supplies. There’s a large easel by the window, canvases and prints tucked away under an end table and shelves upon shelves of paint jars and brushes. In the kitchen, Alice in Wonderland-inspired prints are scattered across the counter. Allkhverdiyev holds one of […]
How Minnesota will spend $1 billion on housing
Minnesota lawmakers increased the state’s spending on housing about ninefold over the next two years, mostly with one-time funding paid for with part of the $17.5 billion surplus. The $1 billion in new funding (HF2335) will help developers build more affordable apartments, help low- and moderate-income Minnesotans buy their first homes, and provide rental assistance […]