Twin Cities Housing

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About the Institute on Race & Poverty

Founded in 1993 by john a. powell
Focus: Real issues that affect real people.
Goals: Create a better understanding of issues confronting communities facing the combined challenges of race and poverty.

What is the Problem?
Social and racial inequalities are geographically inscribed.
There is a polarization between the rich and the poor that is directly related to the areas in which they live.

SPRAWL
+
FRAGMENTATION/EXCLUSION
=
CONCENTRATED
POVERTY

Minneapolis-St. Paul Sprawl
•Population has boomed in the suburbs, while it is continuing to drop in the central cities.
	2/3 of new jobs will open in the suburbs in the upcoming years.
•Land has developed at a 3:1 ration to population in the region, from, 1950-1990

Minneapolis-Saint Paul Fragmentation/Exclusion
Sixth highest in the nation in total units of government with 3,580 in 1992.
In 1998, the seven county metro area had over 300 government units and 58 school districts.
65% of all Twin Cities residents of color live in the central cities.

10 Most Segregated
Metropolitan Regions
in the United States

Detroit

Cleveland

Saint Louis

Indianapolis

New York

Milwaukee

Newark

Chicago

Philadelphia

Minneapolis-Saint Paul

Twin Cities Dissimilarity of Racial/Ethnic Groups

Racial Segregation in Schools
•Most students in the Twin Cities attend schools in their neighborhoods. •Neighborhood-based schooling is a retreat from desegregation. •Segregation in education exacerbates housing segregation.

Click on image (below) to see full size map.

Segregation of Black Students in States with Less than 6% Black Public School Enrollment
States, by Rank of Segregation	% Black Students in the State	% in Schools of 50-100% Minority Students
Minnesota	5.2%	57.1%
New Mexico	2.4	56.4
Colorado	5.5	55.2
Arizona	4.3	55.1
Nebraska	6.0	37.9
Oregon	2.5	31.6
Washington	4.8	30.9

Fragmentation Undermines Affordable Housing Goals
Example: The Livable Communities Act (LCA)
	•66% of LCA Communities have goals less than the current level for home ownership. •53% have similar goals for affordable rental housing. •LCA Community goals would result in a 13% decline for ownership and 4% fewer units for rental housing by 2010.

Concentrated Poverty

Concentrated Poverty isolates inner-city communities from educational and economic opportunities

Number of Census Tracts with 40% or more residents in poverty

Year

Minneapolis/
St. Paul

1970

1980

1990

What is Gentrification?

Gentrification is the process of neighborhood, citywide, or regional change that results in the large scale displacement of lower income residents by higher income residents. These neighborhoods are not in transition to mixed income, multiracial communities. Instead they are in transition to middle and upper middle class communities.

Negative Effects of Gentrification
•Increased Homelessness. •Displaced children must change schools, negatively impacting academic performance. •Overcrowded housing results as families double-up. •Displaced elderly residents must leave communities that feel familiar and safe. •Moving costs for relocating to often inferior housing. •More time and money spent by displaced people traveling to and from work.

Revitalization without Displacement
•Reinvestment is occurring in the Twin Cities •The rates of investment/new home mortgages are lower than in rich cities where gentrification translates into displacement, but these trends should be watched
Region	Capital/Mortgage Investment (1997)	Rank
Chicago	$323,508.00	1
Boston	$179,786.00	2
Seattle	$106,629.00	3
Philadelphia	$66,764.00	4
Washington	64,479.00	5
Minneapolis	$15,053.00	6
Milwaukee	5,993.00	7
Detroit	1,150.00	8

Fragmentation, Concentrated Poverty, and Gentrification
Fragmentation, concentrated poverty, and gentrification isolate inner-city communities from educational and economic opportunities.

How Can Regionalism Help?
•What a city or a single jurisdiction can accomplish by itself is limited. •Regionalism can integrate regional decision-making and local control. •Thus, local groups can both maintain an effective voice and operate within a regional resource-sharing structure.

Measures to Open Housing Opportunities
üFair-Share Plan with teeth Housing Trust Funds üJobs/Housing Linkage Programs üHousing Unit Replacement Statutes üInclusionary zoning üMandatory set-asides

What Partners in Neighborhood Revitalization Can Do
Provide housing that is accessible to a range of incomes, county-by-county.		Support Equity- focused Smart Growth Initiatives.
Aggressively market the affordable housing that IS available.		Encourage opportunity-based affordable housing throughout the metropolitan region.

Visit us at www1.umn.edu\irp

University of Minnesota Law School • 415 Law Center 229 19th Avenue South • Minneapolis, MN 55455
Telephone: (612) 625-8071 • Fax: (612) 624-8890

e-mail: irp@tc.umn.edu • Internet: http://www1.umn.edu/irp