2025 Minneapolis Housing Questionnaire — Ward 8
Neighbors for More Neighbors has partnered with Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia, Wedge LIVE!, The Housing Justice League, Housing in Action and BikeMN to sponsor a housing questionnaire for the 2025 Minneapolis Elections. You can see all responses (mayoral and city council candidates) here.
We sent this questionnaire to all candidates who filed campaign finance reports as of April 16, 2025. We received responses from Soren Stevenson.
You may view the candidate responses to each question by clicking on the “+” icon to the left of the question.
Question 1: One way to create complete, walkable neighborhoods is to legalize local commercial use within those neighborhoods. The existing zoning code prohibits commercial use on approximately 89% of Minneapolis lots.
Will you vote for zoning changes to allow local, low-impact small businesses (e.g. coffee shops, restaurants, corner stores, etc.) to be built in residential neighborhoods throughout our entire city?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
Question 2: Some cities like South Bend, Indiana, have developed a set of pre-approved, residential project plans to help (1) lower the cost of construction by reducing design fees and (2) speed up approval times. These initiatives involve working with architects and engineers to develop a set of plans for one to six-unit homes that are permitted throughout the city.
Will you vote to create an accessible catalog of free or low-cost, pre-approved home plans for the City of Minneapolis?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
Pre-approved plans would need to come with bypassing significant permitting and bureaucratic hurdles. Pre-approved plans will be successful if they are quick and easy to permit and build in MPLS.
Question 3: Given Minneapolis’s history of redlining, exclusionary zoning, freeway construction through historically Black & minority neighborhoods, slum clearance, and urban renewal, what are your goals to address historic & ongoing harms–in an equitable and restorative way–to build a better and more livable Minneapolis for all residents?
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Soren Stevenson
Addressing the history and current practice of racist development and exclusion is a top priority for me:38 Thrive: The 38 Thrive plan promotes and supports African American cultural sites, Black-owned businesses and wellness centers, and implements policies to create stable housing and affordable home-ownership in the district. I support 38 Thrive’s aims to reconnect the neighborhood across 35W by promoting equity, continuity and investment on both sides of the bridge, so that the whole corridor is vibrant, has safe and accessible streets, and is reflective of the rich African American heritage of the neighborhood.
George Floyd Square: Justice for George Floyd means supporting the site and community through forgivable loans especially to Black-owned small businesses, traffic calming, safety, and accessibility improvements, improved transit access, grant programs to beautify storefronts, fill vacant buildings, add new signage, lighting, landscaping, and exterior design improvements. It also looks like activating the site through promoting and increasing the number of city events in GFS such as Black-owned business week, farmers’ markets, and other festivals and events that would promote the values of the local community. This would also involve supporting the People’s Way designs and development, and preserving and making permanent memorials and space art.
Equitable Development Citywide: I support universal upzoning to prevent displacement and ensure development benefits all neighborhoods and that all neighborhoods are accessible to working/middle-class families. I will work towards greater transit equity and no new freeways, opposing any rebuild of I-94 or 35W, which displaced thousands. Instead, we must invest in transit, green space, and affordable housing. I would support down payment assistance and affordable housing for families displaced by racist highway policies–namely I-94, 35W, and Olson Memorial Highway and the “Bring Back 6th” campaign.
Question 4: Minneapolis currently allows property owners to build triplexes on any residential lot. In practice, on an average 5,000 square foot lot in Minneapolis, each triplex unit is constrained to ~800 square feet due to other size and height limitations in the code (these are built-form restrictions & floor-to-area ratios). Most of the triplexes that currently exist were built decades ago and would not be allowed today under current rules.
Will you vote to change city built-form restrictions so that new triplexes could be built if they stayed consistent with existing forms?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
We also need to allow up to 6-plexes with incentives so that some units are accessible. Cottage clusters should also be legalized throughout the city to give Minneapolitans more choices of homes at varying prices. I’m in conversation with advocates and city planners on how to improve the 2040 plan in this regard while reducing permitting times.
Question 5: The Minneapolis 2040 Plan has been highly successful in allowing more studios and 1 to 2 bedroom homes to be built in the City, primarily in buildings with 20 or more units. However, 3 or more bedroom homes in these same buildings are rare; meaning families with children are competing for a limited supply of single-family homes.
Will you vote to change zoning restrictions to encourage the development of 3-bedroom units–in multi-unit buildings–for growing Minneapolis families?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
It is imperative for the liveability of the city and the health of our schools and institutions to make sure that Minneapolis has room for every family of every size. Publicly supported housing must also prioritize family sized units at rents that low income and working class families can afford. These family sized units must be built throughout the City so that access to Minneapolis’ best schools and neighborhoods is not solely the prerogative of the wealthy.
Question 6: Across the country, many cities and states are updating their zoning codes to allow more homes near high-quality transit. For example, Washington State legalized six-plexes within a half-mile of major transit stops.
Will you vote for zoning reforms in Minneapolis to support more homes on all land within a half-mile of major transit stops, including LRT, BRT, and ABRT lines?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
Question 7: What specific anti-displacement measures will you support to ensure these zoning changes benefit existing residents and prevent displacement of low-income communities for current and future projects?
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Soren Stevenson
I will support rent stabilization, the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, and helping seniors reduce their tax burden while adding units to their property (in this I would also support more lot-splitting), and I will work with renter and senior organizations to hear about other issues they are facing and work with them towards solutions.
Question 8: Minneapolis residents, City Council, and the current Mayor are all concerned with rising homelessness rates, which increase the prevalence of local encampments.
Do you support the current mayoral administration’s policy of encampment clearing?
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Soren Stevenson
No
See question 9
Question 9: What will you do to protect people who see encampments as their only option, while increasing and expanding access to stable, permanent and deeply affordable housing for all people in Minneapolis?
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Soren Stevenson
As a homeless outreach worker, I saw firsthand that the current “no tolerance” policy does not move people towards housing or reduce the number of people homeless in Minneapolis. What it actually does is push homeless people into our neighborhoods and business districts, where they are eventually cleared once the situation has caused enough disruption. This policy serves no one except the mayor’s political agenda of keeping the issue toxic and painful. People sleeping outside suffer, and people in homes suffer. Instead, we need to allow for temporary outdoor places with trash, sanitation, security, and housing services as we transition people off the streets. These places must have transit service, but not abut neighborhoods. We must provide more and better shelter beds so that there are safe indoor places for homeless people to be. We must partner with the County and State to ensure that there are enough mental health and drug treatment beds to meet the immense demand from our communities. Finally, we need to build more housing generally, and the government at every level needs to build housing that the poorest residents of our city can afford.
I have worked firsthand with the County’s coordinated entry system that is used to get people from the streets into homes. I have seen how long people who are ready to be housed are forced to wait while a unit becomes available. This means that children are sleeping outside while their family sits on a waitlist. This is entirely unacceptable, and I would like to see our inclusionary zoning policy make room for people leaving homelessness. On top of that, the City needs to make sure that when we fund affordable housing outside of the City’s control, this new housing must be available to this system as a way of meaningfully reducing the backlog.
Question 10: Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) gives current tenants the first right to purchase the property that they live in should their landlord want to sell. A policy such as TOPA advances opportunities for community ownership as well as a transfer of wealth back to renters. If you are elected, will you vote to advance TOPA?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
This is a top priority for me, and the policy is already written. With small tweaks, it can be passed and implemented quickly.
Question 11: Will you support using city resources to establish locally-owned housing–sometimes referred to as social housing–that is permanently affordable, protected from private market forces, publicly owned, and under democratic governance by the tenants?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
Question 12: Today, city property taxes are set primarily on the “improvements” or value of the buildings on land. As a result, “low value” land with parking lots or vacant lots pay very little in taxes while making surrounding neighborhoods less livable. This incentivizes low-value land owners to engage in land speculation for years or even decades until they get a big payout. A Land Value Tax (LVT) doesn’t change their taxes to the city; it shifts how taxes are set to be primarily based on the value of the land to discourage land speculation.
If the state passes legislation to allow it–pending special session outcomes–will you vote to pilot a LVT to encourage development of under-used land in Minneapolis?
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Soren Stevenson
Yes
Question 13: Rent stabilization continues to be considered in Minneapolis. Supporters hope to discourage unfair rent gouging and displacement. Opponents worry it could stifle the development of new homes.
How would you evaluate rent stabilization policy? What components could you vote for and which would you not be able to vote for?
Examples of policy components include, but are not limited to: a specific percentage cap on rent increases, a new construction exemption, vacancy decontrol, just cause eviction, etc.
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Soren Stevenson
Ward 8 voted in 2021 to see a rent stabilization policy presented to voters. I will respect my constituents’ vote and produce a policy for them to consider. My priorities for rent stabilization are that renters are able to put down deep roots in our neighborhoods and that the new homes that we desperately need continue to be built. This is possible, and I am committed to working with renters and local home builders to craft a policy that works for everyone. This policy must include just-cause eviction.
Question 14: Evictions in Minneapolis have skyrocketed since the eviction moratorium was lifted and far too many renters are one paycheck away from losing their home.
What ideas do you have to reduce evictions in our communities?
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Soren Stevenson
To prevent eviction and ensure that people can stay in their homes if they lose their job or unanticipated financial issues, I will support Just Cause for eviction, rent stabilization, basic income pilot for BIPOC trans neighbors, right to counsel for evictions, diversion programs to get renters on payment plans, and know your rights trainings for renters.