When drive-thrus first began appearing in the 1950s, it was during a period of rapid expansion for cars and they took America by storm. It was seen as the ultimate convenience to run errands or order food without leaving your car. Many cities embraced drive-thrus, but overlooked their negative impacts. Those impacts have now become more obvious in the decades since. Drive-thrus make cities more dangerous and more inequitable, hurt vibrant neighborhoods, strain city finances, and negatively impact the environment.

In a by-right system, planning staff can quickly approve a project based solely on whether it meets established legal requirements or not. No further approval from local boards, city councils or the public is required.

In the City of Minneapolis, today's zoning code regulations require that many neighborhoods remain incomplete—lacking shops, cafes, groceries and walkable streets—leaving us isolated and taking dollars out of our community. Opportunities to open businesses in more locations also supports Minneapolis 2040’s goals to increase residents and jobs and support small businesses and economic growth.

Zoning code is one of the most important things in a city, determining which kinds of buildings can be made throughout the entire city. This is particularly important when analyzing a major metropolitan area with high demand for housing, such as Minneapolis. Missing middle housing is a broad category which includes many different kinds of homes for many different kinds of people. These types of buildings allow for more space (and energy) efficient homes, while still maintaining that smaller form which may be desired in a neighborhood.

It’s important to recognize the broader effect when some privileged groups are allowed special escape clauses from land-use policies; it amplifies impacts on historically redlined neighborhoods and undermines the public perception of fairness.

The Neighbors for More Neighbors “What’s in Your Complete Neighborhood?” survey has been open since late October. We have received over 200 submissions from a variety of respondents. Let’s look at the trends in what people want and why they want it.

Zoning in Minneapolis—as in many American cities—over the past century has aimed to separate land uses perceived as “incompatible”... Hiding behind these policies is the idea that offices and shops are harmful to nearby houses. Before the current zoning policies were implemented, though, small businesses could be found throughout the city, a block or more away from streetcar or bus routes.

What is the justification for allowing amenities only where they already exist? I want a safe and complete neighborhood where I can safely walk with my kiddo, and get a gallon of milk and some mac and cheese.

Part of what makes a neighborhood a neighborhood is a sense of community. A sense of community is built in local shops, meeting spots, hangouts, and recreational areas. Should swaths of our city mandate more than a 10 minute walk to the nearest hypothetical legal corner store?

The brief time for arguments and questions means that neither the parties nor the judges will be able to fully explore all aspects of the case, but it may give an idea as to how the judges may be approaching the case and how they may rule on it.

The Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan is currently in court and under attack, and Neighbors for More Neighbors is fighting to make sure this pro-housing plan is fully defended. Last Friday, July 1, Neighbors for More Neighbors, in partnership with allied groups, filed a leave with state district court for our joint amicus brief in support of the Minneapolis 2040 Plan.

Many of us feel disappointment, frustration, and anger especially knowing how hard we worked to bring the 2040 Plan to the finish line. But it is not a disaster, it is an invitation – for both the City and Minneapolis 2040 supporters – to step up and make sure that positive momentum continues for the 2040 plan and everything it supports: abundant homes, affordability, climate action, and racial & economic justice.

Over the last two months, Neighbors for More Neighbors has been taking action as Minneapolis City Council updated zoning rules to align with the Minneapolis 2040 Plan. We organized around this issue because zoning rules have a major impact on the number of homes that can be built in our city. Here is the update with the results from the City Council.

Single-family homes are substantially more expensive than equivalently sized duplexes and triplexes, primarily because multidwelling homes get to share the large fixed costs of land and building construction across all of the residences.

To achieve the goals in the plan, the implementation must be as ambitious as the plan itself. The built form recommendations are one key part of charting a different future. The Interior zone recommendations in the Built Form Rezoning Study do not implement the commitments made in the Minneapolis 2040 plan. They are a status quo recommendation. The status quo preserves our racial disparities, our worsening housing affordability, and makes it hard to achieve our climate mitigation goals.

Unfortunately, these draft regulations include barriers to building more homes for more families. Triplexes were identified in Minneapolis 2040 as an affordable way to add accessible family-sized homes. Notably, the proposed regulations limit the FAR (Floor Area Ratio) in a way that will make it difficult to build new triplexes in many parts of the city.

Now, the City Council will be reviewing the plan — this is a critical time to make sure they hear support from residents of their wards. We want to ensure the plan is successfully passed, and isn’t watered down any further to appease a small set of negative voices. If you want to help but feel like you don’t know what to say, don’t worry: talking points are included below.

N ational Night Out is an annual block party on the first Tuesday of August. This year, National Night Out is August 7th. It’s an opportunity to meet your neighbors, share a meal, and discuss neighborhood issues. Use this event to let your neighbors know that you support the 2040 Comprehensive Plan because it will provide more homes for more neighbors. If you rent, or live in multi-family housing, this a great opportunity to let your neighbors know that you are part of the neighborhood too.

Protecting people from displacement involves long-term planning and short-term emergency stop-gap measures. The Comp Plan is clearer on long-term planning goals; we want more detail on short-term anti-displacement policies. We need to keep current residents in their communities and provide space for people to adapt as their needs change.