This year, Neighbors For More Neighbors volunteers and partner organizations rallied at the State Capitol for affordable and abundant homes for all Minnesotans.  As the dust settles on the 2024 legislative session, we want to share our wins and accomplishments, and why we will continue to fight for pro-housing policies in 2025.

Yesterday the Minnesota Legislature passed a key provision that will ensure our environmental laws cannot be weaponized against building more needed homes. The provision ensures that comprehensive plans cannot be challenged under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, ending the lawsuit over the Minneapolis 2040 Plan and closing the door to similar lawsuits in the future.

Minnesota voters know that a lack of housing supply is driving up housing costs, and the majority of Minnesota voters want elected leaders to prioritize building more housing over concerns about “neighborhood character” and “local control.”

Today, Neighbors for More Neighbors and their coalition partners, including ISAIAH, Sierra Club, and Move Minnesota Action released a poll showing the critical importance of housing as an issue for Minnesota voters. The poll showed 85% of Minnesotans say that the cost of renting or buying a home in Minnesota is a major problem or somewhat a problem, while only 2% say it is not really a problem.

As someone whose generation is currently facing rising rents, persistent and extreme low vacancy rates, housing insecurity and a worsening climate crisis set to displace countless people from the coasts, it’s upsetting to hear people talk about how inconvenienced and disturbed they are to have just a few more neighbors on their block. Too often, those who voice concerns about new housing do not live in fear of rising rents, and consequently find it so easy to deny housing stability to others.