6 Ways the Minneapolis 2040 Plan Changed

Any aambitious plan will have to change on its way to adoption. The Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan not only kept many of its core ambitions intact through the political process, but expanded them.

1 minute read

November 30, 2018, 6:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Minnesota

f11photo / Shutterstock

Jessica Lee prepares for the likely adoption of the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, one of the most ambitious and closely watched comprehensive plans in recent memory, by tracking the changes that got it to the finish line.

Lee list six big changes made to the plan from draft to final.

  1. Shifting from a draft proposal to allow flourplexes on residential properties to the final version that allows fourplexes.
  2. Making incremental changes to the zoning maps proposed in the plan.
  3. Changing wording from "reducing" to "eliminating" racial disparities.
  4. Adding additional priority on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
  5. Removing the draft proposal to end parking minimums in the entire city. "After facing complaints from some drivers, however, council members approved new language to clarify 'that demand for parking will still result in new supply being built,'" reports Lee.
  6. Additional incremental changes on issues like indoor plants and transportation technology.

Lee provides more details on the politics of and processes of each of these changes.

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