St. Paul Moves Toward Zoning Reform

Writing in Streets MN, Zak Yudhishthu expresses optimism that zoning reform in St. Paul is moving in the right direction as the city moves closer to legalizing ‘missing middle housing.’

According to Yudhishthu, NIMBY fears are less powerful in the city. “There’s less fear-mongering around neighborhood character and bulldozers, leaving more room for important questions around effective policy implementation, the likely effects of policy changes and equity.”

Unlike past discussions of zoning reform in the region, such as the contentious fight over the Minneapolis 2040 plan, “there is no organized anti-change coalition, and opponents’ comments represent a small fringe of the policy discussion.” This is likely due in part to the visible—or not so visible—effects of the Minneapolis 2040 reforms, which led to only modest increases in housing and certainly didn’t cause “the end of single-family zoning,” as some critics warned.

While St. Paul zoning reforms and their details remain up in the air, Yudhishthu believes the discourse has shifted dramatically. “For decades, preservation of perceived ‘neighborhood character’ and opposition to change have defined our urban development at great cost to everyone.” Now, cities are recognizing the unsustainable rise in housing prices and the close connection to zoning and land use policy. “This enables us to focus on better implementation of more future-focused policies, opening a path to more fair, equitable and effective housing policies.”