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December 19, 2006 Corridor Housing Initiative in Minneapolis Receives National Planning Award WASHINGTON, DC — Proposals to increase housing density in existing neighborhoods are usually fraught with division, debate, and opposition. Familiar with such controversies, city and neighborhood leaders in Minneapolis are taking a different approach, one that puts residents in the driver's seat when it comes to evaluating new housing proposals for their neighborhoods. For this innovative program to developing affordable housing in existing neighborhoods, the Center for Neighborhoods' collaborative Corridor Housing Initiative is receiving the American Planning Association's 2007 National Planning Excellence Award for a Grassroots Initiative. "The initiative shows the importance of getting residents meaningfully engaged in shaping the future of their neighborhoods," said APA Awards Jury Chair Carol Rhea, AICP. "Any community looking for a new way to resolve controversial neighborhood redevelopment and infill issues should consider using this as a model," she said. Through the initiative's consensus approach, said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, citizen energy is harnessed "to build communities far stronger than anything government can do alone." Representatives from the Center for Neighborhoods and its housing initiative will be recognized at APA's National Planning Conference during a special luncheon and awards ceremony Tuesday, April 17, 2007, in Philadelphia. Also, accomplishments of the Center for Neighborhoods and 13 other national awardees will be highlighted in the April issue of Planning magazine. The heart of the program involves an interactive block exercise facilitated by a neutral team of design and development experts. Through this hands-on educational workshop, residents, neighborhood leaders, and other participants develop their own housing development proposals and test them to see whether they are financially viable. As a result, participants learn about cost factors and other considerations developers must address when putting together a proposal. "The Corridor Housing Initiative pulls citizens out of the reactionary role that they play in community development decisions, and into a proactive role where they play an active part in directing development for their community," said Gretchen Nicholls, Executive Director of the Center for Neighborhoods. "It models a new way to engage cities and communities by raising the level of dialogue around redevelopment issues, and setting the stage for future development. People come to realize how density and affordable housing become tools for creating a viable development project." The initiative, started in 2001, has been used in eight project areas to date. Development proposals that adhere to community defined development objectives are underway in five of those areas, all of which incorporate affordable housing into the projects. The Corridor Housing Initiative is currently expanding to serve a broader range of urban and suburban cities throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Additional information is available about the Initiative at www.housinginitiative.org. For a list of all of the APA 2007 National Planning Excellence, Achievement, and Leadership Award recipients, visit www.planning.org/newsreleases/2006/ftp121506.htm. APA's national planning awards, considered by U.S. planners to be the profession's highest honor, is a tradition established more than 50 years ago to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs and initiatives, public education efforts, and individuals for their leadership on planning issues. Contacts |
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