Safe, Stable, and Affordable Housing Plan
Housing is a human right. An affordable, safe, and stable place to call home is the foundation of living with security, opportunity, and dignity. The effects of redlining and other racist housing policies in our city continue to be barriers to housing and further perpetuate the deep racial wealth gap.
We have a responsibility to make sure we are moving unhoused people toward stable housing and increasing access to sustainable affordable housing options for every person and family, especially those with low-incomes, renters, retired and elderly people, people with disabilities, citizens returning from incarceration, and anyone else facing systemic barriers to housing.
Sections of the Safe, Stable, and Affordable Housing Plan
Section 1: Solutions for Unhoused Residents
Section 2: Healthy and Stable Housing
Section 3: Increase Deeply Affordable Housing Stock
Section 4: Address Racial Disparities & Wealth Building
Section 5: Sustainable Housing for Everyone
Section 1: Solutions for Unhoused Residents
As a city, we have a responsibility to make sure we move towards solutions for our unhoused residents and neighbors that are informed by best practices and people with direct experience. As your Mayor I commit to being involved in these conversations every step of the way. We know that solutions are never siloed and are often complex and multifaceted. That is why my Public Safety Plan touches on proposed solutions for our unhoused residents as well.
Adopt a housing first policy focused on public health
Reduce interactions between unhoused residents and the police by increasing homelessness outreach focused on mental health services - de-escalation, family mediation and substance abuse issues
Develop, alongside non-profit leaders and community service providers, a Minneapolis Law Enforcement “Diversion” Model, that connects low-level offenders to housing, counseling and job training services in lieu of arrest
Continue to learn from best practices in response to encampments of unhoused people
Expand Shelter Capacity Through Innovative and Dignified Spaces
Support innovative shelter models like the Villages Shelter & Simpson’s Proposed Community Shelter & Apartments
Expand access to culturally specific shelters
Maximize the use of federal funds to expand existing shelter capacity and provide necessary wrap-around supportive services
Section 2: Healthy and Stable Housing
We must ensure that the mix of our city’s housing stock, policies, and practices serves everyone. We especially need to focus on our city’s residents who are most vulnerable to housing instability - neighbors with lower-incomes, renters, retired and elderly people, people with disabilities or chronic illness, citizens returning from incarceration, and communities of color facing systemic barriers to quality housing. These populations in particular often live in the least healthy and safe housing options in our city, and our platform will ensure healthier homes for the most vulnerable members of our Minneapolis community.
Equitable Quality of Life
Invest in preservation and rehab programs for low-income renters and homeowners that can mitigate home health risks such as mold, mildew, lead paint and asbestos
Especially with climate change, make sure Minneapolis residents with the lowest incomes have utility assistance - the extreme hot and cold weather will make it ever more important that people can maintain their utilities to stay safely housed
Expand Protections for Renters
Pass Rent Stabilization
Advance Evidence-Based Eviction-Prevention Models
Reduce interactions of people facing housing instability or evictions with the police
Ensure renters can report unsafe conditions without retaliation
Develop resources and support for landlords to implement changes
Expand Accessible Housing Options
Ensure that the city’s new and existing housing stock meets the needs of all residents, including people with disabilities and those with mental and chronic illness
Increase housing options for those facing systemic barriers to housing (i.e. formerly incarcerated or previous eviction on record)
Break down barriers to producing more types of affordable housing
Section 3: Increase Deeply Affordable Housing Stock
In the past decade Minneapolis has grown more than 14% but housing production is not keeping up. As a result, we have seen unsustainable rises in housing costs. As a growing community, we need to increase all types of housing. It is especially important that we meet our City’s greatest housing need - deeply affordable housing for those making 30% of Area Median Income (AMI) or less.
Increase city resources to the development and preservation of deeply affordable housing
Inventory city property for development opportunities and encourage other government authorities to do the same
Increase investments to the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund with the goal of predictable funding for the next 5-10 years
Maximize the public housing levy to help address our deeply-affordable housing shortage
Prioritize housing projects that will serve our city’s lowest income earners
Prioritize city investments to projects serving people making 30% AMI or less in city RFPs through the use of Tax Credits and the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund
Review the affordable housing RFP process to match other citywide goals (i.e. access to high-frequency transit, growing the number homes near amenities, and sustainability)
Maintain and increase the inventory of SROs (Single Room Occupancy) and NOAH (Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing) properties
Evaluate existing city policies and programs that support the development or preservation of deeply affordable and low-cost homes to ensure effectiveness
Review the results of the Minneapolis 2040 Plan and adjust policies that limit or discourage the building of low-cost multi-family homes
Section 4: Address Racial Disparities & Wealth Building
As we continue to confront racist housing practices from the past, we must right the wrongs and undo the effects of redlining and other racist housing policies in our city. The legacies of these racist practices continue to be barriers to housing and further perpetuate the deep racial wealth gap in Minneapolis. A city committed to achieving racial equity must take steps to further wealth-building opportunities through housing for our city’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color neighbors.
Increase access to homeownership for residents that identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and Immigrants of Color
Partner with and resource organizations committed to offering culturally appropriate financing tools
Develop affordable homes in historically exclusionary areas
Engage with residents to develop a housing reparations plan to reverse the legacy of discriminatory housing practices and policies
Expand community ownership opportunities
Move forward on new and innovative ownership opportunities like public ownership, cooperatives, and Tenant Opportunity to Purchase
Provide technical assistance for renters and renter-organizing groups to meaningfully access these ownership models
Use city policies and processes to expand who gets development funding
Create opportunities for smaller, newer, and BIPOC developers to apply and receive project funding
Ensure that Fair Housing Laws are being enforced and work to prevent displacement across the City
Section 5: Sustainable Housing for Everyone
We can no longer continue to think about policy issues as separate from each other. As we take on our affordable housing crisis, it is essential that we build homes with access to transportation choices, and increase investments to incorporate energy conservation and sustainable building practices into all new and retrofit housing projects. Investing in energy efficiency is less expensive in the long-run and results in real immediate benefits for residents. Homes that use less energy are healthier for residents, with plenty of fresh air and reduced mold issues.We must make sustainable living equitable and promote opportunities to reduce the energy cost-burden, which most helps families with lower incomes. Sustainable housing is multifaceted and is also part of my plan for a Minneapolis Green New Deal.
Build abundant homes for a growing city to help prepare for climate migration
Minneapolis is a great place to live and we are already seeing more people move to our city (a trend expected to increase through the climate change era) - more housing of all kinds is essential to meet the overall housing needs of our growing city
Ensure new and retrofitted homes (1) reduce emissions from both transportation and buildings and (2) help families and neighborhoods adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis
Work with regional partners to expand the sustainable housing supply throughout the metropolitan area
Adopt a sustainable building policy so that projects supported (at least in part) through city funding and regulations align with the ambition of climate action goals adopted in the 2022 climate action plan update
Ensure the city’s sustainable building policy is at a level of ambition that meets the magnitude of the Climate Crisis, such as Zero Energy and Passive House (whether or not certification is pursued)
Change project review processes and fee structures to make new and retrofitted sustainable homes easier to finance and permit
Increase targeted investments in energy conservation and retrofits in Green Zones to reduce energy costs and emissions and build community resilience to extreme weather where residents are most vulnerable to the threats of climate change