Agenda - Planning Commission - 03/06/2014

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Urban Center: Growing vitality in the region's core The Urban Center includes the largest, most centrally -located and most economically diverse cities of the region. Anchored by Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Urban Center also includes adjoining cities that share similar development characteristics such as street grids planned before World War Two. Downtown Minneapolis is a significant regional center of finance and business services; downtown St. Paul is the seat of state government; and the University of Minnesota attracts tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff to its three campuses in the Urban Center. Centrally -located industrial concentrations in the Urban Center are well-connected to export markets by river, railroad, highway, and air travel. Investments in transit and amenities have strengthened the Urban Center as an attractive place to invest, live, and do business. The Urban Center also includes the most visited regional parks, such as the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes and Como Regional Park, and is home to the region's premiere cultural resources. While the Urban Center includes some of the region's wealthy and historically notable areas, like Summit Avenue, it also includes areas with significant challenges, including many of the region's racially concentrated areas of poverty. Neighborhoods throughout the Urban Center grew outward along a system of streetcars. Because of more limited automobile use during their initial development, neighborhoods are more conducive to transit use and walking for daily needs. Streets are narrow and interconnected, sidewalks are common; and buildings are oriented toward pedestrians, with smaller -scale commercial uses often within a short walking distance. Travel by transit, walking, and bicycling remains common here. Redevelopment, reinvestment, and intensification are occurring in areas where people have multiple transportation options and commercial, cultural, and recreational amenities are nearby. Urban Center communities are experiencing redevelopment attracted to their vitality and amenities, often at significant densities. However, they face many challenges including pollution cleanup costs, land availability for development and infrastructure improvements, congestion, conflicting or competing land uses, and the costs of retrofitting, replacing, or introducing new infrastructure. The Council forecasts that the cities in the Urban Center will add xx,000 residents, xx,000 households and xx,000 jobs between 2010 and 2040. This represents growth of xx percent in population, xx percent in households and xx percent in employment over the three decades. Urban Center communities are: [add list here] DRAFT FOR PUBLIC COMMENT Last revised: February 21, 2014 53