Over the River and Through the Resilient City

North Minneapolis was redlined, isolated, and suffered disinvestment. Tour this diverse, challenging, and inspiring Minneapolis neighborhood by bicycle past reinvigorated businesses, cultural institutions, inclusive housing, new and old parks, and multimodal streets – and crossing the legendary Mississippi River.

The tour touches on numerous planning issues that affect underserved communities. There is not one theme, but a range of issues being concurrently addressed: transportation, economic development, land use, parks and open space, climate mitigation, and stormwater management. The tour will explore how numerous agencies and stakeholders have come together to create a more inclusive, healthy, accessible, economically viable community. The tour will experience and learn about new “all ages and abilities” bikeway facilities that are inclusively designed to attract new bicyclists and help the city meet its climate goals. We will visit the 125-acre Heritage Park Redevelopment site where four public housing developments, a superfund site, and other blighted properties were located on the edge of downtown - now redeveloped into a mixed income 900-unit urban neighborhood with parks, trails and regional stormwater treatment facilities. The tour goes through Theodore Wirth Park to learn about the history of Minneapolis’s 140-year-old “Grand Rounds” park system, continuing to evolve to serve diverse populations and their needs. At the U of MN Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center we will hear how this organization helps elevate the voices of underrepresented communities in the planning and design process.

The Heritage Park Redevelopment evolved from a lawsuit centered on racial discrimination and concentrating poverty. The project is 20 years old and lessons learned will be shared on addressing inequities through inclusive planning and design. The bicycle facilities showcase several design innovations intended to serve all people, not just “bicyclists”.