Day 8: Twin Cities
By Makayla Jones-Klausing and Sam Kuhlmann
Overview
Today we traveled all around Bloomington and the Minneapolis area. The weather was overcast all day, with the temperature coming to a high at 50°F. The first portion of the day was spent in rural neighborhoods, studying the ideas of race and housing as they pertained to the city. For the second part of the day we looked at the ideas behind urban renewal and the effects it can have on local populations, for this we traveled to the new Allianz soccer field.
Corner of Old Shakopee Rd
44° 51' 7" N, 93° 13' 56" W
8:11am
Our first stop on day eight was in Bloomington, Minnesota on a very unique street corner. We were surrounded by your typical city scenery of office buildings, parking structures, light rail, and even the Mall of America. What is so special about this street corner is that right across from all of this development/infrastructure is a sheep farm that used to belong to a man locally known as Old Man Gephart. This is the last patch of undeveloped land in Hennepin county. As you could imagine this land is very valuable given its location and potential. It was recently sold to a man named James W. O'Neill, but for the past many years the owners had been holding out against offers from prospective buyers. Up until now this has acted as a URI or urban rural interface. A URI can be defined as the connection between the city and its X and the flow of goods between them. Another example of this connection are farmers markets that bring produce to cities.
Bloomington and Washburn
44° 49' 22" N, 93° 16' 1" W
44° 54' 39" N, 93° 17' 3" W
8:55am
Our second stop for the day was 655 E 100th St, Garry Running's childhood home in Bloomington. He lived in a very traditional ranch style home surrounded by many other similarly built homes around it. These homes were constructed after WWII by companies who were building as many homes as possible for the growing population of the city. The convenient distance to commute to the city was a big factor in where these homes were built.
Our third stop was just down the street from the second one at an old water tower locally known as the Washburn Park Water Tower in the Tangletown neighborhood of southwest Minneapolis, in a predominantly white, high income neighborhood. As we got to the tower we noticed a car with two white high school age kids smoking marijuana, notably on a Friday morning when they presumably should be in school. This led to an interesting conversation about white privilege, and how maybe if these kids had been of a different demographic, or in a different neighborhood there would be higher risk. Historically in both neighborhoods there have been racial covenants and redlining that have defined who has been allowed to live there and who has not. Racial covenants are written into the deeds of homes preventing home owners from selling to people of color. Redlining was a way for banks to determine which neighborhoods would get loan opportunities and which would not. These opportunities where based off of extremely superficial factors, like the condition of the houses or the skin color of the inhabitants. Very little research was actually done on the people in these communities. The neighborhoods of both stops one and two were influenced heavily by these things, as they had racial covenants in their deeds, as well as were not redlined by the banks giving them far better economic opportunities.
Oaks Place Station
44° 55' 6" N, 93° 13' 46" W
We arrived at the Oaks Place Station, a light rail stop with apartments and shopping options nearby. This place is a prime example of transit oriented development (TOD). TOD is high density housing and businesses near frequent transit stops or areas. This allows for people to live and work with less dependency on their own mode of transportation. This also cuts back on the need for parking in city areas. From 2010 to 2014 the city’s Community Planning and Economic Development Department created a business plan that identified a move from a reactive model to a proactive model of development. This project has 4 goals; Maximizing the development impact of transit investment, support regional economic competitiveness, advance equity by improving access to opportunities for all, supports a twenty first century transport system. This type of development allows a greater connection between the outer suburb rings to the center of the city. For more information on TOD, click here!
Indian Health Board
44° 57' 34" N, 93° 15' 17" W
11:30am
For stop 5 we parked next to a large medical clinic, the Indian Health Board in Phillips Neighborhood. We talked about the high density of Native Americans in this area of Minneapolis and how that came about. In the 1950's there was a predominant assimilation mindset in the American government, and in 1956 the Indian Relocation Act was passed. Through this the federal government looked for tribes that could make enough money off of their lands to sustain themselves independently. Tribes that could do this were cut off from federal funding. The removal of this funding was devastating for tribes as many were not actually self sufficient. After this the government encouraged and helped Native Americans to move to cities, and would help find them jobs and housing. The Indian Health Board we were looking at is funded by both the federal government and native tribes, but are not receiving nearly enough to function properly when compared to the number of native peoples that require its services.
Project for Pride in Living
44° 57' 46" N, 93° 15' 33" W
12:00pm
We went to Project for Pride and Living (PPL) and met with Marni Kaldjian who works for this organization. Some of Marni Kaldjian's associates met with us and gave us a run down on the organization about everything it does for the community. They talked to us about the issues that the many communities that they serve face and specifically how they help. First Nicole Salam, the Equity Director, talked to us about how her primary role is to support neighborhood engagement committees. She talked to us about collaborative management and leads racial equity work. The next speaker was Candice Gonzales whose role in PPL is being the Property Manager. She directs a staff of 60 people and manages the properties for their affordable housing program. Our final speaker was Henry Rutgers who is the housing director for the organization. He talked to us about how he educated the community on proper economic practices and how to better manage their money. After our time at PPL we stopped at the incredible Midtown Global Market which had a very diverse offering of foods from across numerous cultures. Everything from Japanese, to Mexican, to Mediterranean so much was offered here. There was even a small brewery in the building. It was such a distinct location with the mixing of so many cultures and peoples.
To learn more about PPL you can click here, and for the Midtown Global Market here!
Allianz Field and St. Paul Curling Club
44° 57' 19" N, 93° 9' 57" W
44° 56' 38" N, 93° 6' 15" W
3:25pm
Like most states, residents of Minnesota enjoy the camaraderie that accompanies sports. Minnesota’s new soccer stadium Allianz Field has created a lot of excitement for Loon fans and economic developers who see this as an opportunity as being an anchor for urban renewal and gentrification. Prior to the construction of the new stadium, the area used to be a brown lot used for parking. Although the city was not filling to pay for the new field, leading to the need for private funding, cities have been at an arms race to score major league soccer franchises due to the increase in popularity of the sport. At this stop, we collected data on the local land use to use in the future to see how the stadium affected nearby businesses. Our last stop of the day was at one of the oldest curling clubs in the state, the St. Paul Curling Club. We got to see one of our very on UWEC students competing out on the ice.
References
Jenning, A. 2019. One of California’s last black enclaves threatened by Inglewood’s stadium deal. Los Angeles.
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-inglewood-gentrification-rent-crenshaw-rams-stadium-20190410-htmlstory.html (last accessed 1 November 2019)
Kaul, G. 2019. With covenants, racism was written into Minneapolis housing. The scars are still visible. Minnpost.
Project for Pride in Living. 2019. Mission and Impact.
https://www.ppl-inc.org/mission-impact
Transit Oriented Development - Metro Transit. https://www.metrotransit.org/transit-oriented-development (last accessed 2 November 2019).
The sole sheep farm in the Metropolitan area is located right next to office buildings, bus stops, parking ramp and the light rail. This is acts as a connection between rural and urban Minnesota. Photo by Ezra Zeitler.
This station is a Transit Oriented Development stop. Pictured are Reilly Albert, Andrew Cotter, Mckenzie Hendrickson, Alexander Huddock, Makayla Jones-Klausing, Megan Kangas, Zachary Kosel, Samuel Kuhlmann, Tristan Mcglauchlen , Cole Perkins, Zach Reed, Garry Running Photo by Ezra Zeitler.
Project for Pride and Living invited the members of the surrounding communities to come together and design a mural for the side of your building. Photo by Megan Kangas.
Water tower in the Tangletown neighborhood of southwest Minneapolis.. Zachary Kosel pictured. Picture by Samuel Kuhlmann
Allianz Field is the new stadium for the Minnesota's Professional soccer team, Minnesota United Football Club, locally known as the Loons. Prior to the construction of this stadium, this area was a commercial area and a little used parking lot own by the City of St. Paul. Photo by Zach Reed.