Six communities in Twin Cities area chosen

Six communities in the metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul area have been chosen as “opportunity sites” under the Smart Growth Twin Cities initiative, sponsored by the Metropolitan Council. Selected in a competitive process among 24 applicants, the communities will receive priority funding for the planning and design of new urbanist model projects. Part of the $1.17 million allocated to the initiative will pay for Calthorpe Associates of Berkeley, California, to conduct charrettes that will produce developer-ready site plans for each of the six projects. Limited in size to between 20 and 100 acres, the project sites are located in growing suburbs as well as in stagnant communities in need of redevelopment, says Judy Hohmann, director of communications for the Metropolitan Council. She adds that citizens in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area show strong support for smart growth development. A telephone survey of 800 people conducted by the University of Minnesota in 1999 found that 90 percent supported neighborhoods with a mix of ages and uses, 72 percent supported more compact development, and 85 percent wanted more walkable and transit-friendly community design, Hohmann says.