Battlefield Minnesota: the Complexity of Suburban Affordable Housing

Affordable housing is not just a big city problem. Minnesotan suburbs around the Twin Cities are currently in the midst of a battle over density, affordability, and community.

Many American suburbs are seeing an increase in poverty and racial diversity. Affluent suburb Edina, Minn. is no different. Edina native and retired urban planner Hope Melton says community discussions over new housing proposals are, "Chaotic, emotional, uninformed.” Bruce McCarthy, president of Edina's Lake Cornelia Neighborhood Association, says he is “very pro-development” but “we just want to see it a certain kind of way.” Local housing experts question what that "kind of way" entails, explaining that the politics of Midwestern cultural norms, deemed "Minnesota nice," is a major factor altering community conversation and progress. Says Melton, “People don’t raise their voice, nobody wants to talk about race, or their responsibility historically for what’s happened to people that they don’t want in their community.” Instead, Melton tells CityLab, her neighbors will “say they don’t want ‘urban’ things ... the noise and diversity and crowding and all that. They regard those things negatively, they moved to Edina to escape it.”

In late April, some residents of Normandale Lake Estates, an apartment complex in Bloomington, Minn., just outside of Minneapolis, received a letter informing them that their leases were being terminated and they’d have to move out by June 1. New owners had bought the building and planned to upgrade the units. Existing tenants were told they could prequalify to return, but many suspect the new rents will be higher than they can afford. In the meantime, they’re scrambling to find new places to live. For some of the displaced renters, this isn’t the first time they’ve been forced out of their homes. A little over two years ago, in nearby suburb Richfield, new owners purchased an apartment complex ... renamed it, renovated the units, and priced out hundreds of families. 

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