Dayton Hudson Faculty Fellows: Judith A. Martin

Humboldt GreenwayJudith A. Martin, Professor, Geography
Dayton Hudson Faculty Fellow, 2005-2006

Evaluating Hennepin Community Works

Over the past several years Professor Martin has published journal articles and book chapters about the several publicly-funded programs which affect the Twin Cities' built environment. These include the Neighborhood Revitalization program (Journal of the American Planning Association, 2002) and the revitalization of the Minneapolis downtown central riverfront (Toward the Livable City, 2003). Though much remains to be said about each of these programs, Dr. Martin is extending her attention to two other projects: the Livable Communities grant program and Hennepin Community Works. These multiple investigations focus on the benefits of public funding in the urban landscape, sustained over long periods of time.

As a Dayton Hudson Faculty Fellow Professor Martin will comprehensively review the Hennepin Community Works program. The program is now a decade old, worth an objective analysis, and has clearly had an impact on the region's physical landscape. Dr. Martin was also on the team that originally structured the Community Works program in 1994, giving her an additional interest in measuring our aspirations against outcomes over the past decade.

The Hennepin Community Works program was, from the start, something of an anomaly. The largest county in a state seldom shows interest in the problems of a state's largest city. But with one quarter of Minnesota 's population, and a nearly $2 billion annual operating budget, Hennepin County can afford to behave differently. When data emerged in the early 1990s demonstrating declining property values in large parts of Minneapolis, and some close-in suburbs, several county commissioners asked whether the County could play a role in reversing this trend. The idea emerged that the County, through infrastructure investment, could help create "greener" and more attractive urban sites, in preparation for investment and job growth. Projects have primarily focused on corridors where the County holds responsibility for a road or a transit operation (Humboldt Greenway, Midtown Greenway, Lowry Avenue). To date these projects have involved new roads, new housing, new bike paths, and day-lighting creeks, among other investments.

Dr. Martin will describe the range of Hennepin Community Works programs to date and focus on several case studies that describe the range of county intervention.

Download: Hennepin Community Works - An Overview (2.69 MB)

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