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Past Projects : 1996-2000 : Northside Family Housing Study (Heritage Park)
In
1993 the Design Center was invited by the Minneapolis Public Housing
Authority (MPHA) to review issues related to their troubled family housing
in Minneapolis' Sumner-Glenwood neighborhood, located approximately one
mile northwest of downtown. The initial focus of research was Sumner
Field Homes, constructed in 1938 as the first public housing built in
the state, located on a filled and buried creek bed with poor soils for
underpinning buildings. The area was also the subject of a lawsuit, filed
in 1992 against HUD, as well as MPHA and the City, by Legal Aid on behalf
of public housing residents and other parties. The lawsuit stemmed from
resident complaints that the area was unsafe, in poor condition, and
amounted to discrimination because housing choices were limited to an
isolated, disadvantaged neighborhood. The parties agreed to a "Consent
Decree" planning process, in which questions of legal liability
are put aside and settlement discussions are initiated that focus
on possible solutions to the issues raised by the complaint.
Throughout the initial five year planning process, the Design Center provided a variety of technical assistance related to urban and site design issues, creating documents for review, facilitating workshops, and reviewing proposals on behalf of the MPHA and Implementation Committee. Based upon recommendations from the planning process for a mixed-income residential neighborhood available to public housing residents as well as those able to pay market rate, the site is in Phase One construction, following master planning and site designing led by Urban Design Associates and SRF Consulting. New homes are under construction around an innovative green infrastructure design that harvests rainwater for a series of water features that form the central amenity in a public park and boulevard tying the site to the surrounding neighborhoods.
Design Center files from this project were donated to the Northwest Architectural Archives in 2005.
Case study summary:
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1 Ralph Rapson Hall, 89 Church Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455, |