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It's time for some more #2021MPF live tweeting! You can still register at http://bit.ly/MPF2021 .
Today's session: Shaping inclusive cities through land use, housing and transportation policy
Today's session: Shaping inclusive cities through land use, housing and transportation policy
This morning we'll hear from:
- Maricendi Jaimes, Westwood Unidos
- @KniechAtLarge of @DenCityCouncil
- @alexbaca of @ggwash
- Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender @MplsWard10
- Renee Martinez Stone, West Denver Renaissance Collaborative
- Maricendi Jaimes, Westwood Unidos
- @KniechAtLarge of @DenCityCouncil
- @alexbaca of @ggwash
- Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender @MplsWard10
- Renee Martinez Stone, West Denver Renaissance Collaborative
. @00Piep begins this morning's #2021MPF session – Shaping inclusive cities through land use, housing and transportation policy – with a land acknowledgement that recognizes the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute people whose land was stolen through genocide.
Storyteller: Maricendi Jaimes of Westwood Unidos talks about her friendly Westwood neighbors in Denver, gentrification, rising housing prices. She'd like more housing that considers needs of people who are undocumented.
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#2021MPF
Storyteller: Maricendi Jaimes of Westwood Unidos says riding her bike as a kid made her feel free. Not everyone feels safe walking or taking transit. She wants more sidewalks, bus benches, bus shelters. Listen to the community for the needs.
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#2021MPF
Moderator for today's session (Shaping inclusive cities through land use, housing and transportation policy) is @KniechAtLarge of @DenCityCouncil, who served 7 years on @DRCOGorg and has led #Denver efforts on affordable housing, combatting homelessness, and more.
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#2021MPF
. @KniechAtLarge asks: What in Maricendi's story resonates with your community? Lack of sidewalks? Something else?
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#2021MPF
Renee Martinez Stone of West Denver Renaissance Collaborative shows 3 maps of west Denver: 1938 redlining, 2016 vulnerable neighborhoods, 2015-18 displaced households with kids
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Renee Martinez-Stone: A bike lane isn't just recreation, it's a route to work. Unsafe street crossings can keep children at home. We can't just do outreach and hear people. We have to center the residents' experiences, explore unintended consequences, know who benefits.
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#2021MPF
. @alexbaca is policy manager of @ggwash, a community-driven blog and advocacy organization that works on land use, transportation, and housing. She's working on Washington, DC's comprehensive plan. She thinks a lot about equity.
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. @alexbaca defines equity with both inclusion and distribution. "I try not to say equity, and say instead what I mean." Example: We don't have a lot of affordable housing in wealthy, white, parts of DC. Otherwise we risk tokenizing.
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#2021MPF
. @alexbaca Equity should be part of everything, not an add-on or just the last section of the grant proposal.
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#2021MPF
. @KniechAtLarge says people write her often and ask, "Can we do what Minneapolis did?" Now we'll hear from Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender
@MplsWard10, who has been in office for 7 years.
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@MplsWard10, who has been in office for 7 years.
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Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender
@MplsWard10: We look at race, equity, and fighting climate change in everything we do as a city.
Sometimes you'll have a years-long fight about a small change in an ordinance. [We resemble that remark in #Denver]
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@MplsWard10: We look at race, equity, and fighting climate change in everything we do as a city.
Sometimes you'll have a years-long fight about a small change in an ordinance. [We resemble that remark in #Denver]
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. @MplsWard10: Racial exclusion in housing was baked into our zoning code and laws with redlining. We're having luck with "system policies."
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. @MplsWard10: We asked non-technical questions: How do you get around? What is your day-to-day life like? We talked to groups that represent Somali community, Black community. Our staff did an incredible job going to street fairs, festivals, meeting people where they are
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#2021MPF
. @MplsWard10: We adopted inclusionary zoning policy that requires affordable housing, complete streets policy [wooooooo 
], transportation plan. https://go.minneapolismn.gov/
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], transportation plan. https://go.minneapolismn.gov/ #2021MPF
. @MplsWard10: We eliminated single-family zoning.
THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Read all about it: http://ibit.ly/uzWn
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THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Read all about it: http://ibit.ly/uzWn
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Renee Martinez-Stone of West Denver Renaissance Collaborative: Residents wanted more housing stability. We launched a program to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs). There were a lot of regulatory issues, from rebuilding sidewalks to zoning.
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#2021MPF
Renee Martinez-Stone: To build more ADUs, we needed @DenCityCouncil to expand zoning. Need policymakers to understand and prioritize this tool citywide, but that's a big lift, so start with west Denver where we really need it for families to stay on their land.
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#2021MPF
. @alexbaca of @ggwash: We've legalized ADUs citywide except one wealthy, white neighborhood called Georgetown, but that's getting fixed soon.
[Read more about Georgetown's history with @wmata and no train stations: http://ibit.ly/uxsZ ]
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[Read more about Georgetown's history with @wmata and no train stations: http://ibit.ly/uxsZ ]
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. @alexbaca of @ggwash: I testify a lot at DC City Council. It's my job to think about downstream policies from comprehensive plan. It's up to advocates like me to hold agencies accountable.
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. @alexbaca of @ggwash: We've legalized ADUs, but financing is challenging. So is zoning, planning, permits, etc. "ADUs turn homeowners into little developers." They need help and resources.
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#2021MPF
. @KniechAtLarge Denver changed group living laws. [Wooo! ] It was a 3-year process. It's important to center policy changes on people's lived experiences. It wasn't always possible to find first-person accounts because people were scared. We looked at data, too.
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] It was a 3-year process. It's important to center policy changes on people's lived experiences. It wasn't always possible to find first-person accounts because people were scared. We looked at data, too.#2021MPF
. @KniechAtLarge Inequity disproportionately affects BIPOC communities, but that's not exclusive. Example: Traffic fatalities. Making a more equitable zoning code benefits everybody.
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#2021MPF
. @jlocantore asks how we can avoid pitting affordability against walkability. Like, who is responsible for sidewalk fixes?
@KniechAtLarge: Until we have a system where sidewalk costs are pooled, grants can help. We're overlaying redlining maps w/sidewalk disrepair maps.
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@KniechAtLarge: Until we have a system where sidewalk costs are pooled, grants can help. We're overlaying redlining maps w/sidewalk disrepair maps.
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. @MplsWard10: The script for opposing change: "Unintended consequences. You're moving too fast. You didn't engage everyone. This feel rushed."
Start somewhere. Are we applying the same measure to status quo as we are to change? We're not.
CC @Yimbyindenver
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Start somewhere. Are we applying the same measure to status quo as we are to change? We're not.
CC @Yimbyindenver
#2021MPF
. @MplsWard10: Our complete streets policy is four pages... Every time we touch a street, it's following a plan. We're using race equity as an economic driver.
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#2021MPF
. @alexbaca of @ggwash : The cost of a car should not be the point of entry to the economy, to living your life. When we talk about land use, yes, you should have people living near transit. Why waste that public investment in transit?
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#2021MPF
. @alexbaca of @ggwash: In the DC area, people live at a regional scale, not just at a local scale. Maybe the live in DC, work in MD, have family in VA.
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. @alexbaca of @ggwash: Show up, say these things [land use, transportation, affordability] interrelate.
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. @KniechAtLarge: #Denver 10th & Osage redevelopment temporarily displaced residents, who were given vouchers to live other places during construction, and had the right to come back to new, affordable units. Some chose to return, others didn't.
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Renee Martinez-Stone of West #Denver Renaissance Collaborative: Many residents assume redevelopment is for someone else. Put them in the center of physical, health, other improvements. What do they need to live a healthier life? Show residents their preferences in policy
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#2021MPF
Renee Martinez-Stone: My community says we need safety. That includes for walking, biking.
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. @MplsWard10 we're having a racial reckoning in our city. #GeorgeFloyd
I take to heart: Are we prioritizing the right things? Life and death things that are most important to the most vulnerable. We should have safe walking/biking infrastructure, robust transit.
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I take to heart: Are we prioritizing the right things? Life and death things that are most important to the most vulnerable. We should have safe walking/biking infrastructure, robust transit.
#2021MPF
. @alexbaca of @ggwash: The conflict between housing and transportation is mostly cultural. Tension is derived from scarcity politics. Let people be mad, then figure out solutions. A lot of this is uncomfortable. It makes me think about things outside my little universe.
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#2021MPF
. @MplsWard10 I helped start our bike advocacy group before I ran for office. Be intentional about equity work, recognize systems that perpetuate white supremacy. I'm inspired by how Minneapolis grassroots are trying to do that.
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#2021MPF
. @KniechAtLarge If you have privilege/access to funders, build bridges to resources for Black and Brown communities, deeper coalitions. Advocate for resources to scale up BIPOC infrastructure, meet them in the middle of the bridge on lots of issues, not just one issue
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#2021MPF
. @alexbaca: Don't rely on enforcement and policing for better biking. Enforcement doesn't have a space in an inclusive movement going forward. It's better to push on the design side of #visionzero.
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#2021MPF
