This case relates to the broader issue of Transportation, Equity, and Community Development.

Goal Statement

To ensure that the construction of the Central Corridor light rail does not disproportionately negatively impact communities of color through gentrification, displacement, and business closure, and that residents and business owners are able to have their voices heard, survive and thrive the four-year construction process and make the most of light rail as an amenity.

Scope of the Problem

The Metropolitan Council of Minneapolis-St. Paul is close to breaking ground on the reagion's second light rail transit (LRT) line. The planned Central Corridor LRT will connect downtown Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota, and downtown St. Paul, primarily along University Avenue, which has long been a crucial artery connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul.^[1]

At its eastern edge, the Central Corridor traces the boundary between two neighborhoods that are predominantly home to diverse working class communities of color. To the north of University Avenue between Lexington and Rice Avenues is Frogtown, a neighborhood that has long been an enclave for immigrant and refugee communities, and is currently home to southeast Asian American, Black American, and white Americans in roughly equal measure.^[2] South of University Avenue is the Rondo or Aurora-St. Anthony neighborhood, which has a long history as a Black American enclave.^[3] There is also a growing east African American community in the neighborhoods bordering University Avenue. Many of the small businesses on and near University Avenue are owned by southeast Asian American entrepreneurs, and play a key role in ensuring access to culturally appropriate food for Minneapolis-St. Paul's diverse southeast Asian American communities.^[4]

Business owners and residents have a number of concerns about preserving the integrity of their communities in the face of the light-rail and related development. Many are concerned that the LRT as planned would decrease, rather than increase, access to mobility in Frogtown and Rondo, by building stations at 1-mile intervals, instead of the 1/2 mile seen elsewhere on the line.^[5] Residents have questioned whether the proposed LRT truly exists to serve current transit patrons who may depend on bus service, or if its purpose is instead to attract voluntary commuters with more income and influence. On the other hand, because light-rail transit often results in a significant increase in property values, home and business owners are concerned that property tax increases will price them out of their homes.^[6] Further, business owners are concerned about the lack of available funding for mitigating the negative effects of construction and the loss of parking.^[7]

This is not the first time that the Rondo/Aurora-St. Anthony neighborhood has contested displacement by a major transportation project. The construction of Interstate Highway 94 in the late 1950s and early 1960s literally cut the Rondo neighborhood in half, displacing 650 families, most of them African American. Rondo Avenue, which had been the site of a growing African American business district, is now a frontage road for I-94.^[8]

Past Policy

• Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- This landmark legislation prohibited discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin in areas including public accommodations, education, and employment. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act specifically forbids federal funding to any agency found to discriminate based on such categories.^[9]

• Clinton executive order 12898 -- In February 1994, President Bill Clinton established an interagency task force on the issue of environmental justice, leading to the development of enforceable criteria for "identifying disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects on minority populations and low-income populations." Among the federal agencies affected by the order are both the Departments of Transportation and of Housing and Urban Development.^[10]

• Takings Clause, U.S. Constitution -- The 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires "just compensation" for any land acquired by a government agency for public use. ^[11]

Current Policy

• Business owners are seeking construction mitigation, including assistance with parking, signage, and business interruption grants from local governments, including the Metropolitan Council and the City of St. Paul. See Construction mitigation for small businesses.

• Residents have proposed a partial deferral of property taxes for Central Corridor neighbors in order to maintain affordability, and prevent the gentrification of the neighborhood and displacement of low- and median-income residents. See Property tax mitigation for low- and median- income residents.

Policy Options   

• Construction mitigation for small businesses

• Property tax mitigation for low- and median- income residents 

Key Organizations/Individuals

• Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities

• City of St. Paul

• Ramsey County

• Central Corridor District Councils Collaborative

• Neighbors Standing Together to Save Our Homes and Preserve Our Community
• Aurora-St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation
• Metropolitan Interfaith Coalition for Affordable Housing (MICAH)
• Community Development Clinic, William Mitchell College of Law
• Take Action Minnesota 
• Save Our Businesses and Jobs Coalition
• University Avenue Business Association
• Asian Economic Development Association 

Glossary of Terms

For general terms, see the glossary in the Transportation, Equity, and Community Development issue overview.

• Aurora-St. Anthony: an historic neighborhood south of St. Paul's University Avenue, east of Lexington Parkway and west of Rice street that has long been an African American enclave; mixed in income, the housing remains affordable and the neighborhood is considered a desirable destination for African American homebuyers; called "Old Rondo" to recall the displacement of the Black community by interstate highway 94 in the late 1950s^[12]
• Central Corridor: Minneapolis-St. Paul's second light rail line, planned by the local transit authority, the Metropolitan Council, to connect downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul, primarily along University Avenue; slated for construction from 2010 to 2014^[13]
• Frogtown: an historic neighborhood north of St. Paul's University Avenue, east of Lexington Parkway and west of interstate highway 35 that has long been a site of affordable housing and home to immigrant and refugee communities^[14]
• Local government aid (LGA): a longstanding Minnesota policy of equally redistributing property tax revenue to municipalities by the state government that has been challenged in recent years^[15]
• Rondo: name of the historic St. Paul African American neighborhood that was significantly displaced by the construction of interstate highway 94 in the 1950s, today Rondo is also synonymous with the displacement of that neighborhood, which became Aurora-St. Anthony^[16]

Bibliography

• Cavett, Kate, ed. Voices of Rondo: Oral Histories of St. Paul's Historic Black Community. Minneapolis: Syren Book Company, 2005.

• Executive Order 12898 of February 11, 1994.

• Harris, M. Duchess. "Rondo and the Rail: Standing Fast Against Gentrification." Sister Scholar. June 25, 2009.
• Johnson, Brian. "St. Paul loan program to help Central Corridor LRT parking problems isn’t enough." St. Paul Legal Ledger Capitol Report. August 20, 2009.
• "Mayors Launch Effort to Hold Gov Candidates Feet to the Fire on City Funding." Thank LGA. September 30, 2009.
• Metropolitan Council. Central Corridor Project Facts. October 2009.
• Minnesota Department of Revenue. Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral.
• Ramsey County Historical Society. Frogtown or Thomas-Dale. 2005.
• Regan, Sheila. "Central Corridor: Learning from Grassroots Seattle Experience." Twin Cities Daily Planet. April 23, 2009.
• Regan, Sheila. "St. Paul Forum Targets Gentrification with Creative Tax Ideas." Twin Cities Daily Planet. November 24, 2009.
• Regan, Sheila. "The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful on St. Paul's University Avenue." Twin Cities Daily Planet. October 22, 2009.
• "Editorial: Central Corridor is Not Rondo Redux." Minneapolis Star Tribune. June 11, 2009.
• Seitz, David. "Going Green on Central Corridor." Twin Cities Daily Planet. July 11, 2009.
• Seitz, David. "Seeking Fair Compensation, Not 'Handouts,' University Ave. Business Owners Take Met Council to Task." Twin Cities Daily Planet. September 29, 2009.
• Seitz, David. "St. Paul Forum to Focus on Gentrification." Twin Cities Daily Planet. November 18, 2009.
• Seitz, David. "University Avenue Business Owners, 'Pretty Nervous' About Central Corridor, Push for Construction Mitigation Funds." Twin Cities Daily Planet. June 23, 2009.
• Shenoy, Rupa and Laura Yuen. "University Avenue Business Owners Meet to Discuss Light Rail Concerns." Minnesota Public Radio News. August 26, 2009.
• Taylor, David Vassar. African Americans in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2002.
• Thank LGA. "LGA Basics." 2009.
• Title VI, 1964 Civil Rights Act.
• Vang, Chia Youyee. Hmong in Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 2007.
• Yuen, Laura, and Dan Olson. "Opponents File Civil Rights Complaint Against Central Corridor." Minnesota Public Radio News. June 4, 2009.