Browsing by Author "Lou, Shengnan"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Community Engagement Process for Brooklyn Park 2040 Comprehensive Plan
    (Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2016) Brooksbank, Robin; Karner, Kevin; King, Eric; Kleppin, Alex; Lou, Shengnan
    This project was completed as part of the 2016-2017 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Brooklyn Park. Every 10 years, municipalities in the seven-county Twin Cities metropolitan area are required to update their comprehensive plans. The next update is due by 2018. The purpose of this project was to develop a public engagement plan for Brooklyn Park’s upcoming comprehensive plan update process. A team of five graduate students in Kathy Quick’s PA 5145: Civic Participation in Public Affairs course collaborated with City of Brooklyn Park project lead Cindy Sherman to develop recommendations for improving resident involvement in long-range visioning, better engage local businesses, and overcome the problem of resident burnout through over-engagement. The students' final report is available.
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    Minnesota Transportation Funding Redistribution (2009-2014): Who Contributes More, Who Receives More?
    (Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness Program, University of Minnesota, 2017-03-04) Zhao, Jerry; Lari, Adeel; Lou, Shengnan
    The focus of this analysis is the redistribution of transportation funding across Minnesota. Transportation funding comes from all levels of government – the federal government, the state government, and local governments that include counties, cities, and townships. Transportation funding that are directly generated by local taxes and fees are used in corresponding local jurisdictions. Federal or state transportation funding – generated through a variety of federal or state revenue sources – are also contributed by people in local jurisdictions, but these revenues are allocated through certain budgetary procedures and may or may not be used in the original point of collection. Hence are the questions of transportation funding redistribution: What are the areas that contribute more to transportation funding? What are those that receive more? What are the areas that contribute more than they receive, or verse versa? Those are empirical questions to be answered in this report, for the purpose to facilitate informed decision making.
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    Prioritizing People at Rice and Larpenteur
    (2017) Lou, Shengnan; Lampe, Joe; Kramer, Jacquelyn; Andersen, Kory
    Metro Transit’s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Office was established to support TOD throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan region. In anticipation of an expanding regional transit system, the TOD Office sets the best TOD design standards for developers, municipalities, and communities. Managing these controls requires an understanding of land allocation in these sites. This information can help to determine whether or not current and potential developments will be successful in the future, can be used in education efforts regarding TOD, and can contribute to future TOD site selection. The objectives of this report are to understand land allocation at transit nodes throughout the region; analysis will identify the components that led to successful TOD in the region, and provide site-specific recommendations for TOD at the intersection of Rice Street and Larpenteur Avenue The Existing Conditions section examines the regional context for transit-oriented development in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Specifically, we look at the history of TOD in the Twin Cities, identify factors contributing to a successful TOD based on qualitative and quantitative research, and explore the TOD policy in local and regional comprehensive plans. Based on the information found in these points, seven existing/proposed transit nodes in the Twin Cities region were selected. Each node’s current conditions and development potential was analyzed. Furthermore, each node’s vehicles, buildings, and people spaces were determined to create a ratio. The analysis concluded that there is no ‘golden standard’ for the land allocation. The ratio still has a purpose. The vehicle-building-people land ratio is an educational tool and conversation starter. Based on the findings from the Existing Conditions, the Action Plan proposes site-specific recommendations for the neighborhoods that meet at the Rice and Larpenteur intersection. Given that spaces for vehicles dominate the site of Rice and Larpenteur, we develop a set of action plans to sponsor a more human-centered, rejuvenated, and sustainable development in the area. Within the action plan, we developed a set of strategic goals and policies. These are broken up into the following sections: community now and the community later, transportation, and economic development.
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    Shared-Use Mobility Possibilities in Brooklyn Park: Firsthand Accounts of Unmet Transportation Needs
    (Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2016) Howard, Kurt; Lou, Shengnan; Lubben, Daniel; Pansch, Joshua; Xiong, Faith
    This project was completed as part of the 2016-2017 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Brooklyn Park. The Blue Line Light Rail extension is expected to reach Brooklyn Park by 2021. Brooklyn Park wanted to investigate shared-use mobility as a means of expanding access to light rail for those without regular access to a personal automobile. The goal of this project was to develop an engagement strategy around transportation access. Brooklyn Park project lead Emily Carr worked with a team of students in PA 5232/CEGE 5212: Transportation Policy, Planning, and Development, who conducted intercept surveys with residents at a local farmers' market and a community transportation center to learn about transportation barriers they face in Brooklyn Park. The students' final report and presentation are available.