Comparative Analysis of Residential Anti-Displacement Strategies for Light Rail Transit and Sports Stadium Infrastructure Investments

Abstract

City leaders work to revitalize declining communities by building new infrastructure, including sports stadiums and transit infrastructure, to stimulate economic development, as well as strengthen a city’s tax base. At the same time, current low-income residents can face greater displacement pressures through increasing property values and rents. The purpose of this paper is to compare residential anti-displacement strategies utilized by two infrastructure projects, the Central Corridor LRT in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Miami Marlins Park in East Little Havana, to analyze how similar strategies incentivizing new affordable housing development can be utilized for two different types of infrastructure investments. To complete this comparative analysis, local newspaper and government documents were examined to gather information on recent affordable housing projects in Little Havana, as well as public funding sources for affordable housing in Miami. This information was supplemented by e-mail correspondences with Miami-based developers to gain specific information on the financing and affordability of recent projects in Little Havana, as well as with employees of the Miami planning and economic development departments regarding the stadium’s impact on the neighborhood. This empirical data was then compared to data already gathered for an earlier Central Corridor LRT case study. This paper found that several strategies utilized in the Twin Cities, especially for new funding sources, could be implemented in Miami to better incentivize and target new affordable housing development in closer proximity to the Marlins Park. This could better protect low-income residents from displacement pressures by providing them future affordable housing options. More importantly, this could help spur future development by providing new investment around the stadium that could strengthen market confidence and catalyze private investment. Better overall planning is needed in the future to develop a more comprehensive redevelopment plan for the stadium area, as well as the Little Havana neighborhood, to help support the development of an entertainment district around the stadium.