Love thy Neighbor(hood Association): Neighborhood Perspectives on City Support in Minneapolis following the Neighborhood Revitalization Project

Abstract

The City of Minneapolis’ approach to local planning and engagement efforts has shifted over the past four decades. In the 1990s and 2000s the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) positioned neighborhood associations as the principal agents of change in their communities. Over time as city-level goals have changed, so has the City’s approach to neighborhood association support and empowerment. Prior literature on the NRP has focused primarily on assessing its outcomes, finding that the program disproportionately benefited middle-class, white homeowners. Previous research has relied on analyses of spending patterns and neighborhood level outcomes. I employ qualitative interviewing in order to look beyond an impact analysis, to better understand how the transition from the decentralized model of the NRP to a more centralized model today has impacted the operations and work of neighborhood associations. I find that the models of neighborhood oversight that followed the NRP, principally Neighborhoods 2020, have devalued the role of neighborhood associations in community level outreach and planning. Whereas during the NRP neighborhood associations were responsible for local planning and outreach, today they are seen as one of many tools in the City’s approach to local planning and equitable engagement. This shift has had tangible effects on the operations of neighborhood associations, with many feeling their ability to sustain themselves financially is in jeopardy, and thus so is their ability to meet the expectations the City has for neighborhood associations.