In Minneapolis, the More the Merrier

Architect and planner Lew Moran addresses an important and lesser-spoken issue in his Saturday column in the Star Tribune, titled "How many can fit in this space?" While Minneapolis appears fully developed, Moran notes, the city's population remains at only about two-thirds of its post-war population level. As such, there are fewer residents to fund city services through property and sales taxes.
Indeed, as he says, this math is simple. It's compounded by the fact that legislative changes have shifted some of the property tax burden from commercial and retail uses to residential. But cities like those in our region are interdependent, including in their ownership. In 2007, only 61% of downtown's property tax revenue was paid by taxpayers with Minneapolis addresses, meaning 39% of that critical revenue source comes from elsewhere in the metro or other states.
In news terms, Moran "buried the lead," which is his later and much stronger point – that our commitment to long-term vitality and solvency in cities will require providing for more density in both population and development. Why? Increasing population and building density will encourage more individuals and families to live and work – and generate jobs, economic activity and revenue for services – inside city limits. It will also continue to attract the interest of people who seek to develop and own property, whether their legal address is in Minneapolis, Shoreview, Hibbing or somewhere in the sunbelt. Attracting and retaining more Minneapolitans will achieve much more than providing more payers of property and sales taxes - it will solidify the city's health in mutliple ways.
Cities and their surrounding metro areas will exert increasing, rather than decreasing gravity on economic activity and population in the coming years. To make the most of this trend, Minneapolis, St. Paul and other metro cities will need to add population – and more. For the more to be merrier in Minneapolis, we will need more than just housing and jobs – we will need to continue building a vibrant cultural life, strong schools and effective, clean transportation. But for the purposes of this blog post, those topics will have to wait.