Context
In the early 1990 the county board established a commission to develop recommendations and principles for Hennepin Community Works, a cross-jurisdictional, collaborative community redevelopment approach that would address a range of issues confronting urban neighborhoods and suburban municipalities, including:
- Decreased employment
- Steady growth of public assistance case loads
- Soaring crime rates
- Deteriorating and abandoned housing and commercial property
In its foundational report, the commission identified the profound impact of these trends: "… the public cost of this deterioration can be measured by the decline in tax revenues realized and the corresponding increase of public expenditures on income maintenance, public services, health care and social services.…”
Mission
To enhance how the communities of Hennepin County work together to create good jobs, provide access to employment, and build the long term value of communities by investing in infrastructure, public works, parks, and the natural environment and by improving the existing implementation systems.
Goals
- Enhance the tax base
- Stimulate economic development and job growth
- Strengthen and connect places and people
- Innovate and advance sustainability
- Lead collaborative planning and implementation
Characteristics for success
Coordinated investment
Comprehensive planning frameworks identify legacy infrastructure investments that reenergize the development cycle in challenged neighborhoods and ensure partner commitment over time
Collaboration at all levels
Collaboration with internal partners and external agencies establishes partner buy-in, aligns and leverages investment and develops a coalition of support for the vision
Innovative strategies
Comprehensive and flexible strategies integrate transportation infrastructure, land use and economic development; support cross-jurisdictional and multidisciplinary approaches and seed the market
Community-focused
Adaptable community engagement approaches address unique needs, provide for robust participation and ensure a community-supported vision that overcomes challenges
Rooted in place
Places of need and opportunity are identified through data-driven research and place-based amenity investments in open space and county infrastructure serve as economic drivers
