Community leaders rally outside Metro Transit as local officials cancel meeting, delay funds to fight displacement

Over a year after the MN State legislature allocated $10M for investments along the route of the Blue Line Extension light rail line, community leaders are calling on Hennepin County and Met Council to follow through on commitments to prevent displacement of local residents and businesses, especially the Black, Indigenous, and communities of color in North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park, and Brooklyn Center who will be most impacted by rising property values and transit disruptions.

On August 7th, 2025, the Blue Line Coalition held a rally and press conference outside of Metro Transit offices. Watch a full video of the press conference here

*Anndrea Young, Executive Director of the Heritage Park Neighborhood Association, speaks at a press conference outside of Metro Transit on august 7, 2025.*

Key points

Funding Delayed: Local businesses, organizations, homeowners, and renters across the corridor of the METRO Blue Line Extension (BLE) Project have been waiting to apply for funds from the Antidisplacement Community Prosperity Program (ACPP). Just as applications were going to begin to be accepted in July, Hennepin County revealed previously unmentioned bureaucratic hurdles that would make it harder for communities to access support. For example, instead of providing funds directly, Hennepin County announced they would only consider reimbursing applicants, effectively withholding the capital needed for projects to move forward.
Racial equity data deleted: In May, Met Council published the Blue Line Extension project’s Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement. The chapter on environmental justice, which includes data on the disproportionate impact on Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, was removed– despite a long process of community engagement, leaving only a verbal commitment from Met Council to follow through on equity goals.
Community demands agencies honor their commitments: On August 7th, the Met Council canceled a meeting of the Corridor Management Committee, where community members had hoped to find answers on how environmental justice impacts will be mitigated and how communities can access antidisplacement funds. “Hennepin County and the Met Council didn’t show up today, but we did,” said Ricardo Perez, an organizer with the Blue Line Coalition, standing alongside impacted community members. “We’re here to demand that Hennepin County remove unnecessary barriers to accessing antidisplacement funds. We call on the Met Council to commit to taking a proactive role in addressing displacement, starting with the release of a local addendum to the Environmental Impact Study that includes omitted data on BIPOC displacement.”

Community leaders speak out

“We have worked with the County for over a year to build a mutual understanding of how to create an equitable funding model,” said Ricardo Perez, chair of the ACPP Board and organizer with the Blue Line Coalition (pictured, above). “The County’s requirements come at a cost, and that cost will be paid by those most vulnerable to displacement, neighbors and businesses who have lived in the corridor for generations, communities who make this area vibrant and desirable for development to occur: Black, African and African American, Asian, and immigrant people of color.”

“Heritage Park is not just another stop on a transit map. It is home. It is the heart of North Minneapolis a neighborhood of legacy residents who have stayed through disinvestment, through demolition, and through broken promises. These residents have roots here, history here, and they deserve more than continued displacement. What’s especially painful is that $10 million dollars were allocated through community advocacy by our state legislature, yet the funds have not been disbursed into the community. The delay in releasing those funds isn’t just a policy issue. It’s a human one. It’s putting real pressure on families pushing them closer to the edge of displacement every day,” said Anndrea Young, Executive Director of the Heritage Park Neighborhood Association. Read her full statement here

“Right now, we’re still trying to gain back some of the businesses that have already been lost due to land acquisition along the light rail corridor. Our small businesses run by Black, Indigenous, and people of color are the economic engines for a lot of these cities,” said Denise Butler, Associate director of African Career, Education and Resource (ACER). “We welcome redevelopment but gentrification continues to happen. We need an economic ecosystem that centers the development and creation of wealth for BIPOC communities.”

“In light of the displacement that has already occurred, along with the potential for increased displacement before construction starts, the project should halt all steps towards construction until all anti-displacement measures as well as adequate funding for those measures is in place,” said Martine Smaller, Executive Director of the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council.