The Alliance is elevating awareness about our region’s affordable housing crisis and moving public officials to discuss important policies and investments.
We have organized this work under 5 Pillars of Affordable Housing Policy: power of renters and communities most impacted to have lasting influence on decision-making processes, placement of housing to ensure access to essential daily needs, protection of tenants from housing instability and displacement, preservation of existing affordable housing at truly affordable levels in good condition, and production of new housing units at a diversity of affordability levels.
The Alliance supports coalitions in addressing all the pillars of affordable housing needs, including efforts to:
- Move decision makers to create housing policies — including those outlined in the Equity in Place Policy Agenda – that better serve people of color, immigrants, indigenous people, and low wealth communities.
- Secure affordability and equitable development outcomes at large-scale development sites like the former Ford Auto Plant in Saint Paul, the former Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills, the Towerside project and former Hillcrest Golf Course site in Saint Paul, and the Upper Harbor Terminal in Minneapolis.
- Develop a more equitable tenant screening process that reduces housing discrimination and increases access to rental housing for communities of color and low-wealth communities.
- Develop a “tenant opportunity to purchase” policy that would give tenants the first right to purchase their building if the owner plans on selling, demolishing, or discontinuing a building’s use as rental housing.
- Pass just cause eviction ordinances to protect tenants from eviction through inappropriate and discriminatory ways.
- Build power across jurisdictions and sectors to address displacement and gentrification through our participation in PolicyLink’s Anti-Displacement Policy Network.
In recent years, we’ve helped to secure significant progress including:
- Providing capacity building and technical support to a coalition led by the New American Development Center in Eden Prairie to secure changes in city practices, win the approval of several new affordable housing developments and offer local tenants support in challenging abusive management tactics and poor living conditions.
- Playing a key role in the Make Homes Happen coalition in Minneapolis, which hosted multiple candidate forums in 2017 and advocated for a major boost in the affordable housing trust fund in the 2019-2020 budget.
- Engaged with City Council Members and consultants throughout the creation of Minneapolis’ inclusionary zoning policy, demanding an increase in both the number and depth of affordable units.
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