Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works
Strategic Investment Framework

In April 2008 Hennepin County Community Works launched a two-year process to develop a Strategic Investment Framework for the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Corridor to guide county, city, and other revitalization investments. These capital investment decisions will be community driven and based on a close collaboration among all stakeholders. A Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is serving as the “steward” of the community involvement process and works directly with the consulting team that the County has hired to lead this program.

This process has included an extensive stakeholder engagement effort to gather perspectives and guidance through neighborhood listening sessions and other activities, supported by the CAC.   Corridor issues, solutions, and desired outcomes emerged through this community input and from information in existing corridor plans and data. The result is a corridor Strategic Investment Framework that reflects community priorities for a unique and valued sense of place.

Strategic Investment Framework

The Strategic Investment Framework includes the following four components:

• Part 1:  Data Inventory – compiles information from past studies, comments from the public engagement process, and technical studies
• Part 2:  Summary of Issues – identifies corridor issues and priorities based on community forums
• Part 3:  Strategic Investment Framework document – recommends initiatives to enhance corridor
• Part 4:  Implementation Action Plan – guides implementation of the corridor vision, strategies, concepts, and project

Copies of these reports will be available through this website and at several locations in the corridor area.

Community Works Principles

Hennepin County Community Works investments are based on the following principles:

• Strengthen communities through connections
• Maintain and improve natural systems
• Build bridges for effective planning and implementation
• Stimulate employment development
• Enhance the tax base

Examples of Community Works Capital Investments

The following are examples of County capital investments in other corridor revitalization efforts that support those principles.

• Develop pedestrian and bike trail connections and stabilize and enhance neighborhood property values and employment base.
• Acquire substandard properties, to be replaced with “aging-in-place” housing, greenspace, and connections to schools and waterways.
• Acquire properties to allow roadway redesign to include transit, pedestrian, and bike improvements and facilitate mixed-use redevelopment at key intersections.
• Install utility infrastructure to enable development of higher density residential and job centers near planned high-frequency transit stations.

Additional Information

Stakeholder Input

Community Advisory Committee

Technical Advisory Committee

Strategic Investment Framework Document

Project Newsletter – April 2010

Project Newsletter - May 2009

Overview and Invitation to Participate, May 2008

County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin introduced the Minnehaha-Hiawatha Community Works program in the February 2008 issue of the Longfellow-Nokomis Messenger. Click here to link to the Messenger’s website, and go to page 7.

Project overview video, featuring Robb Luckow, Hennepin County Community Works

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