With Met Council Plan, 'Big Picture' Comes to Hopkins

The proposals Metropolitan Council Chairwoman Susan Haigh detailed at Wednesday’s State of the Region event may cover the entire swathe of the council’s seven-county territory, but a remarkable number of the issues she emphasized echo those that planners have already identified within four square miles.

(Click here to read Haigh’s full remarks.)

Consider affordable housing. Haigh, noting a trend toward smaller households and more seniors, said the region must work to ensure people can find affordable places to live.

“Virtually all communities in our region need more affordable housing,” she said. “People who live in affordable housing have improved health and greater success at school and at work.”

Hopkins is no stranger to the issue. While the city hopes the proposed Southwest Light Rail project will spur lucrative development, some worry that could lead to gentrification that makes it hard for families to find housing.

“(Affordable housing) is critical for all communities,” said Councilwoman Molly Cummings, who represented Hopkins at the State of the Region. “I think Hopkins does not have enough affordable housing.”

The good news is that the Met Council has a $32 million fund for cities to promote growth and redevelopment along transit ways like the one on track to come through Hopkins. 

Cummings said that Met Council assistance helps stave off gentrification fears.

The growing number of seniors is another issue with local ties. Throughout much of the west metro, planners worry parents are staying in their homes after their children have moved out—instead of making way for other families with children as they once did.

At first blush, Hopkins hasn’t really seen this trend. Over the past decade, the proportion of families with children grew even as the number of families overall grew—leading to a tiny uptick in the average family size, . Meanwhile, the number of older adults shrank in both absolute numbers and as a percentage.

But senior housing is a recurring topic of development discussions—most recently when brainstorming . Some see it as a good match with future development, particularly housing tailored for “active seniors.” On the other hand, Kersten Elverum— the city’s director of economic development and planning—noted that police and fire worry senior housing will increase their call loads.

Some of the issues most likely to garner local interest were altogether unsurprising. The scope of the Southwest Light Rail project meant it was inevitable Haigh would praise the inclusion of $25 million for the project in the governor’s bonding proposal. She also backed Gov. Mark Dayton’s creation of a transportation financing advisory group to devise new, systematic ways to fund improvements in the state's highway and transit systems.

“There is no question—these investments in transit and new financing structures are necessary, because today we are entering a new environment and a new economy,” said Haigh, who’s on the advisory group. “With that comes challenges and opportunities for new and strengthened partnerships to propel our regional economy forward.”

On trends ranging from housing stock to increasing diversity, Hopkins and the Met Council have their eyes on remarkably similar targets.

Of course, agreement on what the issues are doesn’t necessarily translate into agreement on the best way to solve those issues. In one well-known case, Lake Elmo sued the Met Council over development preferences and lost.

This year, the council will begin to develop a housing policy plan for the first time in decades.  That plan aims to expand housing opportunities, help build strong communities and meet the needs of changing demographics.

Cummings, at least, isn’t worried about conflict between Hopkins and the Met Council arising over that plan.

“I don’t have any fears at this point,” she said. “I think lots of things are in the talking stages. I think we have to look forward. We can’t look back. We can’t only look at today. We have to look at the big picture.”

With the issues Haigh has chosen to emphasize, Hopkins’ four square miles could just turn out to be a microcosm of that big picture.