THE STAKES:
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AT A COMMUNITY LEVEL. AND SWING SETS.
The Neighborhood Revitalization Project began in 1990 as a 20-year, $20 million annual project to turn Minneapoliss neighborhoods into lively, self-sustaining, safe and livable communities. With just two years to go on the citys commitment to the program, the success stories are many.
With NRP funds, our neighborhood has purchased new playground equipment for the park, helped start several businesses, helped the Johnson Street merchants with grants and helped countless residents fix up their homes, says Cindy Schulte, president of the Audubon Neighborhood Association in Northeast Minneapolis. Audubon is one of 40 neighborhoods citywide that benefit from NRP funding. Schulte was also a recipient of a grim letter from NRP Bob Miller in September. It began, Nothing I have written to you in the past 15 years is as important as what is in this letter.
THE PROBLEM:
Neighborhoods are no longer a priority.
The letter went on to outline an across-the-board budget decline that will leave Minneapoliss neighborhood groups with significantly fewer resources than promised just a few years ago. Schultes group, for example, saw their funding drop from $630,832 to $343,075. NRP funds are 85 percent of the support that most neighborhood groups have, Miller says. Without it, most neighborhood groups will be gone.
Miller says the project is currently facing a shortfall of $1112 million. This marks the first time that funding for neighborhood projects has fallen below original allocations. Transfers of those funds have to occur by 2010 or most neighborhood groups will be dead in the water in terms of projects they have planned,
Miller says. That includes projects that the NRP has already approved. Miller is working with the Minneapolis City Council to ensure that at least 70 percent of the original allocation is guaranteed, if not the entirety of it. Until that happens, he says, no more neighborhood projects can be funded.
The prognosis for 2010 and beyond is even grimmer. Investment in neighborhoods will dry up, Miller says. That will be a big loss. For the city to continue to grow, theyve got to address this. It isnt about big projects along the river. Its about the neighborhoodsthats where people make connections.
THE RESCUE EFFORT:
Rep your hood.
Miller stresses that the problem isnt financial. Its political. Eleven million, thats all were talking about, he says. Thats seven-tenths of one percent of the city budget. He advises anyone wanting to help to get involved with their neighborhood group and let their legislators know that neighborhoods are a priority. Its a small investment, with huge returns for the city, he says. Over a billion dollars has been reinvested in the city because of NRP. And that will be gone.
Chuck Terhark, METRO Magazine, December 2007