CCP 11-28-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. INTRODUCTION T he Association of Metropolitan Municipalities (AMM) is a service and lobbying organization representing 71 municipalities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Metropolitan area. The AMM has traditionally provided a forum for reconunending legislative action and positions on a wide variety of municipal topics unique to the Metropolitan area. AMM formed the Urban Sttategies Task Force in 1993 to address two basic conceros: (1) the need for all Cities to better understand the causes of urban blight and (2) to develop recommended sttategies to address these problems in a meaningful and effective way. The task force was asked to examine long-term and short-term answers and make recommendations to the board, the Legislature and others about what can be done to deal with urban decay and troubles at the core. The task force membership includes representation from approximately 24 cities including Minneapolis and St. Paul; first ring suburbs Richfield, Robbinsdale, Roseville, Columbia Heights and St. Louis Park; suburbs that have recently been fully developed or nearly fully developed such as Burnsville and Minnetonka; and developing suburbs like Shakopee and Maple Grove, In examining the results of the 1990 census and other surveys, legislators and other organizations have become increasingly concerned about the troubles at the core and their impact on the region as a whole, The Legislature has debated alternative solutions to these problems in the last two . sessions. In 1993, the AMM Metropolitan Issues Task Force concluded that government action is necessary to arrest deterioration in the Metropolitan area, In 1992, The Metropolitan Council issued the report, "Trouble at the Core," and prepared a plan to address these problems in 1994. A Governor's Task Force on Metropolitan Housing Policy and the Citizens' League have also recently conducted studies and prepared reports related to these problems, The work of the Urban Strategies Task Force was divided into three basic components: (1) basic research (2) development of findings and (3) development of recommendations. The committee's basic research included presentations by John Adams from the University of Minnesota, review of previous legislative efforts to address urban issues, a tour of central city and inner ring suburbs and discussions exploring a variety of issues. In addition, committee members have reviewed the similar efforts undertaken by the Citizens' League, Governor's Task Force, Minneapolis Chamber, Metropolitan Council and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The findings are the basis of the recommendation which include actions to be considered by the federal, state and local governments. .