This is the full report from the New Urban Mobility Alliance (NUMO) on Anti-Displacement as it relates to the Bring Back 6th project corridor.
Bring Back 6th is an opportunity to redesign the Olson Memorial Highway corridor in a way that improves community health, wealth, accessibility, and safety for existing residents – and enables them to stay in place to enjoy the improvements that they helped bring about. Many redevelopment projects face tensions between the desire for improvement and concern about the displacement that gentrification can bring. As seen throughout this policy framework, displacement does not have to be an inevitable outcome; nevertheless, avoiding displacement requires thoughtful and concerted policy, program, and organizing efforts.
About this Framework
This anti-displacement policy framework aims to support the Bring Back 6th neighborhoods to fulfill their community vision. Residents and community leaders formed the Bring Back 6th Coalition to bring this vision to life. For this report, the project team also collected resident and community perspectives on their specific displacement concerns between January and June 2025 through over eighty (80+) community surveys collected via door-knocking and tabling events, six one-on-one interviews with community leaders, and two “Home is Here” community conversations with the respective Harrison and Heritage Park neighborhoods.
This policy framework builds on existing community-driven anti-displacement campaigns, input from over two hundred (200) community members, and a literature review of research and case studies. It is designed to address the particular displacement risks and community assets in the Bring Back 6th neighborhoods. Collectively, the policy strategies address multiple forms of potential displacement: direct displacement, indirect or exclusionary displacement, cultural displacement, commercial displacement, and gentrification.
The policy framework is organized around the following four themes that reflect community priorities: Housing Stability; Economic Opportunity; Culture, Arts, and Community Building; and Community Decision-Making.
Community Vision
Bring Back 6th centers on the Near North Minneapolis neighborhoods of Harrison and Heritage Park, which include a diverse, multilingual, and close-knit community that includes people of Black/African-American, Somali, Oromo (Ethiopian), Laotian, Vietnamese, and American Indian descent. In the early 20th century, Near North Minneapolis was also home to a vibrant, integrated Black and Jewish community, who both faced housing and employment discrimination in other parts of the city due to racially restrictive covenants and other practices.
The neighborhood continues to be a starting point for low-income and immigrant communities in Minneapolis. Despite its proximity to Downtown Minneapolis and several parks and greenways to the south and west, residents lack access to many amenities, forcing most residents to travel around by car due to the lack of safe walking infrastructure and inaccessible multimodal transit. In recent years, due to its proximity to Downtown Minneapolis and relatively affordable property values, the neighborhoods have seen increasing interest from middle and upper-income families looking to buy a starter home.
Today, several community organizations such as Harrison Neighborhood Association, Heritage Park Neighborhood Association, Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota, Green Garden Bakery, Urban Strategies, and The Phyllis Wheatley Center actively lead community advocacy, provide services, and organize events that bring the community together – and residents express they would love even more frequent community building events in the future.
For the future of Bring Back 6th and the redesigned Olson Memorial Highway, residents and community members envision a safe, clean, affordable, walkable, connected, and commercially vibrant neighborhood. They envision:
- Safer streets,
- Long-term affordable housing and wealth-building opportunities,
- Enhanced retail corridors with locally owned businesses on 6th, Glenwood Avenue, and Plymouth Avenue,
- Basic amenities, such as green space and a longstanding desire for a grocery store and pharmacy, and
- Walkable amenities and community spaces for youth, adults, and elders alike. Community amenities ideas ranged from restaurants, bakeries, and cafes to a hospital, hardware store, and gift shops to sports fields and a pool.
Residents are most excited about the economic opportunities and amenities that Bring Back 6th can bring, followed by improved road and pedestrian safety, and reconnecting the communities divided by the Olson Memorial Highway. Based on the community survey, interviews, and community conversations, below is a list of residents’ values for the project, starting with the most frequently mentioned value:
- Economic opportunities
- Preventing people from being priced out of their homes
- Keeping the community culture and civic institutions strong
- Reducing pollution and improving community health
- Involvement in the project’s planning and development process
- Job opportunities during project construction
These priorities reflect many of the existing housing, economic, cultural, and political challenges and opportunities in the neighborhoods:
Housing Challenges & Opportunities
Both renters and homeowners face increasing strains on affordability and habitability, which are already displacing existing residents. Renters, who make up the majority of neighborhood residents, need more affordable housing options for tenants at the lowest incomes. Some newer developments include affordable units, but primarily at 80% of the area median income (AMI). Heritage Park Apartments, which is subsidized mainly through the public housing and Section 8 programs, is an affordable option with vouchers available for 50% AMI or below. Still, the apartments have had low occupancy rates, at reportedly 60%, due to maintenance and disrepair issues. Residents also want more homeownership opportunities. Meanwhile, existing homeowners are also facing rising costs from increasing utility costs, property values that raise the area’s property taxes, and unexpected home repair and maintenance costs that low-income homeowners struggle to afford.
As Bring Back 6th could potentially bring new investment into the area, there’s an opportunity to protect existing and low-income residents from experiencing additional displacement and the opportunity to remain in place and benefit from the reinvestment in their neighborhood. Figure 1 shows the percentage of rented homes, and Figure 2 shows the percentage of owner-occupied homes in the Bring Back 6th neighborhoods at the census block group level. Figure 3 shows the percentage of households that are rent burdened at 50% or more of their income, and Figure 4 shows the area’s household median income compared to surrounding neighborhoods. These maps identify neighborhoods located within one mile of the current Olson Memorial Highway.
Economic Challenges & Opportunities
The 2023 median household income in the Harrison and Heritage Park neighborhoods was $67,898 and $52,901, respectively, with over 66% of adults in the labor force. Most residents commute to work by car, with a small portion carpooling or taking public transit; however, the latter option is often inaccessible. Many residents are eager to develop more retail space in the neighborhood to improve their access to basic needs and quality of life while boosting local jobs and economic activity. However, local small business owners often struggle to find available and affordable retail spaces. Many also lack awareness of administrative requirements, such as necessary income or tax documentation, to access support funding programs.
If these barriers are addressed, residents see opportunities to revitalize the historic commercial corridors of Glenwood Avenue and Plymouth Avenue, and the new potential retail space along the redesigned 6th Avenue. Figure 5 shows the median household incomes in the Bring Back 6th neighborhoods, and Figure 6 shows current neighborhood zoning and vacant lots.
Cultural, Arts, and Community Building Challenges & Opportunities
Several organizations currently serve the neighborhoods as hubs for human services, policy organizing, youth empowerment, and community and cultural events. These organizations provide critical resources and referrals for support, such as free legal aid, homeowner or rental improvement grants, and navigating social services. However, many of the residents they serve are currently already experiencing potential displacement. Without supporting key cultural and civic institutions, community ties could further weaken and reduce the capacity to provide future community services, policy organizing, and cultural events.
Despite the housing quality and community safety challenges, residents want to stay in their neighborhood and continue to strengthen the community with their neighbors. To that end, residents express a desire for future development to keep its local character.
Community Decision-Making Challenges & Opportunities
Residents have been organizing around housing stability, economic opportunity, community safety, and combating cultural gentrification for many years. Their efforts include campaigns for affordable housing, negotiating community benefits with developers, improving health and safety conditions of housing, and other policy initiatives. Today, many residents express the desire to strengthen their policy advocacy skills, and community members and leaders cited the need to improve awareness and messaging on policy efforts, so residents can plug into and help mobilize policy campaigns.
Bring Back 6th offers an opportunity for residents, local government agencies, and developers to develop and implement a shared vision in collaboration rather than in opposition. It also offers an opportunity to formally integrate residents and community representatives into the decision-making process, so that the redevelopment of the corridor meaningfully addresses community needs and achieves the community’s vision.
Anti-Displacement Policy Framework
Bring Back 6th’s policy framework focuses on 32 policies that advance four thematic goals for neighborhood residents: housing, economic, cultural, and community vitality. Within each theme, the framework lays out specific policy strategies that address the priority community needs and wants. These policy recommendations are designed to address both immediate and long-term displacement concerns, working to stabilize neighborhoods and support residents through every stage of community change.
Housing Stability: Recommends pursuing a combination of three policy strategies to protect both renters and homeowners from rising costs and degraded housing quality, in both the short and long term.
- Neighborhood Stabilization
- Preservation of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
- Production of Affordable Housing
Economic Opportunity: Recommends two policy strategies to bring high-quality jobs and careers, and to bring retail amenities and entrepreneurship opportunities to the existing commercial corridors of Glenwood and Plymouth Avenues, and potential new commercial spaces of Bring Back 6th.
- Local Commercial and Economic Activity
- Workforce Development Training and Job Placements
Culture, Arts, and Community Building: Recommends three policies under one policy strategy to strengthen the institutions and zoning that support local arts, culture, and community networks.
- Cultural and Community Institutions
Community Decision-Making: Recommends two policy strategies to ensure meaningful resident involvement in and benefits from the redevelopment.
- Inclusive Planning and Development
- Community Impacts and Benefits
Effectively implementing this framework will require the involvement and collaboration of key public, private, and nonprofit entities. Building collaborative working relationships to plan and implement this framework should happen well in advance of the redevelopment of the corridor and potential displacement impacts from real estate speculation. In addition to collaboration and timeliness, investing in the long-term capacity of community-based organizations will strengthen policy efficacy and the likelihood of long-term success. Figure 8 shows the key entities that play a role in each thematic policy area.
This framework outlines 32 policies, organized by strategy, to support residents in fulfilling their neighborhood vision and addressing their specific needs. Many policies recommend strengthening targeted outreach and education programs to ensure resident access and reach – although the city, region, and state have established several relevant policies and programs, additional awareness and programming would further activate the reach and efficacy of those policies for residents who need them. Table 1 maps the policy recommendations to each neighborhood vision element that residents shared.
| Neighborhood Vision | Policy Recommendations |
| Affordable and Habitable Rental Housing | Housing Stability Neighborhood Stabilization Strategy (tenant policies) • Rent Stabilization • Just Cause Eviction • Tenants’ Rights Education Programs • Rental Assistance Program Preservation of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) Strategy • NOAH Preservation Funding – Targeted Outreach and Education Programs • Maintenance of Existing Public Housing Units – • Funding & Enforcement • Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Agreement or Right of First Refusal Policies Production of Affordable Housing Strategy • Build Public Housing • Gap Financing & Tax Abatements for Affordable • Housing Production • Inclusionary Zoning • Project-Based Housing Choice Vouchers • Accessory Dwelling Unit Programs |
| Affordable Home Ownership | Housing Stability Neighborhood Stabilization Strategy (homeowner assistance policies) • Homeowner Assistance Programs • Property Tax Relief |
| Commercial Spaces that Improve Amenities and Economic Opportunities | Economic Opportunity Local Commercial and Economic Activity Strategy • Small Business Support Programs • Commercial Corridor Organizations or Small Business Associations • Business or Community Improvement Districts • Public Land Disposition Policies • Community Land Trusts or Public Land Banks • Commercial Property Acquisition Funds • Community Investment Trusts |
| Job Opportunities | Economic Opportunity Workforce Development Training and Job Placements Strategy • Local and Targeted Hiring Policies • High-Quality Workforce Training Programs • Community Workforce Agreement or Community Benefits Agreement |
| Community Building Spaces for Existing Residents | Culture, Arts, and Community Building Cultural and Community Institutions Strategy • Cultural District • Cultural and Civic Organizations – Funding and Support Programs • Community Development Corporation or Organization Community Decision-Making • Planning and Development Process Strategy Inclusive Public Engagement • Community Steering Committee for Bring Back 6th |
| Neighborhood Amenities | Community Decision-Making Planning and Development Process Strategy Inclusive Public Engagement • Community Steering Committee for Bring Back 6th • Community Impacts Strategy • Community Benefits Agreement |
| Minimize Construction Disruption | Community Decision-Making Community Impacts Strategy • Construction Mitigation Plan |
Summary
This proposed policy framework for Bring Back 6th – to improve residents’ housing, economic, cultural, and political opportunities – will require critical collaboration among government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector. It will require early action to start advocating for and implementing policies that can stabilize residents before the redevelopment of the corridor occurs. It will also require a combination of policy strategies to address both immediate and long-term displacement concerns, as well as investment in targeted outreach, education, and programming that ensures policies and programs passed are made accessible to and usable by residents. And most importantly, it will require critical investments in local community organizations and leadership development; it is local residents who lead policy advocacy, sustain momentum over time, and spark continued community development long after specific projects conclude.
A detailed policy toolkit is in the appendix to this chapter. The policy toolkit is organized around the four themes and includes, for each:
- Policy objectives
- Policy features
- Timeline for advocacy and implementation
- Roles of different entities in the policy-making and implementation process
- Metrics for evaluating progress
For each recommended policy, the toolkit includes the following information to inform future efforts by key policy-enabling and implementing entities:
- Description
- Policy strengths
- Implementation challenges and considerations
- Case studies
Including case studies for every recommended policy helps illustrate how communities in Minneapolis, across the United States, and around the world have used these policy strategies to stay and flourish in their neighborhoods during times of change.
Bring Back 6th
Once called the “Beale Street of Minneapolis,” the old Near-Northside was an integrated Black and Jewish community that was destroyed in 1939 for the construction of Olson Memorial Highway, a low-trafficked highway “to nowhere” that has been polluting the neighborhood ever since.