Seward Redesign Inc
Report date
January 2020
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
1. In 2019, Seward Redesign continued intentional work to engage East African residents, resulting in diverse and inclusive all around participation. In collaboration with Community Outreach Specialist and West Bank resident, Ayan Isaq, Redesign organized and attended seven culturally relevant events during the first half of 2019, hosting over 140 community members in total.
Events were held at a number of locations including Soma, a Somali-owned cafe and the first business on Cedar Avenue north of I-94. Redesign also attended an outdoor gathering at Cedar East Commons, where Somali women convened to build an aqual, a traditional Somali house. Attendees of these events enjoyed traditional Somali snacks and cultural practices, as they engaged in conversation about street design and the five crossings connecting the Seward and West Bank neighborhoods. Each of these gatherings included professional interpreters speaking Somali, Oromo, and Amharic. These engagement strategies were important to increasing accessibility and participation for East African immigrants, and improving awareness of urban planning practices in next-generation planners.
Events were held at a number of locations including Soma, a Somali-owned cafe and the first business on Cedar Avenue north of I-94. Redesign also attended an outdoor gathering at Cedar East Commons, where Somali women convened to build an aqual, a traditional Somali house. Attendees of these events enjoyed traditional Somali snacks and cultural practices, as they engaged in conversation about street design and the five crossings connecting the Seward and West Bank neighborhoods. Each of these gatherings included professional interpreters speaking Somali, Oromo, and Amharic. These engagement strategies were important to increasing accessibility and participation for East African immigrants, and improving awareness of urban planning practices in next-generation planners.
2. During the second half of the year, Seward Redesign produced the Reconnecting Neighborhoods 2020 Plan, reflecting the three-year community planning process for the five crossings connecting Seward and The West Bank. The final document includes:
● a description of engagement strategies used throughout the process,
● summaries of current conditions and opportunities identified by the community,
● near-term and long-term concepts for each crossing, and
● an implementation table that identifies timelines and agencies responsible for specific improvements.
The Plan was approved by the Management Committee, including representatives from both the Seward and West Bank neighborhoods, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Additionally, the plan was adopted by the boards of Seward Neighborhood Group, Seward Civic and Commerce Association, and the West Bank Business Association.
A final document that reflects the community goals and vision identified in this process is essential for informing the public agencies and for unifying community voices in political advocacy for federal and state bonding to fund improvements.
● a description of engagement strategies used throughout the process,
● summaries of current conditions and opportunities identified by the community,
● near-term and long-term concepts for each crossing, and
● an implementation table that identifies timelines and agencies responsible for specific improvements.
The Plan was approved by the Management Committee, including representatives from both the Seward and West Bank neighborhoods, the City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Additionally, the plan was adopted by the boards of Seward Neighborhood Group, Seward Civic and Commerce Association, and the West Bank Business Association.
A final document that reflects the community goals and vision identified in this process is essential for informing the public agencies and for unifying community voices in political advocacy for federal and state bonding to fund improvements.
Key lessons learned
Despite Seward Redesign’s 50-year presence in the Seward neighborhood, many new immigrant residents and residents of the West Bank were unfamiliar with our work. We learned to better exercise flexibility and trust by encouraging our partners like Ayan Isaq, to lead the charge in organizing events and gatherings that were interesting and comfortable for East African community members. By working to give space for new leadership, and to have patience as relationships grow organically over time, the Reconnecting Neighborhoods process engaged a larger and more representative group of community members than Seward Redesign has in past planning projects.
When we began work on the West Bank, we were unaware that many residents, particularly immigrant groups, have been asked repeatedly to participate in providing input. Our outreach initially encountered skepticism and engagement fatigue. Some community members expressed doubt that government agencies would either listen or act. At one event, a group of Somali girls were eager to know “when [they] will actually see improvements”, frustrated by recurring experiences of being asked to contribute their opinions and ideas at engagement events- without noticeable results. Seward Redesign was able to have a productive and in-depth conversation with the group about what urban planning is, when The City’s transportation action plan will go into effect, and how they can continue to be involved. Redesign focused on these relationships and on introducing young women and POC to long-range planning, public policy, and decision making processes and their role in achieving equitable results.
Reflections on inclusive, collaborative or resourceful problem-solving
Inclusivity has been the most essential goal of the community innovation process for furthering Reconnecting Neighborhoods progress. The Seward and West Bank neighborhoods are home to many folks who have historically been excluded from urban planning processes. Both neighborhoods have higher populations of IPOC, low-income renters, new immigrants, and people with disabilities when compared to Minneapolis at large. Designing engagement that is accessible and relevant to these groups has been critical in representing the communities’ diversity of experiences and perspectives. From hosting events at convenient locations, to hiring organizers with strong community connections, to translating materials: Seward Redesign has prioritized inclusivity throughout this process.
Prioritizing deep relationship building through inclusive and accessible engagement elevated the credibility of the process with governmental partners and led to the adoption of the Reconnecting Neighborhoods 2020 Plan as a tool to guide public decision-making. It has also created credibility for the process as funding is sought for design and implementation of infrastructure improvements occurs over coming years.
Prioritizing deep relationship building through inclusive and accessible engagement elevated the credibility of the process with governmental partners and led to the adoption of the Reconnecting Neighborhoods 2020 Plan as a tool to guide public decision-making. It has also created credibility for the process as funding is sought for design and implementation of infrastructure improvements occurs over coming years.
Other key elements of Community Innovation
Seward Redesign’s community process values clarity and transparency. Our organization has consistently brought high levels of technical expertise to community decision-making in the real estate, economic development, and urban planning sectors. Validating residents’ concerns, coupling these with technical resources, and encouraging folks to question and seek clarity demonstrated to newer participants a constructive means of participation. To continue this transformative work in an equitable way, it is critical for our organization to find funding to staff the ongoing outreach and engagement that will be needed to advocate for the infrastructure investment needed to implement the plan.
Understanding the problem
In our grant application, we identified the need to design improvements to the crossings of I-94, to establish stronger connections between the Seward and West Bank neighborhoods, and develop a transportation network that serves the people who live in the neighborhoods—not just those in motor vehicles. This has remained the focus of our work.
Throughout the process we gained a deeper understanding of the communities’ experiences of the crossings and clarity around the neighborhoods’ collective vision as described in the Reconnecting Neighborhoods 2020 Plan. We heard countless first-hand experiences from people who travel between the two neighborhoods regularly. Whether folks travel over I-94 to attend school, work at the hospital, visit their family members, use public transit, gather in public parks, or shop at the small businesses: input from community members shaped the resulting designs for each crossing. After determining community priorities and collaboratively designing improvements, the Reconnecting Neighborhoods process identified a path forward for implementation of desired improvements with participants from the city, county, and state.
Throughout the process we gained a deeper understanding of the communities’ experiences of the crossings and clarity around the neighborhoods’ collective vision as described in the Reconnecting Neighborhoods 2020 Plan. We heard countless first-hand experiences from people who travel between the two neighborhoods regularly. Whether folks travel over I-94 to attend school, work at the hospital, visit their family members, use public transit, gather in public parks, or shop at the small businesses: input from community members shaped the resulting designs for each crossing. After determining community priorities and collaboratively designing improvements, the Reconnecting Neighborhoods process identified a path forward for implementation of desired improvements with participants from the city, county, and state.
If you could do it all over again...
Developing processes that are inclusive of marginalized community members is crucial not only to Reconnecting Neighborhoods as an individual project, but to challenging inequalities across the urban planning landscape. Because of existing disparities in the urban planning sector, the Reconnecting Neighborhoods process relied on part-time consultants to provide language and cultural competency to reach more people. This resulted in a loss of continuity as consultants left to pursue other opportunities, and new Community Outreach Specialists were identified to fill their place. In hindsight, it would have been better if we had resources to fund a more stable organizing position for somebody with the cultural competencies, language skills, and relationships required to incorporate the East African community in the process. In an even more ideal world, Redesign would have been able to find a staff person with the planning background needed for the project AND the cultural background and language skill. All the more reason to continue to work to increase awareness of the field in underrepresented groups.