For more than a decade, community members and organizations along the Blue Line Extension Project have called for government leaders to ensure that the immigrant communities and communities of color along the corridor directly benefit from the multi-billion-dollar public investment.
Because of this advocacy, project leaders established and funded a first-of-its-kind Anti-Displacement Working Group specifically focused on listening to community concerns and putting forward tangible policy recommendations to prevent people from being pushed out of their homes, businesses and neighborhoods so they can thrive in the places they choose to live, work and create community.
On Thursday, more than a dozen organizations united to call on project leaders to officially adopt the recommendations of this working group at the Corridor Management Committee meeting as a first and crucial step toward an accountable and equitable process that can make the Blue Line Extension Project a national model for community-centered transit planning.
“This represents 18 months of hard work that Blue Line Coalition was a part of,” said Ricardo Perez, Coalition Organizer at The Alliance. “Today is an historic day where we will learn more about this plan to address displacement on the corridor.”
“Our people live, work and own businesses from Minneapolis all the way up to Brooklyn Park,” said Karla Arredondo, Executive Director at Pueblos de Lucha y Esperanza. “Our community has given so much vibrance to our cities but we’ve seen alarming data that shows a disproportionate lack of engagement with the Latinx community. We must continue to invest in connecting with our community so the development project does not displace us but helps us thrive. Our esperanza — our hope — is that cities adopt all recommendations brought forward in this report and secure the sustainable, ongoing funding needed to create an abundance for our families. We hope project leaders can see that this is our neighborhood and we are here to stay.”
“It is unacceptable to move forward without first conducting health and economic impact studies, thorough community engagement and implement policies and protections that make sure this project doesn’t continue a long history of transportation projects that have caused displacement, division and divestment in communities of color,” said Alex Burns, Advocacy and Policy Manager at Our Streets Minneapolis. “We stand alongside members of the BLC in calling on Hennepin County and project leaders to fully adopt the anti-displacement recommendations… and fully fund implementation before, during and after construction.”
“Many of individuals we serve endure poor-quality living conditions and anti-displacement can generate millions of dollars to secure affordable housing in our communities,” said Tambryanna Williams, Public Policy Manager at CAPI USA. “[These anti-displacement recommendations can] ensure that residents benefit from this expanded opportunity and prevent a repeat of I-94 in the Rondo community.”
“The community has been speaking for over 13 years,” said Nelima Sitati-Munene, Executive Director of African Career, Education and Resource Inc (ACER). “We are in support of the line but we know that a focus on infrastructure in itself does not address the needs of the community. We are advocating for a people-centered development strategy; one that is going to uplift the lives of our community members and prevent them from being displaced. Brooklyn Park has the most stations on the line, with five possible stations. It also has the most developable land along the line. What we’d like to see is investment to get our residents capital-ready to take advantage of the development so we are not left behind. The Blue Line Extension is also the most diverse line in terms of racial and economic diversity and it is also the most youthful line. This is the most significant investment we will see in our city in our lifetime so we want to make sure that it is done right. We want this line to serve as an example of what can happen in our region when we do development that is centered around the people who need it most.”
“We have to ask is it worth it?” said Amanda Xiong, a 21-year-old organizer from Brooklyn Park and member of the Anti-Displacement Working Group. “We aren’t opposed to the train but we are opposed to injustice and displacement. And in our history we have seen communities of color constantly rolled over and looked over — and we don’t want to let that happen again. So let’s change that!”
Read coverage of the press conference in Sahan Journal!
bluelinecoalition.org 