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Minneapolis (E4E Place Playbook)

Community | place | Updated 2026-02-26

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community, playbook, place

title: Minneapolis place playbook (E4E) place: Minneapolis, MN (USA) last_updated: 2026-02-26 status: draft lane: Neighbor

This is the place-level wrapper around the Minneapolis belief tests. It exists to turn “interesting analysis” into a repeatable monthly practice.

  • Belief tests source doc: belief-tests-minneapolis.md (in this repo)
  • City agendas / minutes: (add link)
  • Budget calendar: (add link)

Decision map (who can move what)

Bodies

  • City Council
  • Mayor / City departments (planning, inspections, public works)
  • Planning Commission / Zoning (if applicable)
  • Hennepin County (overlapping levers)

Staff offices that matter

  • Planning / Community Planning & Economic Development (CPED)
  • Inspections / permitting
  • Procurement / contracts (quiet power)

This quarter’s squeeze target (pick one)

  • Housing supply + permitting throughput
  • Childcare capacity + licensing throughput
  • Transport reliability / safety (“time tax”)
  • Energy bills / weatherization throughput

Current pick: Housing supply + permitting throughput (default)

Current bottleneck hypothesis (1–2 sentences)

Minneapolis affordability is constrained less by “one big policy” and more by slow/uncertain permitting, capacity limits, and process friction that reduce starts/completions — especially when interest rates and construction costs are already tight.

Current One Ask (measurable)

Ask (draft): Publish monthly permitting timelines by project type (application → first review → approval → inspections) starting [date], and reduce median time-to-first-review by 25% within 6 months.

  • Decider(s): [committee/chair + staff owner]
  • Next decision date: [meeting/hearing]
  • Metric: median days to first review + approval, by project type

Scoreboard (3–5 metrics)

Pick numbers that match the bottleneck.

  • Median days: application → first review
  • Median days: application → approval
  • Inspection backlog (days / count)
  • Units entitled / permitted / started / completed (quarterly)
  • Appeals filed + average delay caused (optional)

Belief tests (3–5 max, falsifiable)

Keep the full detail in belief-tests-minneapolis.md. Here are the candidate tests to choose from:

  • Test A: Permission + predictability → more homes → less rent pressure
  • Test B: Process reform matters more than zoning headlines
  • Test C: Supply + inclusionary rules → more affordable units without freezing production
  • Test D: Evictions are a “pressure gauge” for the monthly squeeze
  • Test E: Childcare capacity: more slots → lower prices + higher parent work capacity

Active tests this quarter: [A, B, D] (suggested starter set)

Monthly operating rhythm (how this runs)

  1. Identify the decision point (meeting/vote/budget moment)
  2. Draft/update the one-pager (one ask + metric)
  3. Show up once (or submit comment/email)
  4. Follow up once (get owner + date)
  5. Update scoreboard; log learnings

Notes / receipts backlog

When you want to make a factual claim but don’t have the source ready, add a receipts stub instead of guessing.

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