Community Based Government - Minnesota Style

As we begin implementing Community Based Government, I thought it would be instructive to provide links to the many cities that have been doing this for decades. While diminishing government revenues are a somewhat new concept in California, many rust belt cities experienced this phenomenon several decades ago when many of their manufacturing concerns headed south and overseas.

While the majority of the neighborhood revitalization programs are along the eastern seaboard, there are a smattering of great programs that were implemented in the upper midwest.

Minneapolis initiated their Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) back in the late 1980s. '

The program now has an extensive web presence at http://www.nrp.org/

The site does a great job of providing the history of the program and describes the many programs currently in place. The website is also includes many resource pages that can be used by their local neighborhood groups. Here is their overview the program:

NRP Primer

THE NRP CONCEPT
The Minneapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) makes the city's residential areas better places to live, work, learn and play. NRP is an investment program based on truly empowering residents by bringing them into the priority-setting process of the city. It is based on the belief that the empowerment of residents and the mobilization of untapped resources, energy and creativity can make our collective desire for a better future a reality.

Neighborhood based priority setting, planning, and implementation are NRP's core. Residents and other neighborhood stakeholders create Neighborhood Action Plans (NAPs) that describe the neighborhood they want in the future and the goals, objectives and specific strategies that will help accomplish their vision. NRP completes the empowerment process by providing funding to each neighborhood to help implement their approved NAP.

Neighborhoods implement their NRP plans by working with government and others. Through NRP, residents have learned to work with City, County, Parks, Library and School staff, and to use these experts' knowledge and resources to help improve their neighborhood. Developing new partnerships and renewing old ones helps produce creative solutions. The partnerships created are as varied as the people and interests involved in neighborhoods.

All 84 Minneapolis neighborhoods are involved in NRP. Thousands of Minneapolis residents have used the NRP planning process to identify and help meet their neighborhood's housing, safety, economic development, recreation, health, social service, environment and transportation needs. They build a foundation for their future by organizing residents, gathering information, prioritizing needs, brainstorming solutions and implementing the NAP they develop. From increasing the amount of affordable housing to improving the environment, building community centers to creating new jobs and providing services to seniors, Minneapolis residents are the creators and catalysts of change - change aimed at reestablishing a sense of common purpose in their community.