Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal?
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Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal? THE CREATION & AMPLIFICATION OF INEQUITY IN MINNEAPOLIS URBAN OPEN SPACES BY CORY LEEMON – 3/18/19 Acknowledgements I would like to thank those who made this project possible. I would like to thank my academic advisor and primary review committee member James LaGro, as well as my secondary committee member Samuel Dennis. I am also appreciative of the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture for the opportunity to present this project to an interdisciplinary audience of planners and landscape architects. This report satisfies part of the Professional Project requirement for the Master’s of Science in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal? Page 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. Page 4 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... Page 5 Understanding the Problem .............................................................................. Page 6 Topics of Discussion ........................................................................................... Page 6 Research Methodology ...................................................................................................... Page 7 Empirical Data on Park Benefits ........................................................................ Page 7 Rationalizing ‘Unequal Access’ .......................................................................... Page 7 Conflict Resolution ............................................................................................ Page 7 Benefits of Parks & Open Spaces .................................................................................... Page 8 Physical .............................................................................................................. Page 8 Psychological ..................................................................................................... Page 9 Creating Inequity in Minneapolis Parks ........................................................................ Page 10 Design-Side ........................................................................................................ Page 10 Funding .............................................................................................................. Page 13 Representation .................................................................................................. Page 14 City Remediation Efforts .................................................................................................... Page 16 Equity in Representation ................................................................................... Page 16 Reallocated Funding .......................................................................................... Page 16 Cultural Events ................................................................................................... Page 17 Closing Statements .............................................................................................................. Page 18 Citations .................................................................................................................................. Page 19 Articles, Webpages, and Studies ....................................................................... Page 19 Photos ................................................................................................................ Page 21 Appendices ............................................................................................................................ Page 22 Appendix A.1 – MPRB Commissioner Districts Map .......................................... Page 22 Appendix A.2 – MPRB Commissioner District 3 Map ........................................ Page 23 Appendix B – Minneapolis ParkScore Rating ..................................................... Page 24 Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal? Page 3 Executive Summary This report will examine equal access opportunities for minority groups in parks of the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Due to the contentious nature of Minneapolis’s park system over the past years, it became an intriguing topic that would benefit from further study. The thesis for this research prompt will follow how the built environment may encourage unequal opportunities for minority groups in the Minneapolis park system. Additionally the research will detail how and why certain minority groups may be more impacted than others. Simply put, this report is focused on how the built environment of parks may cause unequal access for minority groups in Minneapolis. The goal of the report will firstly be to outline how parks may be beneficial, thereby firmly establishing why all people should have access to parks. Secondly, the report will examine the ways in which Minneapolis as a city may be creating inequity either through the built environment, administration, or community connectivity. Final outcomes will then be assessed via how Minneapolis has responded to these shortcomings. Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal? Page 4 Introduction The Twin-Cities metropolitan area is informally regarded as a vibrant cultural center. It acts as a Midwestern urban hub that brings together a wide range of people from a multitude of different backgrounds. The parks of Minneapolis in particular garner special attention because of their quality and quantity, and they have been regularly placed as the number one park system on the Trust for Public Land’s 10 highest-ranking park systems in the United States.1 Ranked City ParkScore (Max: 100) 1. Minneapolis, MN 84.2 2. Saint Paul, MN 82.4 3. Washington, DC 81.9 4. Arlington, VA 81.6 5. San Francisco, CA 79.6 6. Portland, OR 78.3 7. Cincinnati, OH 78.2 8. Chicago, IL 76.1 9. New York, NY 74.8 10. Irvine, CA 73.4 Figure 1: The top-rated parks in the United States according to the Trust for Public Land.2 The ParkScore rating system considers several factors in determining a park’s score, including: • Total acreage of the park system. • Amenities. • Access to parks, sorted both demographically and overall. These factors are considered, and then weighted against one another to determine an average final score. For Minneapolis to rank the highest of all park systems in the United States is no small accomplishment, and demonstrates a high degree of quality in the park system as a whole. In spite of such praise, the parks of Minneapolis have some problems that lie just beneath the surface. The parks system enjoyed for its quality has come under scrutiny in recent years for remaining exclusive to certain groups of people, wherein many minority groups feel marginalized by actions taken by the city and the park board. 1 “Minneapolis Repeats as Nation’s Best Park System.” Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. 2 “City Rankings 2018.” ParkScore, The Trust for Public Land, 2018. Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal? Page 5 Understanding the Problem Before a detailed analysis of the Minneapolis park system may occur, it becomes necessary to understand how and why Minneapolis parks may be perceived as inequitable. Is the problem with the Minneapolis park system systematic? Do the parks rely upon a system of regional planning that encourages unequal opportunity of access for minority groups, or a set of design standards that limit some from gaining access to parks at all? Was the City directly attempting to create inequity? Or perhaps the issue is more nuanced, a cause that may be more complex in its origin. Was it caused through an honest mistake, or some form of administrative oversight? An outsider perspective indicates an unclear understanding of what the exact issue with Minneapolis’s parks may be; this study aims to bring clarity to the issue. Topics of Discussion With this understanding in mind, it becomes necessary to analyze a targeted set of questions to understand the full extent of the problem Minneapolis and its parks face. The questions are directed towards developing a critical understanding of the issue: • If unequal park access is indeed a major concern, why are parks so important for physical health and social cohesion? • How can an unequal allocation of policies and resources manifest itself in a racially exclusive park system, and how may this affect the physical environment of a park and its surrounding areas? • How is Minneapolis acting to resolve this conflict? All of these questions will be answered in order to better understand the issue at the heart of Minneapolis’s parks. Minneapolis Parks: Separate but Unequal? Page 6 Research Methodology To ensure validity and professionalism during this analysis, a slew of research materials will be used to assist in their solutions. Empirical Data on Park Benefits Assessment of park benefits shall occur through the use of professional research papers and field work, where the data itself is gathered from several different teams attempting to analyze the benefits of parks and open spaces. The use of research papers will act as an empirical aid to the importance of parks. Many are published in well-established scholarly journals such as Landscape and Urban Planning and Social Science and Medicine. Rationalizing ‘Unequal Access’ Examination of the inequalities present in the park system can be taken from online newspaper articles, where the