Skip to Main Content

Urban Renewal in Minnesota (1960s-1970s): Urban Renewal in Minneapolis

Minneapolis as Model City

Housing development in North Minneapolis, 1960

Under the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966, Minneapolis was chosen in November 1967 as one of sixty-three cities nationwide to participate in the federally sponsored Demonstration Cities (Model Cities) Program. The program's goal was to implement a total attack approach on the social, economic, and physical problems of a specific area of the city. With funding from the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD), The Minneapolis Model City Program concentrated its efforts in a mixed racial area south of the central business district (the "Whittier Neighborhood") that suffered from high unemployment, crime, poverty, and housing and educational deficiencies. The program worked with the community to improve the areas of manpower and job development, economic and business development, transportation, communication, housing, environmental protection, recreation and culture, health, education, social services, and crime and delinquency. Funding for the program was abolished in 1975.

Related Records:

Model City Program Records, 1967-1998
The records document the policies, decisions, and day-to-day activities of the program and its relationship with numerous government units and private social service organizations active in the program area. They include correspondence, minutes and motions of the executive board and policy and planning bodies, subcommittee and core group files, reports, memos, election materials, newsletter, policy statements, monthly and staff work reports, and subject files.
MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid

The Minneapolis Model City Program
Minneapolis, MN: Model City Public Information Office, 1971.
MNHS Call Number: F613.M68 M64 1971

Historical Building Survey for the Minneapolis Model City
Minneapolis, MN: Model City Housing Bureau, 1971
MNHS Call Number: F613.M68 M64 1971

Model City Communications Center
Minneapolis, MN: The Center, 1972
MNHS Call Number: F613.M68 M646 1972

Jon Shafer Papers, 1968-1990
Correspondence, memoranda, minutes, conference papers, monographs, theses, newspaper clippings, and printed materials documenting a telecommunications expert's work with many governmental and private organizations in developing cable television service and other telecommunications programs.  The collection contains correspondence, memoranda, minutes, conference papers, monographs, theses, newspaper clippings, and printed materials documenting Shafer's consultation with several clients including the Minneapolis Model City.  This collection also contains a file on Minneapolis' Model City cable program (1971-1973).
MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid

Assessment of the impact of Mpls model city program: a report of the Center for Governmental Studies, Center for Governmental Studies
Washington: The Center, 1975.
MNHS call number: F613.M68 M644

Model City Architecture, by Charles Nelson, 1945.
In Minnesota History, vol. 32, no. 1 (1972)
MNHS call number: F612.H52 H4 v.32:1

Redevelopment of Cedar Riverside

Related Records:

West Bank Community Development Corporation, 1972-2002
Bylaws, minutes, correspondence, project reports, newsletters and other records of the West Bank Community Development Corporation, an organization formed in 1975 to promote neighborhood control through resident-based redevelopment of the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, and that worked with the Cedar Riverside Project Area Committee (PAC), the New Riverside Cafe, and other organizations in the area.
MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid

Cedar-Riverside Project Area Committee Records, 1975-1997
Bylaws, correspondence, minutes, reports, projects, financial statements and other records of the Cedar-Riverside Project Area Committee (PAC), which was created out of community need in 1971 and became the official citizen review organization authorized to approve all development activities taking place within the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis and send them to the Minneapolis City Council. In 1998 the Cedar-Riverside PAC changed its name to the West Bank Community Coalition.
MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid

Brian J. Coyle Papers, 1965-1991
Personal, political, and official papers documenting the life and career of a gay activist and Minneapolis (Minn.) city council member.  Portions of his papers relate to the Cedar-Riverside area.
MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid

New Riverside Cafe Records, 1972-1997 (bulk 1984-1997)
Records documenting the history and operation of the first full service vegetarian restaurant in Minneapolis (Minn.) and the earliest collective enterprise of the cooperative movement that occurred in the Twin Cities region during the early 1970s.  The majority of the records relate to the cafe's operation during the 1980s and 1990s and the bulk of that material documents the organizational structure and interpersonal dynamics of the collective. These records, particularly the collective meeting minutes and log books, reflect the collective's ongoing struggle to balance the need for individual freedom against each member's responsibilities towards the collective as a whole. The collective's efforts at financial and long range planning are also documented, as well as its work with personnel policies and training.
MNHS Call Number: Digital Finding Aid​

Interest Group Participation in the Life and Death of the Cedar-Riverside Area, by Allan Tortenson
MNHS Call Number: F613.M68 U676

Recycling the Central City, by Judith Martin.
Minneapolis, MN: Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, University of Minnesota, 1978
MNHS Call Number: HT177.M52 M33

The Cedar-Riverside Area, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN : Cedar-Riverside Associates, Inc., 1970
MNHS Call Number: F613.M68 U63 1970
 
A Plan for the Redevelopment of the Riverside Area, prepared by the City Planning Commission, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN: The Commission, 1950
MNHS Call Number: HT177.M5 M52 1950b

Search MNHS Resources

MNHS Reference Staff

reading room bookshelves

 

Gale Family Library
Minnesota Historical Society Library

Located on the Second Floor of the Minnesota History Center
345 West Kellogg Blvd.
St. Paul, MN 55102

Library Hours:
Thursday to Saturday: 10am to 4pm
Sunday to Wednesday: Closed

 

More Information on Visiting the Library

 

Contact Us:

651-259-3300

Email Us

Visit our Main Website

Gale Family Library • Minnesota Historical Society • 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102-1906 • 651-259-3300
Hours and More InformationEmail us