Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis and Metro Transit are working with the community to make positive changes for those who live, work, play or worship along Penn Avenue North in Minneapolis. The main focus for the Penn Avenue Community Works project is the two blocks on either side of Penn
Avenue North from Interstate 394 to 49th Avenue North along with connections to key destinations along the corridor. This work includes:
● Re-envisioning Penn Avenue as a complete street, including options for: o Better bus service o Pedestrian improvements o Bike connections o Streetscaping (landscaping the street with trees, planters, green space, etc.)
● Promoting economic opportunity and stimulating private investment, through efforts like: o Improving the street and public places o Attracting housing and commercial development o Supporting existing businesses and attracting new ones
● Enhancing livability, by doing things like: o Improving public spaces o Making better connections to key destinations o Placemaking (activities in public places that activate the space and encourage community gathering and ownership)
What has happened so far, what we have to do next together, and when we have to do it
The project team began collaborating with stakeholders and other community members in spring 2013 to make the community aware of the project and to discover what the community would like to see for
Penn Avenue’s future.
In early 2014, a consultant team led by Hoisington Koegler Group (HKGi) was contracted to work with the Penn Avenue project team and the community to support the project’s community engagement and complete an inventory and assessment for the Penn Avenue corridor– a broad survey of existing Penn
Avenue assets, including:
● Physical environment: the roadway, sidewalks, intersections, transit, houses, and buildings
● Programs: job training, business supports, housing efforts
● Plans: city and neighborhood plans, transit, and bus plans
● Projects: new buildings, renovations, and other property redevelopment
● Detailed compilation of community needs, priorities, concerns, and ideas gathered in 2013 and early 2014

Once we know the current conditions, we will gather more detailed and specific input on the kinds of improvements the community desires. After exploring scenarios and design details through community reviews, we will collaboratively develop a corridor vision and a detailed, long-term implementation framework that will describe how and when these changes will be made, the lead agencies for the work, and the costs and timeline for realizing the long-term vision.
The inventory and assessment will be completed in 2014. The corridor vision and implementation framework will be complete in 2015. But the real work of taking action with our partners and the community on these plans for the corridor begins now and extends many years beyond 2015 and into the future.
How project decisions will be made
Hennepin County is leading this work, but the final decisions on investments will be made by the project partners: the county, City of Minneapolis, and Metro Transit. Two important committees will help inform these decisions: the Steering Committee and the Project Implementation Committee.
The Steering Committee includes leaders from local government agencies and anchor institutions who meet quarterly to guide the project and bring together resources. View the complete committee roster
(DOC). The committee will:
● Recommend on policy changes
● Review project implementation committee recommendations and identify funding strategies
● Align and leverage investments across jurisdictions and organizations
● Monitor project progress
The Project Implementation Committee (PIC) includes people who live and work in the project area, selected for their connection to and reputation within their community, along with project partner staff.
The PIC shapes opinions and issues so the steering committee understands the priorities of the community. View the complete committee roster (PDF) . This committee will meet monthly to:
● Establish priorities
● Evaluate options and scenarios
● Create working groups as needed
● Promote awareness and communication among the community and stakeholders
● Make funding and policy recommendations to the steering committee
In March 2014 the Steering Committee adopted the “ conditions for success ” – the things we must do to achieve the community's vision for Penn Avenue. These conditions were drawn from early community input as well as discussions with advisors and project partners. They provide important guidance for the work going forward. The main themes follow. A detailed copy appears at the end of this document.
Foster partnerships and focus on the people
● Establish interagency partnerships and commitment
● Foster community partnerships
● Build a coalition of community and policymaker support
Penn Avenue Community Engagement Plan Page 2

● Keep the focus on the people in Penn corridor communities
Model excellence and deliver results
● Develop a framework for equity
● Don’t sell the Northside short
● Take the long-view, but deliver early results
● Model clear communication and apply best practices
Community Engagement Philosophy
● Build long-term community trust over the duration of the project with Hennepin County Public
Works and the project team by being accountable to the community and honest about how and when community input can influence the process and project and why and when it cannot.
● Follow Hennepin County’s plain language guidelines, so that the community can find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information to meet their needs
● Direct community engagement to project areas where people can have significant and meaningful impact and ensure they have the information they need to do so; no community engagement for community engagement’s sake
● Use innovative techniques that meet people who will be impacted by the project where they’re at, including people of color, low income communities, non-English speakers, persons with disabilities, and others who have been historically underrepresented
● Collaborate with our project partners (City of Minneapolis and Metro Transit) as well as other county initiatives in the project area (Bottineau LRT planning) so that our community engagement efforts are coordinated, community input is shared, and it is less of a burden for people to stay informed and influence these projects
Commitment to respectful, collaborative engagement
The project and consultant teams, as well as the project partners, are committed to demonstrating our respect for community and working collaboratively to engage people so they influence project decisions.
For this project, we define a stakeholder as an individual or group that can make a claim on this project’s attention, resources, or output, or is affected by the decisions and future uses of the corridor . To
collaborate on this project means to partner with stakeholders in each aspect of the decision including jointly developing scenarios and strategies, and identifying preferred implementation plans .
The consulting team includes persons with extensive experience with the Northside community and is working closely with project staff and community partners to bring important historical and technical knowledge, and design expertise to the project.
The project is using a consensus-based approach , meaning community-based conclusions and decisions that respect core local values, are both aspirational and realistic, and gain all the support possible to successfully move toward short- and long-term implementation . It is important to remember that consensus does not mean agreement by the entire group, but that individuals are willing to go along with the group's predominant view and live with and support the decision.
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This plan will be updated as necessary to respond to changing community and project needs.
Purpose
***Completed in early 2014***
Build community awareness of this long-term project, develop trusting and collaborative relationships, and explore community needs, strengths, and desires.
Objectives
Timing/activities
Understand community needs, concerns, and interests for the corridor.
● April 2013-Feb 2014: Project team gathered ideas from a broad range of community members. Techniques include individual and small group meetings, informal street conversations.
● March 2014: Consultant team compiles and analyzes to understand critical priorities and identify missing information
Outputs Community guidance on critical needs and process
● Input summaries: Assets/Issues/Opportunities, Current State/Future State
● Shaped key elements of consultant selection
● Conclusions: Conditions for Success
***Spring/Summer 2014***
Purpose
Objectives
Provide specific community input on corridor scenarios and strategies.
Community shapes the corridor scenarios and strategies.
This builds on the ideas gathered in 2013, factors in all existing data, plans, and analyses, brings in new stakeholders, and closes the gaps between what’s known and not known about community perspectives:
● To reach people/groups we haven’t reached yet
● To learn what we need to know and haven’t heard yet, including more detail on preferences and priorities for economic development, housing, streetscaping, open space, transit, placemaking, parking, safety, etc.
● To hear more about/refine some ideas and input we’ve heard about existing conditions, what’s working well and what’s not,
Timing/activitie s
● April-June 2014: Project/consulting teams and PIC/community engagement partners gather specific input and ideas to shape corridor scenarios through individual interviews, small group sessions, doorknocking, short surveys and online tools.
● July-mid-August 2014: Project/consulting teams develop corridor scenarios
Outputs Corridor scenarios and strategies that reflect the community interests/concerns
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Purpose
Objective
***Summer-Fall 2014***
Provide specific community feedback on corridor scenarios and strategies.
To help refine scenarios and strategies:
● Gather stakeholder feedback on how the scenarios and strategies match their priorities and preferences
● Hear ideas on how to improve the scenarios and strategies to better support the community’s future
Timing/activities
● Mid-August-mid-September 2014: Project/consulting teams and
PIC/community engagement partners gather feedback on corridor scenarios. Techniques include community workshops and conversations,
“scenarios in a box,” online tools, kiosks.
● Early October 2014: Steering Committee selects scenario and strategy set to pursue
● October-November 2014: Project and consulting teams fill in details of selected scenario
Outputs One corridor scenario and set of supporting strategies for detailed development that reflect the community interests/concerns
Purpose
***Winter 2014/2015***
Collaboratively determine design details and implementation framework in order to ensure community ownership and support.
Objectives Community shapes the detailed design and implementation framework:
● Provide information to stakeholders about the selected scenario
● Gather stakeholder feedback on detailed design elements and implementation ideas
Timing/activities
● December 2014-January 2015: Project/consulting teams and
PIC/community engagement partners inform stakeholders about details of selected alternative, gather feedback on design elements, and gather initial implementation ideas. Techniques include larger-scale community sessions, online tools, workshops.
Outputs
● Detailed corridor scenario and set of strategies that has community ownership and support
● Community input on a range of implementation strategies
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Purpose
***Spring 2015***
Collaboratively determine finalized design details and implementation framework in order to ensure community ownership and support.
Objectives Present information on the overall process, final design, and the
Implementation Framework, and gather community comments on the
Implementation Framework.
Timing/activities
● February 2015: Project/consulting teams finalize design based on stakeholder and partner input
● February 2015: Project/consulting teams develop detailed implementation strategies based on stakeholder input, including economic development, housing, regulatory requirements, funding, partner roles, coordination, etc.
● March-April 2015: Joint team, PIC, and community engagement partners organize gather community comments on implementation framework.
Techniques include small group sessions, online and written comments.
Outputs Implementation framework with community comments; the framework describes how and when implementation will happen, the lead agencies for the work, and the costs and timeline for realizing the long-term vision.
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