Kate Wolford
President
The McKnight Foundation
Living Cities Board of Directors

In partnership with The McKnight Foundation since 2002, Living Cities provides a strong tailwind for efforts in the Twin Cities metropolitan region to accelerate and deepen integrative work around transit, affordable housing, economic development, community asset-building, and workforce opportunities.

In 2008, Living Cities joined with local and national foundations in the Twin Cities to create and inspire the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative (CCFC). With Living Cities as a key partner, the CCFC has lifted collaborative philanthropy to a higher, more impactful level in our communities. It demonstrates how multiple bottom lines—economic, social, and environmental—can be achieved through integrative, community based planning and advocacy for the new $1 billion light rail line connecting our two major cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

In addition to its participation in the CCFC, the Living Cities Integration Initiative is taking advantage of substantial public investments in three regional Twin Cities transit lines to create a model of how high-quality transit development can expand opportunities for low-income people. The Integration Initiative is providing tangible benefits to residents, businesses, and neighborhoods along key transit corridors. It also incents and challenges us to unlock public and private capital for the benefit of low-income people and in disinvested neighborhoods.

Living Cities recognizes that a region’s growth is healthier when transit, housing, parks, and open spaces are integrated to promote sustainable communities and shape sound development patterns while protecting the environment. We share their vision to “hardwire” a collaborative platform that will carry the Twin Cities beyond one transit line, leading to the successful build-out of a robust regional transit system.

With each new line and thriving corridor, we gain new knowledge about how to better engage our community in the planning phase and how to strengthen the benefits of investments beyond the rail. In partnership with Living Cities, we are establishing new ways to work together across multiple governmental jurisdictions, private sector, nonprofits, and community-based organizations. This collaborative platform has already borne additional fruit, including a HUD Sustainable Communities planning grant that will be used to develop a long-term regional plan for sustainable development.

Living Cities increasingly leverages the different strengths of its members to achieve its mission. McKnight and other place-based members are valued for our deep local knowledge, relationships, and feet on the ground. In turn, we benefit from the research, broad reach, federal policy expertise, and experience with various financing instruments that our national foundation and financial institution partners bring to our collective work.

To improve lives and develop new strategies, we need the best thinking and aligned resources on all fronts. Living Cities creates opportunities for McKnight and our partners to make the most of the resources we all bring to the table. In Minnesota, this has helped us forge new pathways to connect highly effective partnerships, policies, and programs around a shared goal of equitable development along our transit corridors.