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Policy and Advocacy — 1000 Friends of Minnesota

Your support keeps 1000 Friends of Minnesota actively engaged in today's public policy debates and decisions.
Capitol

At 1000 Friends, we know that decisions about growth and development are not simply a matter of a “free market.” They are heavily influenced by – and subsidized through – myriad infrastructure investments, tax policies, and regulatory enforcement. For instance, investment in new sewer capacity leads to new residential development; mortgage interest deductions for second homes make those homes more attractive and affordable; and regulations about lakeshore development can either encourage or discourage a more thoughtful approach to shoreline development. The connection between all these disparate policies is that they all relate to decisions made at the state capitol. So land use is local, but the state writes the rules.

Policy focus areas for 1000 Friends of Minnesota:

• Expand transportation choices: Give Minnesotans affordable and convenient opportunities to walk, bike, take transit, and drive.
• Connect transportation and land use policy: Transportation investments and land use policies are treated as separate in the policy world, and yet in the real world, they are integrally connected.
• Demand performance from transportation investments: The state and local governments should spend transportation dollars where they can achieve measurable results on issues such as: increasing transit/bike/ped trips, reducing roadway injuries, reducing per capita VMT, etc.
• Expand housing opportunities: Communities should include housing for all income levels.

We are fortunate to have a policy director who has worked for our national organization, Smart Growth America. John Bailey gained valuable experience as the associate director for SGA. He was also the founding executive director of the Washington Smart Growth Alliance, a unique coalition of the real estate and environmental communities promoting collaborative issues around growth and development.

We know Minnesotans care about building efficiency into our public policies on land use, transportation, housing and energy. Help us inform the legislators who are shaping our state's future.

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Donors' Wall

  1. Roger Brooks
    Roger Brooks From Ronnie and Roger Brooks
This project was created by:
1000 Friends

A project of the US registered nonprofit
$2,465 raised
Goal: $5,000 by June 30, 2010

$35 covers the cost of creating a slide show for legislators on smart growth
$100 pays for two staff members to attend a local seminar on sensible land use
$250 pays for printed educational materials for lawmakers about Complete Streets legislation
$500 enables our staff to recruit support for transportation legislation from 10 suburban mayors
$1,000 sends our staff to Washington, D.C. to bring Minnesota's environmental agenda to Congress
$ Other

13 followers
  • Ross Williams
  • Russ Adams
  • Jill Mazullo
  • 1000 Friends
  • Scott Nelson
  • Steve Elkins
  • Michael and Christina Huck
  • Pamela Fickenscher
  • Roger Brooks
  • Thomas Rock
  • Richard Niemiec
  • Richard & Raymonde Noer
  • William Cunningham

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