Hello <<First Name>>,
Last week leaders of district and neighborhood-scale projects from around the world gathered in Minneapolis - Saint Paul for the annual EcoDistricts Summit. Over the course of three days we learned from each other and shared best practices around equitable and restorative urban regeneration. Towerside participated in a University of Minnesota Research Forum, hosted a tour of the Innovation District, visited neighborhood-scale project sites throughout the Twin Cities, and participated in panels and presentations.
At the Summit Towerside Innovation District was pleased to announce it is the first project in the Twin Cities to formally adopt EcoDistricts and begin their Certification process. This is an important next step for Towerside and our partners. Not only does the Certification's Protocol compliment our current community-born vision, it provides a powerful management tool that will move us from vision to reality. This is the framework we will be using to more meaningfully engage you and our other partners in connecting equity and energy, health and housing, climate and culture, and more.
EcoDistricts Certified is the result of seven years of research, pilot projects, and the best thinking from technical advisors and the practice of collective impact. It provides a flexible, holistic, and rigorous “how to” framework for organizing and achieving important public policy, sustainability, and investment goals. It will bring new resources and national expertise to Towerside while also creating a conduit from the work we do here together to communities and districts around the country.
In the coming months we will use this tool to empower our first Executive Director, Board Members, and partners as we detail commitments to equity, resilience, and climate protection; refine our collaborative governance model; collectively create an implementation roadmap to guide projects and programs; and begin tracking and measuring our impact over time.
Thank you,
Alan Arthur, Chairperson
Towerside Board of Directors
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The expanded site is now home to a wealth of information including:
- Vision & History
- District System Projects & Programs
- Progress Updates & Timeline
- Area Developments & Investments
- Community Assets & Businesses
- Partners, Board of Directors & Staff
- Thought Leadership & News
- Meeting & Event Calendar
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Towerside Innovation District's Board Meetings and Working Meetings are listed on a public calendar available here and on our website at:
www.towersidemsp.org/connect
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Sunrise Banks is hosting a breakfast event at 7:30am on Tuesday October 30th for community leaders to learn about long range planning and development initiatives in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Heather Worthington and Martin Schieckel will be sharing their latest work.
RSVP by October 26th.
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Through the EcoDistricts Certified network, Towerside Board Members have visited district-scale project teams in Toronto and Portland in order to better understand the potential of districts and the way in which their visions and projects are playing out in communities.
We are excited to share our ongoing learning from these districts and many others like them with our partners and stakeholders in the Twin Cities.
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Toronto's East Harbour will be a development catalyst for critical infrastructure projects in and around the area, and will transform a previously inaccessible site into a world-class centre for art, commerce, and healthy living.
Project leaders are taking a 20-30 year process to achieve their vision of a vibrant, transit-oriented, and dynamic employment district that will accommodate new office uses, a high-quality public realm and open spaces, a pedestrian-oriented street network, and a large multi-modal transit hub.
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Portland's Lloyd District is a place where businesses, residents, government agencies and nonprofits all share a vision of building the most sustainable living and working district in North America.
The district contains an enormous amount of development potential and unique opportunities for infrastructure and placemaking. As the district redevelops, leaders are leveraging opportunities to integrate nature into a densely developed urban area and to become a model of sustainable urban development.
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Keep up with the latest by following Towerside on Facebook for the
latest Innovation District news, photos, and ideas.
- Investment grows to more than $8 Billion along LRT Lines (Met Council)
- Minneapolis Mayor Unveils Plan to Undo History of Segregation (Next City)
- Minnesota needs to work to jump-start the next generation of life-science companies (StarTribune)
- 7 Principles of Transformative Urban Innovation (Fast Company)
- Smart Cities Must Focus on People (Urban Land Institute)
- Economic inclusion may be the key to lasting growth and prosperity (Brookings)
- Amenities, Diversity are Key Ingredients of Innovation Communities (Urban Land Institute)
- We Need to Talk About the Far-Out Future of Cities (City Lab)
- In Search of the ‘Just City’ (City Lab)
- Assessing your Innovation District: A how-to guide (Brookings)
- How to Build a Smart City interview with Dan Doctoroff and Google Sidewalk Labs (Freakonomics)
- Toronto Just Agreed to Build a 750-acre Living Laboratory with Google Sidewalk Labs (City Lab)
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Towerside is a 370-acre Innovation District in the heart of Minneapolis and Saint Paul’s 3.5-million-person metro area. It extends from from the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis east to the Creative Enterprise Zone in Saint Paul. The district is served by three Green Line LRT Stations, is at the geographic center of the regional interstate highway system, and adjacent to the University’s athletic and bio-discovery facilities. Towerside is the only duly designated innovation district in the Twin Cities. It was formed in 2013 to leverage local assets in the Prospect Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods for community and economic development initiatives that address critical metropolitan challenges including economic opportunity, climate change, and infrastructure. The neighborhood-led revitalization of sizable brownfields and underdeveloped land with critical water, energy, and transportation infrastructure systems is envisioned as a living laboratory for identifying and implementing new approaches to urban redevelopment.
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