In 2009, Envision Minnesota (formerly known as 1000 Friends of Minnesota) led the Building Sensible Communities Coalition, helping to pass a school siting bill that reduces sprawl and removes minimum acreage requirements for new schools. <p> Envision Minnesota continued work in 10 communities through Community Growth Options, with significant progress made with the help of three planning consulting firms. By the end of the year we had supported six comprehensive plans, three community visioning processes, two long-term greenway protection plans, a unique city/township partnership, and several historic preservation ordinances. In each community, the Community Growth Options project brought financial support and planning expertise to under-resourced, growing communities around the Twin Cities metro and beyond.<p> As part of the CGO project, we hosted several events featuring renowned conservation design expert, Randall Arendt. These include two evening talks open to the public and a bus tour of developments around the Twin Cities metro. Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) taped Arendt’s talks for the “Land Matters” series, bringing the content and concepts to a broader audience of interested citizens.<p> Our Legacy Letters film project resulted in 22 short films airing regularly on TPT's Minnesota Channel, highlighting what individual Minnesotans treasure about their state. The project earned an Upper Midwest Emmy Award in Sept. 2009. <p> With participation of the North Central Lakes Collaborative, we created a Conservation Design Scorecard. The Scorecard can be used by cities, suburbs and townships to ensure that developers balance their objectives with achievable conservation goals.

All of the current work at Envision Minnesota is aimed at accomplishing the following goals: <p> o Build Livable Communities<p> o Expand Transportation Choices<p> o Protect Open Space and Natural Resources<p> ADVOCACY: We seek to change existing policies, and institute new ones, that implement our mission. We do this through direct lobbying of elected officials at the state legislature, aligning our policy goals to leverage the efforts of peer organizations, providing educational materials and insightful and timely commentary to decision makers, and working with local citizens to demand accountability and foster local leaders.<p> EDUCATION: Envision Minnesota creates educational resources and opportunities to inform local, regional and statewide decision makers of sustainable land use strategies. The educational work of 1000 Friends encompasses in-person learning opportunities (such as workshops, seminars, and perhaps full-scale conferences in future years) as well as print, email and video communications to share our perspectives on accomplishing sustainable land use in Minnesota. <p> IMPLEMENTATION: Envision Minnesota works at the local government level to assist planners and local officials in incorporating regulatory language that will enable the development of healthy land use patterns. We help align a community’s goals with sustainable planning practices to ensure better outcomes when development occurs.

Land use regulatory bodies interested in sustainable development practices

State of Minnesota