Department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Records

Collection

Identifier: M/A 0298

Staff Only

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Description of Contents

This collection contains organizational documents, newspaper clippings, correspondence, reports, print photographs, negatives, and other materials the Minneapolis Department of City Planning and Economic Development (CPED) and its predecessor departments. Most materials are organized in the order in which they were received and include documents from Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority (MHRA), Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA), and CPED. Materials are roughly arranged in series by topic or creating department.

Dates

Creation: 1950s - 1990s

Access

The physical collection is available for use in Special Collections at Minneapolis Central Library during the department's open hours. Photographs from this collection are available in the City of Minneapolis Collection in the Hennepin County Library Digital Collections.

History

The Minneapolis Department of Community Planning and Economic Development’s (CPED) mission is to grow a vibrant, safely built, livable city for everyone. CPED creates and funds projects related to housing, employment, commercial, industrial, and neighborhood development. CPED is organized into four divisions: long range planning, housing development and policy, economic development and policy, and development services.

The first iteration of what evolved into CPED was the Minneapolis Housing and Redevelopment Authority (MHRA), founded in 1947. MHRA sought to eliminate urban blight through public housing and commercial and industrial development projects. In 1981 MHRA merged with Minneapolis Industrial Development Commission and the City Coordinator’s Development Office to create Minneapolis Community Development Agency (MCDA). In 1991, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) separated from the MCDA, creating two independent agencies. In 2003, CPED was formed and integrated into city structure. CPED centralized the City’s planning and development departments, combining four entities under one organization: MCDA, the Planning Department, the Empowerment Zone (EZ), and Minneapolis Employment and Training Program (METP). These efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the department are reflected in several internal and external studies, including the 1982 Task Force on Streamlining the Development Process, 1992-1993 MCDA Blue Ribbon Task Force, 1995-1996 MCDA ordinance revision, and the 1999 Focus MCDA report.

One significant project of CPED’s predecessors was the Gateway District redevelopment of the late 1950s and 1960s. Under guidance of the MHRA, Minneapolis’ skid row along Washington Avenue was demolished and replaced by new construction of housing and offices. Mississippi riverfront revitalization has been another major project for the department since the 1970s. See the Project series in the collection for additional issues addressed by CPED.