By Adam Belz
Star Tribune MAY 21, 2018 — 8:36AM
City’s argument for affordability rebuffed by many homeowners.
A dozen people sat at a table in a rec center in south Minneapolis, debating the city’s comprehensive plan as a giant fan roared nearby.
A city staffer explained the rising burden of rental prices on poor residents, and gently pushed a central theme of the draft plan — that the city must build more homes in more places — to a group peppered with skeptics.
“If you just let the market promote density, that doesn’t necessarily trickle down to affordable housing,” said Lara Norkus-Crampton, a south Minneapolis resident. “If it was just density that provided affordable housing, then Hong Kong and New York City would be the most affordable places on the planet, and they’re not.”