For more than a decade, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) has partnered with ReConnect Rondo, a community-led effort to repair and restore a once-thriving neighborhood of middle-class Black families in St. Paul, Minnesota. At its peak, Rondo was home to more than 80 percent of the city’s African American population. In the late 1950s and 1960s, however, Rondo was devastated by the construction of I-94. The highway destroyed 700 homes and 300 businesses—totaling $250 million dollars of unrealized home equity.
ULI has supported ReConnect Rondo in developing recommendations to advance a proposed highway cap that would create a land bridge over the interstate and help re-knit the economic, spiritual, social, and cultural fabric of the surrounding community.
ULI is a nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to transformative impact in communities worldwide. Since 2017, ULI has supported efforts by ReConnect Rondo, led by executive director Keith Baker and other partners, to help heal past harms and create a vibrant, connected future for the neighborhood. ULI’s support has come through ULI Minnesota, ULI Healthy Places program, the Curtis Infrastructure Program, and ULI Advisory Services program.
An important milestone was the 2018 ULI Advisory Services Panel. It convened stakeholders to address the impact of the freeway and to explore options to reclaim the neighborhood. The panel’s report recommended the creation of a land bridge, or highway lid, with parks and green spaces linking neighborhoods on either side of the freeway. Essential panel stakeholders included ULI, ReConnect Rondo, the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Health, the Metropolitan Council, and others.
“A physical connection would enhance livability,” the report said, “but also provide an opportunity for long overdue social justice for a neighborhood.” Investments in housing, civic infrastructure, inclusive economic development, and community engagement were also identified as essential.
“Without ULI’s guiding recommendations, I don’t think we would have had the clarity of vision to move forward,” said ReConnect Rondo executive director Keith Baker.
To set the stage for the Advisory Services Panel, ULI Minnesota brought together ULI members and the state DOT to create a vision for urban highways that would restore vitality to decimated neighborhoods. Funding for the panel was provided through the 10-Minute Walk campaign, a national effort to increase access to parks and green spaces via technical assistance activities at the local level, as well as convenings, research, and other activities. At ULI, the 10-Minute Walk campaign was led by the Healthy Places program and supported by The JPB Foundation.
Since the 2018 panel, ReConnect Rondo and its partners have worked to identify and implement a vision for the community that is inclusive and restorative, and where environmental, social, and economic benefits are realized in tandem. Recognized as more than an infrastructure project, the land bridge is expected to create 15-21 acres (6-8.5 ha) of new land over the freeway. It is an opportunity to build on the neighborhood’s deep history and culture, and to ensure that the needs of residents and surrounding communities are prioritized.
ULI continues to support efforts to create a brighter future for Rondo. Building on the Advisory Services Panel and the 10-Minute Walk campaign, ULI Minnesota led a series of workshops in 2021 to identify policies, financial models, and community benefit principles associated with the land bridge. A grant from ULI’s Healthy Places program funded this aspect of the project.
The 2022 ULI report, Rondo 4P Funding Model: A Pathway Leading to Restoring a Community Lost Through Federal Highway Investments, funded by the Curtis Infrastructure Initiative, summarizes this engagement. The report identifies a restorative P4 funding model—public, private, philanthropic, and people—and lays out funding strategies that ensure local ownership and investment remain in a continuous cycle of net-positive economic, social, and environmental benefits.
Realizing the potential of a land bridge to reconnect and restore the community of Rondo will require the commitment of multiple jurisdictions and levels of government. Stakeholders from across the public and private sectors must also be engaged.
As a direct result of the ULI partnership and the clear vision it established, Reconnect Rondo in 2022 secured $6.2 million in essential funding from the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program.
The Urban Land Institute is committed to working with ReConnect Rondo and other partners to address the harms done by past policies, and to help create stronger, more connected neighborhoods that will thrive in the future. Both organizations are keen to leverage their insights and lessons on “restorative impact” to aid other communities across the country.
The Urban Land Institute’s Advisory Services program offers solutions for real estate and land use challenges by harnessing the expertise of industry leaders. The program offers extensive, unbiased insights; interdisciplinary excellence; and actionable recommendations. For more information visit https://americas.uli.org/programs/advisory-services.
For more about the ULI Healthy Places program, which catalyzes resilient, sustainable, and healthy cities as part of the ULI Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate, please visit www.uli.org/health.
To get involved locally, connect with ULI Minnesota at https://minnesota.uli.org/
To learn more about ReConnect Rondo, please visit https://reconnectrondo.com.
