Toward Culturally Enriched Communities

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The Musicant Group is honored to announce that we are featured on page 10 of this impressive "Culturally Enriched Communities" report by University of Minnesota College of Design and the Urban Land Institute Minnesota (ULI MN)!  Thanks for showcasing our work and dedication to creating places where people want to be.

This report on moving toward culturally enriched communities is about how:

"The state of Minnesota consistently ranks among the top 10 states in the country in terms of quality of life, based on wellbeing indicators such as employment rates, education, income, safety, health, environment, civic engagement, accessibility to services, and housing (Hess & Frohlich, 2014). In parallel, the Greater Minneapolis and St Paul (MSP) region is noted among the country’s most innovative cities, for transportation infrastructure and economic development, programs to help immigrants start businesses and artists buy real estate as well as public health efforts (Eugenios, Hargreaves, & Rawlins, 2014). The MSP region has also been named by the researchers at Parenting Magazine as one of the top five places in the country to raise a family (Schmidt, n.d.). And, with over 180 parks within its boundaries, Minneapolis holds the title of the Nation’s best park system (The Trust for Public Land, 2015) and is ranked as one of the top biking cities in the country, with 92 miles of on-street bikeways and 85 miles of off-street bikeways (City of Minneapolis, 2015). The arts scene follows suit--the MSP region is second only to New York City in live theater per capita and is the third-largest theater market in the United States.

Positioning the state for a vibrant and prosperous future is tied to demographic projections that by 2040, close to 40% of Minnesota’s population will be people of color, many of them international immigrants (Metropolitan Council, 2012). In 2013, only about 18.1% of Minnesota residents were people of color versus 37.4% at the national level (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014).

Although Minnesota enjoys high ranks in many quality of life indicators, it also experiences disparities in health, education, and income between whites and people of color. Given that a diverse population is key to economic and cultural vitality, designers, planners, policy makers, housing developers, neighborhood organizers, and others who are striving to unravel how to integrate the state’s social, economic, cultural, environmental, and technological resources face multiple questions:

• How can Minnesota attract and retain a diverse population?
  
• How can communities support diverse needs and nurture in residents a feeling of value and commitment?
  
• In what ways can stereotypes and barriers for the creation of healthy and thriving communities break-down?
  
• How can design support culturally diverse businesses and development of homes and neighborhoods that support diverse ways of living?
  
• What kind of design interventions can create forums for public engagement that tap a community’s diversity and support health and well-being? And,
  
• How can the area’s multiculturalism be translated into income-generating opportunities?
  

Culturally Enriched Communities are an inherent part of planning processes that strengthen an area’s ability to plan for the growth in diversity in ways that can position the region to rank among the best in world while improving upon the indicators of uneven disparities.  Culturally Enriched Communities include environments that support diverse ways of living. Recognizing the potential that lies within each individual and group and how places, both public and private, can impact one’s ability to be the best that they can be, Culturally Enriched Communities allow for the creation of municipalities that can contribute to the prosperity and well-being of all people. The creation of Culturally Enriched Communities relies on planners, policy leaders, housing developers, and others who feel an obligation to understand those they are working with and are interested in the lives of others.

These decision makers recognize that people construct meaning in life through different ways, that is, how they cook, what they eat, what they wear, how they socialize, how they speak, how they pray, and how they play is diverse. Diverse ways of living are outcomes of numerous factors including distinct ethnic, racial, and national backgrounds, histories, religions, incomes, ages, gender, abilities, and circumstances. As a result, the design of public and private spaces must be adaptable and flexible, able to be easily adjusted to the multiplicity of lifestyles and needs that our region’s future will hold."

To read the full report, go here.