Residents in Minneapolis ‘green zones’ want more benefits, power as city redraws boundaries 

Minneapolis formally established two areas known as green zones in 2017 after years of urging from environmental justice advocates to designate and provide benefits to areas surrounded by highways and heavy industry. 

City officials are using updated data on pollution to revise the green zones, and are seeking community input on how the boundaries should be redrawn. 

“The green zones have been and continue to be a very important staple in how we prioritize programs and resources in our community, and help bring benefits to those that need them most,” said Megan Hoye, Minneapolis’ director of climate equity action. 

Currently, the Northside Green Zone includes industrial areas near the Mississippi River in north and northeast Minneapolis, while the Southside Green Zone is south of downtown in the Phillips neighborhood and portions of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. 

The original green zones’ boundaries were well drawn, the updated data suggests. The city analyzed environmental factors such as air pollution and cancer risk data gathered by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The city also looked at the heat island effect, which brings hotter conditions into more industrial areas that have less tree cover. Researchers also accounted for socioeconomic factors like income-levels, English proficiency and demographic diversity. 

The Phillips West neighborhood, which is in the current Southside Green Zone, scored the highest in the city, with its diverse population and proximity to Interstate 35W and industrial areas. But some neighborhoods west of the highway, including portions of the Lyndale and South Uptown neighborhoods, also ranked highly under the updated analysis. The data also suggests that more areas east of the Mississippi River are worthy of inclusion. 

“It’s definitely time to update this and use the best data available,” said Akia Vang, a member of the Northside Green Zone Task Force. 

Much has changed since the boundaries were originally drawn. Some major polluters are gone, like the GAF shingle factory in north Minneapolis. Smith Foundry in East Phillips shuttered in 2024 after the Environmental Protection Agency uncovered pollution violations. Bituminous Roadways, an asphalt producer located next to Smith Foundry, also closed amidst regulatory scrutiny. 

The city is debating between using U.S. Census blocks, official city neighborhoods, or major roadways as a delineator in redrawing the green zones. 

City staff have opened a survey seeking feedback through Aug. 30 that can be accessed here. 

City staff plan to bring their recommendations to the Minneapolis City Council in September and hope to have the new green zone boundaries approved by the council and Mayor Jacob Frey in December, according to Minneapolis Sustainability Manager Alice Froehlich. 

Residents want more power, funding for Green Zones 

Residents involved in the green zones have long called for the program to be given more power and funding to make improvements in their neighborhoods, and say the current benefits are minimal. 

People living in green zones are eligible for benefits like free trees through a city program and enhanced rebates to cover energy efficiency projects through the city’s Green Cost Share Program. 

In recent years, the city has allocated $100,000 to community-led projects in the green zones. 

“One-hundered thousand dollars spread across environmental justice communities is frankly a joke,” said Sam Grant, an environmentalist who pushed the city to adopt green zones in the early 2000s and formerly led the climate nonprofit, MN350. 

Grant said regardless of where the new lines are drawn, the city needs to partner with the state and county governments to invest more in the green zones. The model is more effective in California, he said, where all levels of government are involved. 

“It’s time for the city to show up,” Grant said. 

Vang joined the Northside Green Zone Task Force in 2021. It’s a community advisory board where volunteers spend hours discussing issues and writing letters urging City Council members and the mayor to take certain actions or positions. 

“Most of the time, we don’t hear back,” Vang told Sahan Journal 

It would be helpful to give task force members more decision making authority, Vang said. 

Nina Woods, a resident of north Minneapolis’ Folwell neighborhood, attended a meeting last week about the new effort to learn more about the future of the green zones. Woods sits on her neighborhood association board, where she learned about rebates and other offerings available to green zone residents. 

“I don’t feel like we’ve really been engaged that much,” Woods said of the city’s outreach to green zone residents. 

Woods feels like most people living in the zones don’t know about the benefits or feel their impact, most of which are catered toward property owners. She would like to see more green zone benefits for renters. 

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