By combining labor market origin–destination data with housing and transportation data, M3D can inform projects that help to narrow the spatial mismatch between housing and employment in the Twin Cities region.

CURA is pleased to announce the launch of Minnesota 3-D (M3D), a dynamic, GIS-based Internet application that brings together labor market, housing, and development information and analysis for the Twin Cities metro area into one easy-to-use tool for economic and community developers. This first-of-its-kind application brings together more than 90 datasets that can be displayed visually on a map and in report format using geographic information systems (GIS) technology.       

According to a recent study by the Center for Housing Policy titled A Heavy Load: The Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens of Working Families, working families in the Twin Cities metropolitan area spend 30% of their household income on transportation (more than the 27% consumed for housing). The report recommends that “regions coordinate their housing and transportation policies to ensure they fully reflect the needs of working families—one example includes building more affordable housing near existing and planned transit hubs.”

By combining labor market origin–destination data on Minnesota jobs and workers with housing and transportation data, M3D increases the capacity of project partners to plan and develop housing and economic development programs that narrow the growing spatial mismatch between housing and employment in the Twin Cities region. “The future vitality of our region depends on our ability to efficiently connect housing, jobs, and services,” said Kris Nelson, project director for M3D at CURA. “M3D provides a significant tool for communities to inform policies and implement strategies for efficient and sustainable development to assure the well being of working families.”

During the next year, CURA and other community partners will be working to apply M3D to planning and development projects to achieve greater balance between housing and employment opportunities within communities.

The Minnesota 3-D project is a partnership between CURA, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, the Minnesota Office of Revenue, the Metropolitan Council, Ramsey and Hennepin Counties, and various Twin Cities neighborhood organizations and community development corporations. The project was made possible through a $600,000 Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded to the University of Minnesota in 2004. M3D is part of CURA’s continuing effort to develop GIS tools and understanding for local communities to plan and develop vital places for people to live and work.

The M3D mapping application can be found at http://map.deed.state.mn.us/M3D/.

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