What will Twin Cities' affordable housing look like in 2020s?

Proposed affordable housing benchmarks for the Twin Cities metro area for the 2020s are currently open for public comment.

Those benchmarks, approved by the Metropolitan Council March 25, are part of a planning process that occurs once a decade. They set goals for new affordable housing units on a city-by-city basis.

The process is contentious. Some argue the Met Council targets too much affordable housing in areas that already have a lot. This, critics say, intensifies geographic concentrations of poverty and racial segregation.

A final version of the plan is slated for approval this summer. Cities will then be tasked with figuring out how to accommodate their allotment of new units. Public comments on the draft plan will be accepted until May 15, and a public hearing is scheduled for May 4 in downtown St. Paul.

MPR News' Tom Weber talks with three suburban leaders about how their cities are responding to the proposed targets.