There has been some debate recently around three Minnesota affordable housing projects. The Carleton Place Lofts, Schmidt Artist Lofts, and the Pillsbury A Mill have all come under fire in a recent New York Times editorial piece for receiving federal money for development through the artist-exemption in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.
The A Mill, in particular, is called out for its costs and 80 percent white residential occupancy. The various city governments have been accused of ignoring the needs of low income families of color in favor of young, white, and often childless artists as a political concession to the Twin Cities’ wealthy elites, who have historically opposed the development of affordable housing in their communities. According to the editorial, artist housing represents political kowtowing at best and the advent of two racially separate and unequal affordable housing systems at its worst.