Minnesota Department of Transportation

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Livability Initiative

Livability Framework

The Livability Framework covers the wide range of community issues that are linked to transportation. There are seven (7) Pillars of Livability. Check out the definition of each Pillar.

The Livability Initiative created the Livability Framework based on community input gathered during Phase 1 (2016-2018) of Rethinking I-94, a long-term project for developing a new vision for I-94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul. After collecting initial feedback, the team organized specific Livability workshops in 2021 to better understand what livability means to our community members. Additionally, the Livability team utilized resources from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to develop the Framework. While stakeholders from Rethinking I-94 played a significant role in shaping the Framework, we refined it to apply broadly to all projects in the Metro District.

The Livability Framework is used to review programs, corridors, projects, plans, and policies to find ways to address broader community needs. First, MnDOT Metro District can include the Livability Framework in the project planning process by using Livability Pillars as evaluation criteria during environmental reviews. This means project teams assess if alternatives meet each Livability goal. The district can also consider it when defining the purpose and need for programs and projects in the Metro District. Another use of the Livability Framework is as a guide for conversations with communities, helping MnDOT understand their needs and visions better. The Livability Framework help us understand community values and reflect them in transportation decisions. In short, it helps us figure out how investments can make communities more livable.

Livability Framework

Health and environment: A livable transportation system bolsters the health and well-being of people who live work and play near system corridors. A livable transportation system requires investments that prioritize delivering benefits to Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and low-income communities who disproportionately endure the most severe health-related transportation burdens.          

Economics: A livable transportation system connects people to jobs, boost local economies, and create wealth-building opportunities for communities, especially in under-resourced communities.

Sense of place: A livable transportation system supports each neighborhood’s unique sense of place. A strong sense of place makes people feel at home in their community and connected to their neighbors and culture.

Safety: A livable transportation system ensures that everyone, regardless of their mode of transportation, can travel safely and without risk to their well-being. This goes beyond the prevention of physical accidents; it also includes the protection of personal security and the preservation of people’s well-being, keeping them safe from danger, harm or threats while using the transportation system. A livable system invests in mitigating safety issues that disproportionately affect low-income and Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) communities.

Connections: A livable transportation system gives people safe, efficient, and affordable multi-modal options to access places of social, economic, natural, and cultural significance.

Equity: Transportation investments that ensure the distribution of benefits and burdens of transportation systems and services are fair and just, which historically has not been fair. Transportation equity requires ensuring that underserved communities, especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), share in the power of decision-making.

Trust: To create and maintain a livable transportation system, transportation authorities must build and retain stakeholders’ trust through fostering long-term, good-faith relationships.

      Note: MnDOT developed this framework using input from academic institutions, businesses, community-based organizations, commuters and residents along the I-94 corridor between St. Paul and Minneapolis.