To use AMI (Area Median Income) to calculate the rents for low-income and poor families is unjust and violent. It does not work. It is displacing and evicting low-income families out of Minneapolis that are majority Black, Black Muslims, POC, Immigrants, Refugee, Disabled and Seniors. AMI model to measure rent is housing for the rich and elite of Minneapolis not for poor or working class of Minneapolis. See chart below to explain how AMI works.
No one who is low-income can afford AMI rates for rent because developers with the approval of the City of Minneapolis are asking low-income residents to pay up to four times or more for rent then what they can afford due to their income.
AMI is not a law. It is just a framework that has been pushed by developers, lobbyist, and Secretary Ben Carson of HUD for the rich and developers to profit, and for local cities and states to think about adopting. It looks like Mayor Jacob Frey and City of Minneapolis are promoting this same AMI model as the savoir of the housing crisis for low- income residents. This is due to the fact that these same developers who say they are “progressive” are dictating the housing agenda of the City of Minneapolis so they can profit from the crisis. This is no different then what Carson and Trump are promoting. This will just increase the racial/ economic disparities which will end up being the legacy of this current City Council and Mayor of Minneapolis if it is not address immediately. We hope that divisive politics will stop at City Hall, and this crisis will be addressed now.