Livable Communities Small Area Planning

Available funds will be announced in February 2026.

Applicants must be a city, township, county, or development authority (Minn. Stat. § 473.252, subd. 1) within the 7-county metropolitan area (Minn. Stat. § 473.121, subd. 2) that has enrolled in the Livable Communities program and is in good standing (Minn. Stat. § 473.254, subd. 1-4).

Individuals or private and nonprofit organizations are not eligible applicants but are welcome to partner with an eligible applicant on projects.

To be eligible for a Livable Communities grant, the small area planning project must:

• Be located in a Livable Communities participating city and the city must be consistent with all comprehensive plan requirements. View participating cities.
  • Projects located in cities that have a current comprehensive plan amendment under review that would make the city ineligible to apply or draw down funds may not apply until the review is complete.
• The plan area must be a defined geography that is multiple parcels, a portion of the city, and not exceeding one-quarter of the city’s area. Examples include, but are not limited to, former corporate campuses, cultural districts, commercial corridors, and transit station areas.
• Meet at least one of the defined Outcomes in the Outcomes score.
• Have a funding gap to complete the project.
• Small area planning projects must result in a small area plan that is presented for adoption by the city council and, if approved, included as part of or submitted as an amendment to the city’s comprehensive plan.

The Met Council accepts Livable Communities grant requests twice per year:

• April 15 (awards announced in the summer)
• October 15 (awards announced in the winter)

Applications cannot exceed $100,000. Eligible costs include:

• Consultant time directly related to creating the plan
• Staff time directly related to creating the plan

The Met Council may make partial awards.

Reapplication Policy

Applicants are eligible to apply for the same project again if the project meets one or more of the following:

• Project has drawn down at least 50% of the funds previously awarded at the time they reapply
• Project has relinquished 50% or more of the earlier Met Council grant
• Project budget has increased more than 20% since the prior grant award
• Project did not receive an award for the previous application, or received a partial award and has remaining eligible costs
• Project is applying for a different phase of the project
  • A new phase must be financially independent from earlier phases, and
  • Each phase must result in a stand-alone project

After a project has received two awards of the same, other projects that have not yet received two awards will be prioritized.

Application scoring consists of an Outcome Score and a Quality Score.

Outcome Score

How many of the following outcomes does your project meet?

Situate affordable housing near transportation options and amenities
Plan for mixed-use areas on infill or redevelopment sites
Create or improve small-scale commercial spaces and/or commercial corridors
Establish or improve multi-modal transportation options to connect housing, jobs, and transit
Establish or improve a cultural corridor
Protect areas of ecological significance within planned development areas and/or incorporate strategies to promote public and ecosystem health
Include public gathering space or incorporate green infrastructure elements

The selected outcomes must be included in the final small area plan.

If your project meets one to three of these outcomes, it will receive 16 points. If your project meets four or more of these outcomes, it will receive 24 points.

Quality Score

Applications will be assessed on how well they meet the Livable Communities program goals using the following questions and corresponding maximum possible scores.

• How will future amenities and connectivity be designed to prioritize residents who have been impacted by disinvestment? (5 pts)
• How will the city prevent displacement or other potential negative impacts of the plan on Black, American Indian, or other residents of color?  (5 pts)
• Whose perspective will be represented in the plan through community engagement and/or as part of the planning team? And how will their perspectives be represented? (5 pts)
• Do you have a clearly defined work plan/scope? What is it? (2 pts)
• What is the per capita net tax capacity (NTC) of the city? Of cities in the seven-county metropolitan region, if per capita net tax capacity falls within the:
  • Top 25%: 1 point
  • 50%-75% Percentile: 2 points
  • Below 50% Percentile: 3 points

All applications must submit:

1. Documentation of local support for the project. Options include:
   • Letter from the Mayor
   • Letter from the City Administrator
   • Resolution of support (download sample text as a Word Doc)
2. A budget

Term: If awarded, the grant term is three years with a possible two-year extension if needed.

Structure: All grants are reimbursement-based.

Match: No match is required.

Fund Drawdown: All grants are reimbursement-based. To be eligible to drawdown awarded funds, the grantee must:

• Have completed the most recent reporting requirement.
• Have adopted a Fair Housing Policy. ​Best practices, guidelines, and a sample policy are available.  
• Spend at least 85% of the city’s annual required Affordable and Lifecycle Housing Opportunity Amount (ALHOA) on housing activities in the previous reporting period.
• Reported the city's Housing Action Plan (via completing the previous year’s Housing Policy and Production Survey).
• City must be consistent with all comprehensive plan requirements and have guided sufficient land for affordable housing.

For additional information on grant terms, visit the Current Grantees page.
 

Semi-Annual: Grantees are required to submit semi-annual reports on project progress.

Payment Requests: Grantees must provide activity details with each payment request.

Final Report: A final report is required with the last payment request.

As a grantee, you are responsible for alerting the Livable Communities grants administration team of any changes to the project. The grant administrator will work with you to determine if an amendment to your grant agreement is required because of changes.

For more information, see Current Grantee section.