Planning for Equity: A Quantitative Analysis of Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Capital Improvement Budget Process

Since 1967 Saint Paul, Minnesota has allocated municipal bonds through a participatory mechanism called the Capital Improvement Budget Process. In this process a representative from each neighborhood sits on a task force and a committee to help decide which projects should be allocated funding. Projects eligible for funding fall into three categories: community facilities, streets and utilities, and real estate development. This thesis examines how funding has been allocated by neighborhood (district council) and census tract between 1990 and 2005. Furthermore, the paper examines if racially-concentrated areas of poverty (RCAP) received less funding than other areas. Through a quantitative analysis it was found that Saint Paul, MN currently allocates the majority of its municipal bonds to the downtown core and a few surrounding neighborhoods