Ground Level®: Amplifying Community Voices

Your story is powerful. The stories you share with others honor the complexity of our communities while forging a more equitable and vibrant future.

Call 651-228-4800 and leave us a voice memo. If you're more comfortable texting, you can text “Hello” to 1-833-870-4111. You can also email us at tell@mpr.org and join in on conversations in our Ground Level Facebook group.

We’d like to hear your thoughts and questions. Your ideas about solutions. How are your communities? What are you seeing today? And what do you want to see tomorrow?

Note that while we will exercise editorial judgment for language, length and avoiding personal attacks, we will not sacrifice your meaning. We will ensure your main message comes through on air and online.

At the end of a three-month series called Forced to Choose, MPR News reporters reflect on what they found most intriguing about decisions Minnesota communities are making about their futures.
Budget pressures are forcing Minnesota cities to examine how to spend less on public safety. Reporter Curtis Gilbert writes about how much agonizing local officials do when confronted by that necessity.
Economic, demographic and political change have pushed some small Minnesota towns to the brink of disaster, local leaders worry. Reporter Tom Robertson writes about the challenge posed by shrinking state aid.
Central Minnesota chooses a future
About 200 central Minnesota residents are in the midst of a two-year effort sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to plan a vision of what central Minnesota should look like by 2035.