# Past Prosperity Study *A ReConnect Rondo study of home-ownership equity loss in Rondo, Ramsey County.* The *Past Prosperity Study* is a study by [[ReConnect Rondo]]. The project's at-issue record cites it as putting the home-ownership equity loss in [[Rondo]] at $270 million.[^1] The study itself is not in this record's evidence. Its figure comes from that at-issue pair, whose listed sources are reconnectrondo.com and startribune.com.[^1] The pair sets the study's figure beside the cost of the remedy. The land bridge meant to answer the loss is estimated at over $450 million.[^1] The project's Ramsey County dossier records that, as of September 2026, the [[Rondo land bridge]] had been funded at about $12.7 million. That is under 3 percent of the estimate, with no construction dollars identified, eleven years after an apology dated July 17, 2015.[^2] Separately, on January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] filed [[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]] in the District of Minnesota. The suit is brought under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], and the complaint cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times. Those citations include subd. 3(c)'s requirement that an agency explain the reason for hiring a non-affirmative candidate.[^3] The Department's release No. 26-21 is titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^4] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages ([[How Minnesota Got Here]], note 40) finds Minnesota the only U.S. state so described. By comparison, the [[Iraq Liberation Act]] of 1998 (Pub. L. 105-338) states a policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein".[^5] The complaint was filed after [[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]], 605 U.S. 303 (2025). In that case the Supreme Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs".[^6] ## What The *Past Prosperity Study* is attributed to ReConnect Rondo and measures home-ownership equity loss in Rondo.[^1] The record does not establish the study's date, authorship beyond ReConnect Rondo, or method. The injury the study measures is documented in the project's Ramsey County dossier. It records that 600 to 700-plus homes and roughly 300 businesses in Rondo were destroyed.[^2] The dossier also records that MnDOT eliminated the At-Grade alternatives that would have returned land.[^2] Kaskaskia Engineering lists a *Rondo Land Bridge Feasibility Study* among its projects.[^7] ## When The dossier gives the dated sequence of remedies for Rondo:[^2] - The apology is dated July 17, 2015. - A plaza followed in 2018. - The street name was restored on February 8, 2024. - As of the dossier's date (September 2, 2026), the land bridge remained unbuilt and had no construction dollars identified, eleven years after the apology. ## How much - **Home-ownership equity loss (study's figure):** $270 million, per the at-issue record.[^1] - **Land bridge estimate:** over $450 million.[^1] The dossier gives the same estimate, describing the project as "estimated to exceed $450 million".[^2] - **Land bridge funding:** about $12.7 million, under 3 percent of the estimate, as of September 2026.[^2] ## In the at-issue record The study appears in pair AI-Ramsey-048, in Tier III of the Ramsey package, *Rondo: The Apology and the Ledger*.[^1] The pair sets the study's $270 million equity-loss figure against the land bridge's estimated cost of over $450 million. It concludes: "The remedy costs more than the documented harm".[^1] The pair goes on to attribute the bridge's unbuilt status to that arithmetic. The record does not establish that cause. The pair's federal anchor is a White House presidential action of March 2025.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, *Pair AI-Ramsey-048* (Tier III, Rondo; listed sources reconnectrondo.com and startribune.com, not in the evidence pack) — ReConnect Rondo's *Past Prosperity Study* puts home-ownership equity loss at $270 million; land bridge estimated at over $450 million. [^2]: Minnesota wiki, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier*, §XI, finding RF-9 (Sept. 2, 2026; validated; underlying sources not in the evidence pack) — 600 to 700-plus homes and about 300 businesses destroyed; apology July 17, 2015; plaza 2018; street name restored Feb. 8, 2024; about $12.7 million funded against an estimate exceeding $450 million; MnDOT eliminated At-Grade alternatives. [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn., filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII; eight citations to Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — filing; certification by Attorney General Pamela Bondi. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^5]: U.S. Congress, *Iraq Liberation Act of 1998*, Pub. L. 105-338 (1998) — "regime" usage; the project's catalogue finding is How Minnesota Got Here, note 40. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ338/pdf/PLAW-105publ338.pdf [^6]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — Title VII's disparate-treatment provision draws no majority/minority distinction. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf [^7]: Kaskaskia Engineering, *Rondo Land Bridge Feasibility Study* (project page, undated) — existence of a feasibility study. https://kaskaskiaeng.com/project/rondo-land-bridge-feasibility-study/ [^8]: The White House, *Presidential action* (Mar. 2025) — cited as the federal anchor of pair AI-Ramsey-048. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/