No stone should be left unturned to revitalize downtown Minneapolis, new report suggests
MNNEAPOLIS — A 24/7 downtown Minneapolis? That's just one idea the Minneapolis Foundation is suggesting as part of a new report released this week titled "Downtown Next: An Action Strategy for Downtown Minneapolis."
According to a statement released by the foundation, "the report builds on a variety of robust conversations that have already begun about the future of downtown, including long-range planning led by the Minneapolis Downtown Council, a Vibrant Downtown Storefronts Workgroup formed by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and the Abundant Cities event series that the Minneapolis Foundation sponsored this year in partnership with the Walker Art Center."
Led by former mayor R.T. Rybak, the foundation says the plan is meant to start a conversation about the future of the city's urban core.
"It's a complicated but exciting moment for downtown and right now it needs more voices," Rybak said. "Downtown can be an even more vibrant place, but it shouldn't go back to the old days."
According to the report, downtown Minneapolis couldn't go back to the old days even if it wanted to.
"Massive changes in retail, especially the collapse of big department stores, mean it is unlikely Nicollet will be reborn solely as a shopping street," the report states as it lists the "significant headwinds" facing the area. "Remote work has brought tectonic shifts to the daily office population."
This week, Target — downtown Minneapolis' largest employer — announced it would be bringing its hybrid employees back to the office for at least one week each quarter.
In a statement, a Target spokesperson said:
"Target remains committed to a flexible, hybrid work model for our global headquarters team. Together, managers and teams identify when work needs to happen onsite, and when it can be accomplished in a hybrid way. We see our hybrid model as a strategic advantage that makes our team stronger, helps us attract and retain top talent and supports our culture. On average, 35% of our Twin Cities-based team visits headquarters at least one time per week. For 2024, we've identified four core weeks, tied to important milestones for our business, when we'll host enterprise events in Minneapolis to drive connectedness, celebrate our team and build our internal culture. While large team moments like this aren't new, we're being thoughtful about selecting the specific weeks well in advance, and we've communicated them early to help our remote and flex for your day team members plan for the year ahead."
Rybak says the headwinds can also be seen as opportunities.
"Downtowns across the country face a series of headwinds. Pandemic, office changes ... all that is important. But it's also a moment where we have a tremendous opportunity to create more of a 24-hour, more diverse, more innovative, greener central business district that mirrors the energy of the neighborhoods directly surrounding it," he said. "This shouldn't be the old way of doing things about all the offices over here and all the shops over there. A little bit more mixed up and kind of messy urbanism is more things should work. And that's, I think, a great opportunity for downtown."
The report suggests several actions that could be taken, including moving from an "8-hour to 24-hour downtown," creating more common areas for people to gather and increasing diversity.
"There are things that can be done right away: take buses off Nicollet Mall, tear down the parking ramp next to the post office to connect the river. But great cities aren't built in a day and they're not built as a spectator sport," Rybak said. "As you've seen around the community, especially a place like Lake Street that is greater because of its diversity, more of that flavor downtown could really work. And we see that with some of the chameleon socks up and down Nicollet, which are pop-up shops that are intended to help People of Color get into entrepreneurship."
While the report is filled with many suggestions, Rybak said it's merely meant to start a conversation about an important part of the local and state economy.
"Downtown Minneapolis plays a huge part of the tax burden for the city and for this whole county. So financially, it matters to everybody in this region. But much more important, downtown is the one neighborhood that can welcome everyone in every day," he said. "Downtown has been written off by people for decades and every time it's come back with a reinvented better self. It's time to reinvent again in a more inclusive way that is more about a 24-hour multicultural place that everybody belongs."