MINNEAPOLIS — A passenger car might turn onto Nicollet Mall by accident once in awhile, as the street is currently only open to emergency vehicles, buses and downtown maintenance vehicles.
Minneapolis city officials call it a "walk zone" — but maybe, that's not good enough?
"This is really important to have this discussion as a city. Our downtown is struggling," Minneapolis City Council Member Michael Rainville said Tuesday at the body's meeting to discuss a pedestrian-only approach to Nicollet Mall. "And perhaps maybe, just maybe, this is one way to help bring our downtown back to vitality."
But that Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route, which apparently makes 635 bus trips on a given weekday, is the heaviest traveled corridor in the region, according to Metro Transit. The BRT options going through Nicollet are one of the biggest hurdles into making a pedestrian plaza happen.
By closing Nicollet off completely, Metro Transit would have to reroute around the corridor, impacting some 10,700 people who get on or off buses along the street each weekday.
All this, to combat the downtown decline., which we found is not solely a Minneapolis problem.
The city council meeting addressing Nicollet Mall was preliminary and promised a lot of public input opportunities in the future. But just how much work will go into making Nicollet Mall a pedestrian-only zone is pretty unknown. However, if you look at other cities like New Orleans, you'll see it's proven to not be an easy task.
The mayor of New Orleans tried to make the city's Bourbon Street entertainment district completely vehicle free, but failed to do so several years ago.
And while it's not an exact parallel, Grand Avenue in St. Paul is also fighting its own revitalization battle. Except on Grand, the focus isn't on vehicles or transportation, but more on small businesses and big box stores.
Right now, it's not difficult to find buildings up for rent or sale along the corridor that used to tout small businesses.
Adding Pottery Barn to the area's latest closure list, the news is that business isn't good — big or small.
Grand Avenue Business Association President Chris Jensen called the closure "frustrating," but said it did "not represent the overall strength of Grand Avenue.
“This latest closure announcement is incredibly frustrating and does not represent the overall strength of Grand Avenue," Jensen said in a statement. "Just last weekend, thousands of families and shoppers enjoyed the Grand Meander as they shopped local along the avenue. The fact that Grand Mall is owned by out-of-state real estate investors that do not care about the impact this has on our local community is something the Grand Avenue Business Association would like to address. Those same owners account for 7 of our 12 current vacancies. An ideal future would see this building in the hands of local owners with thriving, locally owned small businesses that meets the needs of the community.”
Whether adding more locally owned businesses would revitalize the historic Grand Avenue is yet to be seen.
Whether removing buses from Nicollet Mall would bring downtown Minneapolis back to life is yet to be seen, too.
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