MINNEAPOLIS — A new report shines a promising light on the future of Minneapolis and how to revitalize the city’s downtown.
And the plan begins by acknowledging all the previous plans and perspectives in the community.
“Day after day, year after year, this downtown has evolved. It has overcome every single obstacle. It’s supposed to die in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 70s, 80s, 2000s, it always comes back. It’s just come back in a better form,” said R.T. Rybak, CEO of the Minneapolis Foundation, which commissioned the “Downtown Next” report to help build on the individual plans across organizations and individuals throughout the community.
Among the specific findings in the report, the authors – Sarah Harris, David Frank and Beth Shogren – call for three specific changes: “Moving from an 8-hour to a 24-hour downtown core” that recognizes the absence of business tenants after the pandemic; “Creating common ground” with more green space and attractions, while also removing buses from Nicollet Mall; and moving the focus “from monoculture to multi-culture.”
“I can’t give you one thing any more than I can give you a recipe to bake a cake,” Rybak said about the next steps to implement the plan’s vision.
A vision, Rybak says, that would benefit from multiple perspectives: “It’s important to work with the existing organizations. It’s also important to recognize now there needs to be a broader coalition.”
Among the likely coalition partners, the president and CEO of Minneapolis Downtown Council shared with KARE 11 a positive review of the report. In a statement, Adam Duininck said: “There is great alignment between the Minneapolis Foundation’s Downtown Next report and our long-term vision for downtown.”
Duininck further noted: “The future of our downtown and its strength relies heavily on collective uplift and synergy, and the Downtown Next report fits well with our own vision for development, activation, greening and safety. We look forward to bringing this vision to life.”
And that enthusiasm was shared by business owners along Nicollet Mall.
“I think it’s beautiful. I think having a place where not only do you work but work, play, rest. I think that makes a community a community,” said Bella Lam, owner of Coconut Whisk, which opened in 2021.
“We had so many people support us since the beginning. And that’s what really kept us going,” Lam said.
Her neighbor – Mary Taris with Strive Bookstore – agreed.
“That’s amazing. It’s right in line with our mission. At Strive Bookstore we want to elevate underrepresented voices in our bookstore and also make this a community space,” she said, adding: ”I’m excited for it; I think that’s an amazing plan.”
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