Midtown Global Market

[PhilmerPhil]

http://m.startribune.com/?id=233406531

Interesting quote:

The idea of a free parking subsidy might not sit well with some on the council. “I don’t expect free parking in this city,” Meg Tuthill said at the budget hearing.

[mattaudio]

Unless you're a high-buck Vikings ticket holder.

[twincitizen]

A sit-down restaurant/bar "The Rabbit Hole" just opened in the market. The neighborhoods around this area are just starting to improve (maybe not central Phillips exactly yet, but neighborhoods to the west, south, and east are mostly showing signs of improvement, are they not?)

I feel like now would be a terrible time to pull the plug on this awesome quasi-public place. With a Chicago station on the Midtown Line in the works, Chicago aBRT even sooner, along with other neighborhood improvements, brighter days are ahead for greater Phillips/Powderhorn neighborhoods. The Global Market is at the centerpiece of everything.

Obviously they have some structural fiscal challenges, and there have been infights between tenants and management in the past. I've never found the market to be particularly well organized. It usually takes me more than 5 minutes to find Manny's Tortas...that's not a good thing. If they could make some physical changes to the layout of the space, and attract another sit-down restaurant/bar, the entire operation will be more stable going forward.

Short version: yes to short-term financial support from the City, probably no to the parking subsidy, without major changes. From the sound of it, the parking subsidy is not likely to survive a council vote (current or future council). I don't think they should give everyone two free hours of parking just for showing up and buying something, but it does seem like this is a little more nuanced than "no free parking to anyone". There was a great quote in the article about how they are trying to increase the number of people buying groceries here, and no where in the state of Minnesota do you have to pay to park at a grocery store. There's got to be a middle ground here on parking, I just don't know what that is yet.

[John]

Age has it its perspective. I remember when the Sears Building was abandoned and this neighborhood was on the verge of a Detroit-like collapse. This project dramatically improved the area. The Market builds bridges between many different ethnic communities who interact with each other at a level not found elswhere. It's successful and the city should reinforce this for the future. If it needs a modest subsidy for parking so be it.

[gray_marc]

This project dramatically improved the area. The Market builds bridges between many different ethnic communities who interact with each other at a level not found elswhere. It's successful and the city should reinforce this for the future.

Amen! This is a very valid point.. It works for the community.

[David Greene]

“'I find this to be absolutely outrageous,' Council Member Lisa Goodman said at a budget presentation this fall. 'There are plenty of good organizations in town that have a public purpose [and] we do not fund their operations.''

I find Lisa Goodman's statement outrageous. How many hundreds of millions of dollars in city subsidy have gone to her ward in downtown alone? The nerve...

[Silophant]

Agreed. Ideally, the city wouldn't have to fund this, but there's lots and lots of subsidies less worthy than this one.

[twincitizen]

http://mspmag.com/out-and-about/article ... bal-Error/

[min-chi-cbus]

I think I agree more with the commenters than the author here. Think of the Midtown Global Market as a place that anchors East Lake Street and its vibrant immigrant community and not as a free market capitalist tourist attraction and the MGM has anihilated expectations, at the cost of $1.5M per year in subsidy. Win-Lose, I guess, but the "Win" is bigger than the "Loss" I think.

[woofner]

It was to be, said creators, an urban market along the lines of Seattle’s Pike Place Market and Philly’s Reading Terminal Market, an extrapolation the credulous local press bought with aplomb.

This is not what I remember. The rationale for the market was simply to be a business incubator with a focus on immigrant-owned businesses, and tourism was a secondary goal, if at all.

A quick search of the Strib archives (which presumably would be available to someone who works for Mpls St Paul, at least if he has a Hennepin County Library card) finds an article from the opening of the market in May 2006 which seems to confirm this. A quote from Commissioner McLaughlin: "The market reflects the new face of business and the new face of consumer tastes along Lake Street and throughout Minneapolis. You'll be able to taste foods from around the world." The article mentions another important rationale for the market -- retail on East Lake, which at the time was swirling the drain: "the market, which is an effort by Minneapolis to revitalize the neighborhood around Lake Street and Chicago Avenue."

The contemporaneous article doesn't once mention tourism. Where does Adam Platt get the notion that this was supposed to be our Pike Place Market? Is he just making shit up so he can rail against government subsidy?

[MNdible]

I don't know if government officials were officially saying it, but I do remember a lot of comparisons to Pike Place and especially Reading.

I think he raises some good issues. I don't mind the subsidies, but I've often thought that Midtown would be more successful with a bit more careful curation of the vendors.

[talindsay]

Gee, I bet if there had been a forum available at the time of its opening where people could discuss such things there might be useful information there. Too bad such a thing didn't exist.

Seriously, is the Minnescraper forum not even available in archive mode any more?

[seanrichardryan]

\\offtopic\\ It used to be here, but it's now broken and I forget who archived it.

[seanrichardryan]

\\offtopic\\ It was DaPerpKazoo! https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?f=12& ... hive#p4006

[grant1simons2]

Looks like they've approved a application to house a brewery in Midtown Global Market today during the Community Development meeting. They seem like a really hip and cool brewcrew. Anyone know much else about them? Here's their website http://www.eastlakemgm.com/

[HiawathaGuy]

Construction begins on new microbrewery at Midtown Global Market
Aug 19, 2014
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... arket.html

[Chauncey87]

i posted my reply here https://forum.streets.mn/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1778

[Chauncey87]

Reading stories about one man making his dream come true with effort and time really gives anyone who reads it the feeling of inspiration. What a great idea to have a tap room in MGM.

[Minneapolisite]

Can't believe it took me two years to go here. I'll be going back on a semi-regular basis. Reminds me of the North Market in Columbus: more restaurant oriented than grocery. And now a brewpub?

[Nathan]

Can't believe it took me two years to go here. I'll be going back on a semi-regular basis. Reminds me of the North Market in Columbus: more restaurant oriented than grocery. And now a brewpub?

sometimes I wonder where and what you've actually done in Minneapolis you complain about the most obvious basic stuff but then don't go out and experience the good stuff?