urbanMSP

Our image isn't going to recover for awhile I don't remember if this was posted on here. The tourism agency seems worried as well.

https://www.minneapolis.org/safety-upda ... ic-safety/

Our image isn't going to recover for awhile I don't remember if this was posted on here. The tourism agency seems worried as well.

https://www.minneapolis.org/safety-upda ... ic-safety/

It looks like Meet Minneapolis thinks the idea that Minneapolis is abolishing its police department is widespread enough that they have to post this. That's really unfortunate. I don't claim to have an idea of what the rest of America is thinking about the Twin Cities, but I have seen comments on WaPo stories that promote the idea that we're living in some kind of lawless wild west. Utter bullshit, but it's out there.

The cruel irony of this is that the current reform efforts are as unlikely to bring lasting change as the attempts 20 years ago. A year from now the daily operations of the MPD will be indistinguishable from the pre- George Floyd era.

To be clear the general perception I'm getting is that Minneapolis is racist and has scary police... and not at all that it's unpoliced and crime ridden because the police have been removed.

Like all things in our divided country, it's certain that both of these perceptions are held by large but separate chunks of the population (to the extent that large chunks of the population are thinking about Minneapolis at all).

I have to agree. I talk to many people in greater mn who would be the targets of meet Minneapolis and crime is a major issue for them. I had to correct maybe 20 people at a wedding that we still have a police force here. Maybe in certain circles its that the city is racist but in others it that we have no police and crime is off the charts. The truth is in the middle but dont tell that to people on twitter.

Meanwhile projects are still getting built and houses selling as soon as they hit the market so clearly the crime fearing crowd's prognostication of us becoming "the new Detroit" are full of it as usual.

I hope that the perception that Minneapolis is racist forces the city (and school board, and Park board, etc) to have more uncomfortable conversations about the reality BIPOC face here and how to build a better way forward. And that the centrists don't try and undo the 2017 election with city council candidates running on keeping the status quo intact. This is the perception of the city that has a lot of truth to it that we don't do a good enough job addressing.

But I truly don't care if Greater MN thinks the city is under a crime siege. Their kids (and the educated from ND, SD, IA, etc) keep moving here to have a future and stuff to do, so I'd rather have their residency than the occasional sports related patronage of the people who hate the city to begin with.

Thats an incredibly close minded way to look at how a city functions and supports/ needs support from other communities. While we are the center of the state that style of thinking and treating people is why so many supported trump as they were tired of people looked down on. If anything next time a trump style candidate come along odds are they wont be an idiot who gets in his own way.
You assume they hate the city? I know many who prefer to live in a rural area but would do a weekend in the area (usual downtown) as a get away. Have fun, go see a show or take in the city life for a weekend. Its not for them full time just as rural life isnt for me full time but they just wanted a change of pace.

The people who have a negative perception of crime in Minneapolis didn't reason their way into that belief. I'm not going to be able to reason their way out of it. Before it was the "crime wave" it was imaginary "no-go" zones in Cedar-Riverside. Entirely manufactured by right wing media that doesn't have any basis in reality. The city can waste as much ad dollars as they like, they're not undoing that steady stream of propaganda.

I feel the same way about this that I do about freeways. The suburbs want Minneapolis to pave itself over for their convenience. I don't care about that desire anymore, and I'm glad that the city sees an apartment full of residents as a better investment than an empty lot for occasional outstate spending dollars.

I care far more about the health and happiness of people who live in the city and engage with it daily than I do a theoretical visitor who wants to dictate terms of how the city should operate. And then still complain about everything.

Cities do need support from other communities, no doubt about it. But the same way I don't get to go out to Cambridge and start dictating how they design or operate their community and how it should revolve around my tourist dollars, they don't get to do the same to Minneapolis.

Also, after 1/6, I'm also done with the "people supported Trump felt like they're being looked down on" take. Especially when it gets used in the same breath as sentiments like "Minneapolis needs a militarized police force so I feel comfortable going to Cowboy Jacks"

I think you truly dont understand how people get there news. When you watch kare11 in southern MN you hear X bad thing happened in the Twin cities or in Minneapolis unless you know the area there is no context. If you hear bad thing happened on lake st but you dont know lake st it could be in any number of communities.
For your highway example I agree. Yes we shouldnt tear down more of the city so someone can get in and our fast for brunch but instead invest more in transit as a whole. Just because people in the burbs complain about traffic doesnt mean we shouldn't invest in more transit to and from the city via bus,bike and train.

So you lump everyone into one group over a few crazy people? Do you do that with every political group? Thats just like those who discounted every discussion about systemic issues in this country over the actions of a small number of people last june. Not sure if you noticed but trumps approval rating cratered after that. Most people who were in that camp of I feel looked down on left him. He still has is core but the real world of how people vote and act isnt what Fox news or CNN show us.

I think it's naive to assume that right wing control of media isn't the culprit here. Even when you're referencing the local channels, KSTP is right wing owned, WCCO has a direct personal connection to Bob Kroll, and CW is a Sinclair operated station. And that's just the TC area broadcasters, I know nothing about the ownership of the Rochester affiliates (who actually control the news Southern MN would see, not Kare 11). And that's not even factoring in social media's thumb on the scale of polarization in the name of profit.

I'm a far bigger proponent of us just continuing to do what works for Minneapolis. If that creates venues and places that people outstate want to come and take part in? Welcome! Come on in! But if outstate has built a picture of Minneapolis in their head that doesn't match reality, and that picture backs up deeply held political beliefs about cities or places that are more diverse than their rural community, there is no path forward for Minneapolis to change those minds without radically changing the things the actual residents want them to be working on.

I do know kare11 is broadcast in parts of greater mn which is why I used it as the example.
Kroll has hopefully been pushed to the dustbin of history. Yes its on those channels who dont add context for when crime happens. If its political or just being lazy because if it bleeds it leads mentality I have no idea. Even the events of this past week in uptown people called me asking if it was like june 2020 again. They were shocked when I said it was nothing like that at all. But it was shown to be like that to them as it builds drama for the channel to sell. And that goes to both sides of issues. Sell the evil group X vs the moral righteous side Y to get eyes on the screen So while I think the city should focus first on itself and its not our job as a city to nervous nellie about every person who doesnt like us. Its also not a great plan to just discount marketing the city entirely. Show that it is a safe place to come and enjoy.

Well then there you go. Unless Minneapolis is going to start their own media company that can out compete the made up drama that gets viewers on local news, they're not going to fix that problem and shouldn't concern themselves with it.

I also think it's worth noting that the idea that Minneapolis would focus on its own residents and not people who don't live here is "looking down on outstate" is pretty wild. Even the examples always cited, like Chicago and Detroit, don't spend as much time navel gazing about what others perceive them to be.

I think we both see the problem but disagree on how to best address it. Thats fine I respect and understand your frustration with it as I do feel that as well. I just in the end I disagree on not fighting it even if its a losing battle as sometimes those are worth flighting

It might also be the fact that you're talking southern MN, which I have no experience with. Whereas I lived in the North/Central exurbs, which is much more extreme in its anti-MSP beliefs and fears.

In the end, it's a problem I'd prefer to solve as opposed to ignore. But I don't know how to solve it without compromising Minneapolis' stated goals and values.

Ill 100% agree on that. My view of greater MN is shaped by southern MN which is often lumped in with Northern MN due to how they vote but is very different. They elected Walz for over a decade by solid margins even while voting for the GOP on the national level by large margins. They have a growing urban area in Rochester and even to a degree Mankato.
I can see how those experiences have shaped our similar but differing view points.

To me it really is to just get people to visit beyond target field. Come to the chain of lakes or any number of other parts of the city. Walk around it. See that its not the Fox News "no go zone".

In CNN Money’s 50 best places to live in 2021, Chanhassen, Woodbury, and Rosemount made the list

Chanhassen rated #1.

https://money.com/collection/best-places-to-live-2021/

Always found it interesting that Prince, who’d traveled the world over, and had the choice of any city on earth to make his home, chose Chanhassen.

I remember having drinks at the Houlihan’s in Chanhassen years back. Definitely some #1 vibes going on. I could see their Main Street out the window which is only #5.

If you're into driving a LOT and ... white pastoralism, Chanhassen is tops!

It's a pleasant place, sure, but you're in your car way, way too much if you live there.

Perhaps ironically, they'll soon be fairly close to the terminus of one of the metro's premier transit lines.