Downtown Minneapolis General Discussion

[angrysuburbanite]

This might be more suited for the Nicollet Mall thread, but anyways:

I was downtown on a pretty dead Sunday a few weeks ago and I really think that the poor-quality policing of downtown and specifically the Nicollet Mall needs to be addressed more urgently. While I think it is definitely getting better, there is still a fair amount of poor and disrespectful behavior occurring along the mall (especially outside of weekdays), but the police officers seem to be positioned away from where this is usually happening, and they are generally idling in their cars with the lights flashing. When I went to Chicago earlier this year, they had some bike patrols that were biking along main streets and trails. This approach feels a bit more efficient since they can spot issues as they are occurring rather than waiting to be contacted. It also makes it easier for the police to intervene in smaller situations that may not result in a 911 call, or even just make the police appear more friendly to the average pedestrian since it is easier to approach them on a bike than in an idling SUV with the emergency lights activated.

Any thoughts? I'm not super well-versed in how urban policing should work, so if anyone has any better ideas, I would love to be enlightened.

[Quick edit: I'm going downtown again on a weekday for the first time since 2022 so I'll probably have some more thoughts on this and other downtown-related stuff soon... I've heard it's gotten a bit busier!]

[MinneapBliss]

Coincidentally, I hopped on the forum tonight to comment on exactly this. I walked down most of Nicollet Mall each way, first at 3:15pm, then at 7pm. Both ways, it felt busier than in previous months, but i was wondering why there wasn't a police presence. Until, that is, I saw two squad cars idling close to Washington Ave. I honestly don't mind a couple squad cars on either end (though the idling, aside from during extreme temps, is frustrating), but what is clearly missing are police patrolling on foot/bicycle/segway. Hopefully circumstances allow for more of that moving forward.

Regardless, it was nice feeling like downtown was fairly active on a weekday/evening that, as far as i know, didn't feature any huge events.

[angrysuburbanite]

I don't know if I was lucky today but downtown felt very busy and alive. I stopped at the IDS Center to get lunch and the few remaining restaurants all had really long lines out the door. The Crystal Court felt as busy as any food court in a mall, which felt great. We split our time between walking on streets and in skyways and both were about equally busy. Most of the buses and trains I saw were decently utilized by a variety of people as well. It's just refreshing to see our downtown slowly healing!

One complaint, as someone who does not work downtown, is a complete lack of public restrooms. They need to figure this out. The only one we could find was a single unisex stall in Target which had a line of about 6 or 7 people waiting and holding the door open to the next person so it didn't lock. Other than that and some pretty in-your-face panhandlers and idiots blasting music (even in the skyway system), downtown really is starting to feel alive, and dare I say normal, again.

[Silophant]

The city has released a Downtown Action Plan. There's some good stuff in there, but as always, I refuse to take seriously any plan to fix downtown that doesn't include a (year-round, open late into the night) public restroom facility. Yes, it would have to be staffed, which is an ongoing expense, but there's plenty of stuff in there that would require ongoing expenses.

[Wezle]

With the picture on the 4th page of the highway viaduct, I was hoping to see something about taking them down in the document. One day...

[rhettcarlson]

The city has released a Downtown Action Plan. There's some good stuff in there, but as always, I refuse to take seriously any plan to fix downtown that doesn't include a (year-round, open late into the night) public restroom facility. Yes, it would have to be staffed, which is an ongoing expense, but there's plenty of stuff in there that would require ongoing expenses.

Where are you thinking? I'm wondering if the Meet Minneapolis visitor center at 5th & Nicollet and the DID office on 9th & Nicollet might be the low hanging fruit if you can arrange some kind of agreement with the landlord. Longer term I'm thinking of the former Panera and Walgreens spaces between 8th and 9th.

[BikesOnFilm]

Are they really trying to argue that expanding the billboard district, something that previous councils have firmly rejected and nobody who supported the old proposals could articulate any public benefit to such an arrangement, is something that will help downtown? Kind of dims my whole view of this plan's priorities, TBH.

[seanrichardryan]

lol. Just like the block E billboards saved Hennepin Ave.

[Silophant]

The city has released a Downtown Action Plan. There's some good stuff in there, but as always, I refuse to take seriously any plan to fix downtown that doesn't include a (year-round, open late into the night) public restroom facility. Yes, it would have to be staffed, which is an ongoing expense, but there's plenty of stuff in there that would require ongoing expenses.

Where are you thinking? I'm wondering if the Meet Minneapolis visitor center at 5th & Nicollet and the DID office on 9th & Nicollet might be the low hanging fruit if you can arrange some kind of agreement with the landlord. Longer term I'm thinking of the former Panera and Walgreens spaces between 8th and 9th.

Exactly what I was thinking on Nicollet. I'd also like to see them just staff and open some of the restrooms that exist, like below the platform at Target Field Station and in the A/B/C ramps.

[Anondson]

Strib on the plan for revitalizing downtown just released.

https://www.startribune.com/downtown-mi ... /601186524

[twincitizen]

Here's a link to the plan on the Downtown Council's website: https://www.mplsdowntown.com/2035plan/

[BikesOnFilm]

The Downtown Council site also has a survey that lets you put points on a map and identify things you like, don't like, and would want to see in the future of Downtown.

A good place to put some of the usual favorites like, say, removal of the I-94 ramps and putting the LRT into a transit tunnel. Downtown Council wouldn't be the one to do those things, but they certainly have Frey's ear, so if they start pushing for those things it would increase the likelihood they actually happen some day.

[MNdible]

I really do like the idea of the marquee outdoor skating venue that could be open well into the shoulder seasons (if not year round). Based on the imagery, it looks like they're proposing Gateway Park, but I feel like we could find a better site than that. Suggestions?

[angrysuburbanite]

Why can't we have a pedestrianized street and a bus only street? It seems to be presented as a one or the other deal with buses thrown off onto another less central, lower priority street.

[Silophant]

I really do like the idea of the marquee outdoor skating venue that could be open well into the shoulder seasons (if not year round). Based on the imagery, it looks like they're proposing Gateway Park, but I feel like we could find a better site than that. Suggestions?

I like the idea of it being at Gateway, where the Mall and the river and the North Loop intersect, but I'm not sure the site is really big enough. The ice sheet itself would fit, but I'm not sure where the support building would go. I've heard HOA fees are bonkers high at The Towers, maybe they'd be amenable to selling off their tennis courts and surface parking for an expanded park? Otherwise, maybe the Commons, or one of the two plazas adjacent to the Government Center? Probably too soon to talk about redoing Peavey Plaza again.

[will387]

I really do like the idea of the marquee outdoor skating venue that could be open well into the shoulder seasons (if not year round). Based on the imagery, it looks like they're proposing Gateway Park, but I feel like we could find a better site than that. Suggestions?

I like the idea of an outdoor skating venue too, especially one that could be open for more of the year. Gateway Park makes sense in theory, but you're right, it might be too cramped for everything they’d need. The Commons or the plazas by the Government Center could work, though.

[Nick]

Yeah—instead of having the dumpo temporary fencing around the Government Plaza water feature for five months maybe you can just turn it into an actual ice rink? Not much walk up retail/restaurant potential around that block, though.

[grrdanko]

The capability for ice skating in the Peavey Plaza reflecting pool was part of the recent rehab. We've had a downtown ice skating rink available since 2019, but so far we've decided not to use it.

https://www.startribune.com/peavey-plaz ... /512900162

[Silophant]

Seems like a good place to start! I think last winter proved that a refrigerated rink is a better long-term bet, especially since it could be open, like, November to April, but that'll take a couple years, Peavey Plaza could presumably be ready this winter if anyone bothered.

[TroyGBiv]

I simple solution for where to put the skating rink is to make Nicollet fully pedestrian and placing the rink right in the middle of the block i front of IDS/Daytons…