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A new strategy for revitalizing downtown Minneapolis
The new report is calling for changes to help revitalize downtown Minneapolis, including a shift to a “24-hour downtown core.”
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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The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Maturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his department “failed” after a man was shot, allegedly by his neighbor in the city.
“We failed this victim. 100%, because that should not have happened to him,” said O’Hara in a Sunday evening press conference.
The chief was discussing the shooting of Davis Moturi, who for months had been contact with the MPD about escalating harassment from his neighbor, John Sawchak.
Sawchak was charged with shooting Moturi as he was pruning a tree on his front yard on Oct. 23.
Moturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion.
O’Hara and the MPD came under a heavy attack from the Minneapolis City Council after it was revealed that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office had charged Sawchak, but the MPD had not arrested him.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
“We failed to act urgently enough,” said O’Hara, before citing staffing concerns as a contributing factor.
It was a stark difference from the tone the chief initially took on Friday, then saying “If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read ‘MPD shot mentally ill person’.”
On Sunday, O’Hara said his previous comments were meant as a response to accusations that the MPD “didn’t care,” about the case.
“This is the result of over-politicizing policing in Minneapolis,” said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that the MPD will, for the moment, continue waiting for Sawchak to exit his home to arrest him, but the chief added “We are running out of options before we have to escalate the matter.”
The heated back-and-forth between the city council and the chief continued earlier Sunday when Minneapolis City Council member Emily Koski released a statement questioning O’Hara and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey actions in the matter.
“Our Chief of Police is hiding behind excuses, and our Mayor…is just hiding.” said Koski in the statement.
Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
