Skyway rooftops, an outdoor skating rink, at least one Michelin-starred restaurant, an indoor playground, and more public restrooms are just some of the things that the Minneapolis Downtown Council wants to see in the City’s core in the next decade.

Those ideas – and many others – are laid out in the Downtown Council’s latest 10-year vision for downtown Minneapolis, Downtown by Design, made public on Monday.

“Arts, entertainment, events, and culture are the soul of a city, and our irresistible vibe will continue to lead our downtown from recovery to sustained growth and vitality,” Minneapolis Downtown Council President and CEO Adam Duininck wrote in Downtown by Design’s intro. “This framework sets forth the vision we must and will pursue together for our city to thrive.”

These are the four strategic priorities of Downtown by Design:

Neighborhood cultivation

  • Celebrate every downtown neighborhood’s unique character and identity.
    • Build consensus on our distinct neighborhoods and celebrate them.
    • Amplify the neighborhood initiatives and expertise already building community.
    • Celebrate each neighborhood’s uniqueness in authentic, powerful ways.
  • Complete the central riverfront with authenticity and urgency.
    • Reimagine the lock and dam area with Dakota leadership.
    • Build the coalition to finally transform the post office site.
    • Take critical steps toward completing the Central Mississippi Riverfront Master Plan.
  • Embrace and facilitate inclusion at the neighborhood level.
    • Understand and champion each neighborhood’s distinct housing needs. 
    • Make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring through a coordinated response.
    • Establish and track the critical metrics of a more equitable downtown.
  • Restructure the CBD into Minneapolis’ next great residential neighborhood.
    • Convert 3 million square feet from commercial to residential.
    • Elevate Nicollet into a more dynamic place that puts people first.
    • Attract the businesses that make the core a great place to live.
  • Develop a downtown retail strategy that serves the neighborhood’s livability.
    • Cultivate retail at the level of neighborhood nodes.
    • Transition the Chameleon Shoppes program to support permanent women- and BIPOC-owned businesses.
    • Pop up seasonal experiences in vacant storefront spaces.

Foundational safety

  • Deliver the best integrated safety program in the nation.
    • Create a definition of safety that includes divergent perspectives.
    • Stand up the new Safety Communications Center and other community safety enhancements.
    • Launch a Community Safety Impact Dashboard with comprehensive metrics.
  • Build and strengthen connections to each other and to the safety community.
    • Invest in safety by helping neighbors connect.
    • Build bridges between community members and the safety workforce.
    • Fuel a “good news downtown” content engine and toolkit.
  • Support and provide adequate resources for frontline workers.
    • Expedite MPD staffing to reach a stable and sufficient level ASAP.
    • Support, fund, and learn from a robust Behavioral Crisis Response program.
    • Grow a well-trained, well-supported street outreach system.
  • Prioritize the protection of at-risk community members in violence prevention.
    • Make downtown safer for folks experiencing homelessness.
    • Make downtown safer for young people by providing youth-centered spaces.
    • Make downtown safer for late-night revelers.

Hassle-free systems

  • Elevate our skyway game.
    • Give our skyways unified, coordinated management and vibrant wayfinding.
    • Reinvent select skyway sections for “wow” factor.
  • Expand our regional role as a seamless transportation hub.
    • Recommit to downtown as a transit powerhouse.
    • Make parking downtown simpler, smarter, and friendlier.
    • Build a connected bike system that makes everyone feel welcome to ride.
  • Streamline permitting for events, small businesses, and redevelopment.
    • Shorten and sharpen the adaptive reuse process.
    • Give events a simpler, faster path to approval.
    • Offer a one-stop shop partner for staging events big and small.
    • Roll out the red carpet for small and local businesses downtown.
  • Bring human-centered design thinking to the basics of welcoming all.
    • Launch a hospitality commitment to make us accountably welcoming.
    • Plan for public seating that creates connections, not headaches.
    • Widen public restroom access with smarter management and renewed partnerships.

Irresistible vibe

  • Double down on cultural attraction as core to our regional role.
    • Support music, theater, and entertainment venue openings at all scales.
    • Redesign First Avenue North as a pathway to an entertainment renewal.
    • Amplify our events calendar and give it a PR push.
    • Bring at least one Michelin-starred restaurant downtown.
  • Make downtown the land of 10,000 steps – each intriguing and rewarding.
    • Ensure we have healthy trees and attractively maintained boulevards.
    • Support redevelopment that supports ground-floor amenities. 
    • Prioritize great pedestrian infrastructure in every street project.
  • Re-establish downtown as the office location of choice.
    • Launch a dedicated economic development team to drive awareness and investment.
    • Partner with Greater MSP on a downtown business recruitment program
    • Make office development competitive for the post-pandemic landscape.
  • Claim our rightful place as the downtown that does winter right.
    • Holidazzle is back with new traditions and fresh possibilities.
    • Partner with The Great Northern Festival to make downtown winter wonderful.
    • Stand up a marquee skating rink for all to lace up and enjoy.

Many of these goals align with Mayor Jacob Frey’s recently published Downtown Action Plan and the Minneapolis Foundation’s year-old Downtown Next report.

The Downtown Council is circulating an online survey to collect input on Downtown by Design.