Welcome to the first edition of Voices of Downtown, a collection of recent comments from our readers, which we'll continue to share from time to time.
What’s the deal with the upcoming Stone Arch Bridge closure?
They should close down the Third Ave Bridge (to cars) on weekends. We survived years with that bridge closed completely, so we can survive it being shut down on the weekends for two years.
The Third Ave bridge does have a safer path for bikers and walkers now than it had before, but it is a pretty miserable place to be with the smell and noise from cars driving 40 mph right next to you.
It has a wonderful view of downtown and could be a reasonable replacement for the Stone Arch Bridge for two years if it was shut down to traffic. – Will
One stone, two birds: A transformative stroke for downtown Minneapolis
Love this! We need to think big to make downtown more lively, walkable and connected. The freeways are a relic of a bygone era, which hopefully we’ve learned from our mistakes. – Stephen
I credit the author for really innovative thinking. A key paragraph is: “Why care about this leverage? Well, a new stadium campaign represents one of those rare moments in a city's life in which massive amounts of private capital becomes available in one place. Leveraged with enough political capital, this combination of forces can be used to make significant physical changes in the landscape of a city. When the stars align, significant areas of a city can be transformed in a single stroke.”
I personally hate the economics of pro sports, and I totally get it when people draw a line in the sand and say absolutely no public money should be used for this. However, I got to the point of partnering on U.S. Bank Stadium because it was going to leverage significant private investment. (I’d argue this is one of the reasons why more than $1 billion a year has been added in property value to the city ever since… another reason is the “big bang” created after the Twins stadium was built. Imagine if U.S. Bank wasn’t built and what East Town would look like with an abandoned, vacant Metrodome and a bunch of non viable parking lots.)
This proposal is super creative and it would help get rid of completely unnecessary freeway infrastructure that could be converted into people-oriented uses.
Whether this is the solution or not, I really applaud the author for innovative thinking. – R. T. Rybak
I like Alex Scheiferdecker's well-designed ideas. As long as the Minneapolis residential public does not pay one dollar for the construction of the actual arena. It's pathetic that owners of the pro sports franchises expect the public, many of whom cannot even afford tickets to their games, to pay for their arenas. I'd use stronger language, but want to be civil here. The more general public improvements and "affordable housing" and other opportunities offered as ideas for some of this unused freeway surfaced land sounds creative, as well as the proposed linear park, which I think would widen and expand as reclaimed green space in North Minneapolis. Again, all for it, with no city tax funding provided for any new arena construction as part of the plan. Thanks, Alex. – John B., lifelong resident of Minneapolis
Downtown gains two locally-owned daytime spots
Not that I'm not happy to see small, indie businesses playing a part in bringing vibrance to downtown, but let's be honest here: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday operations in the skyway are going to be vibrant only for office workers.There's a lot of hand wringing about the state of Minneapolis in 2024, but the extent of imagination people seem to have for a comeback is the stagnant downtown we had in 2019 – the one where people arriving in Minneapolis at 5 p.m. for events or a hotel stay found eerie empty skyways that looked like a dead mall. I think it'll be much more exciting news when one of these indie restaurants or coffee shops locates on the street level and has seven-day a week operations. That'll be something unique, special, and worth protecting. – Matt
