The field of Minneapolis mayoral contenders this fall was large and diverse. Still, there was strong consensus that population growth and mass transit are two keys to prosperity. In November, voters swept into office a candidate who strongly championed both: Mayor-elect Betsy Hodges.
The path Minneapolis is charting for future growth is a critical reason why mounting concerns about safety at the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities' campus are a challenge for the entire city, not just for the U's administration and 50-member police force.
In many ways, the future the city seeks is already well underway near the U. Sleek new high-rise apartments around campus — 7,000 units have been added, with another 7,000 soon to be complete — are creating denser neighborhoods that are more transit- and pedestrian-friendly. The Central Corridor light-rail line will start whisking people in and out of the university district in 2014. Rapid conversion of single-family homes to student rentals in nearby off-campus neighborhoods has also changed the area's character.
Two university-area sexual assaults and an uptick in armed robberies certainly put a spotlight on student safety and understandably alarmed parents. But troubling crime raises broader questions about the public services, such as increased police patrols and better lighting, that denser and more-mobile neighborhoods will need.
A welcome legislative hearing on campus safety this week briefly touched on the role the area's changing character may have played in the campus-area crime wave — for example, had street lighting kept up with an increasingly urbanized community's needs? But the hearing really only scratched the surface of this issue.
As the next generation of Minneapolis leaders take office, among the pressing questions they need to grapple with is whether neighborhoods of the future will require different public safety solutions. Higher-profile leadership from the mayor's office and the city's Police Department is needed not only to help control crime near the U but to gain insights into public safety needs in years to come.
A closer look at recent crime statistics underscores the need for a stronger town-gown public safety partnership, particularly with so many of the U's approximately 51,000 Twin Cities students living off campus,
Most of the fall 2013 crimes have taken place off-campus, including the sexual assaults and 22 of the 25 personal robberies, though one of the most brazen robbery attempts took place during the day in the U's Anderson Hall. Forty-nine percent of the robbery victims were students, with many targeted for their cellphones, laptops and tablets.
