A slow comeback in downtown Minneapolis

It's a measure of just how empty downtown Minneapolis has been that a gradual, tentative repopulation looks significant.

In the lobby of an office building on Nicollet Mall, a sign announces (with exclamation points!) the news that several retailers on the skyway level are open. Some of the "closed" notices taped to storefront windows have changed to "opening soon." A few coffee shops, like the Starbucks in the IDS Center, have a line of customers waiting to place their orders.

And yet the overall impression of a visit last week during what should be the morning rush hour was one of desolation. Downtown Minneapolis still feels a bit like a mall that's about to go out of business.

The Minneapolis Downtown Council's word for what is needed is "reanimation." At first the word sounds gruesome, recalling Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and her classic novel about bringing dead body parts back to life. On reflection, though, "reanimation" seems apt. Downtown Minneapolis needs a jolt — something dramatic, a little bit miraculous and possibly contrary to what nature would do if left to itself.

The forces that brought downtown to this point were dramatic, too. Start with the COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered businesses and furloughed workers and led shoppers to remain at home. Then add the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and the chain of events that followed.

Communities of color were terrified and outraged; people of conscience were shocked and disgusted; areas of the city were convulsed with demonstrations, riots, looting and arson; police were demoralized, alienated and left even more understaffed than before. Crime spiked. Public safety became a goal instead of a given.

But now there are signs of progress. Estimates are that nearly 40% of downtown workers have returned. As COVID numbers decline in Minnesota and around the country, several big downtown employers have announced plans to bring their workforces back. Xcel Energy, Wells Fargo, Ameriprise and U.S. Bank are all resuming some level of in-person staffing.

Downtown Council President Steve Cramer told an editorial writer that office workers are just one of the drivers of the downtown economy; another driver is events, like sports and professional theater.

A prime example is the NCAA Women's Final Four in early April, sure to be a major draw in bringing people and visibility to downtown Minneapolis. Associated events include a festival at the Convention Center, a three-day party at First Avenue and other attractions, besides the tournament itself in Target Center. The Twins home opener comes the following Thursday, barring a players' strike or an MLB lockout.

Big events can create what Cramer calls the "toe-in-the-water effect" — meaning that people who visit downtown once may find it not so bad, and be more willing to come back again.

Until the public safety issues are addressed, though, there's a danger that some of those people will find the water full of crocodiles, and pull their toes back quickly. They will be less willing to venture downtown again, and so will their friends. Cramer acknowledged that downtown's future success hinges on "the perception and the reality of public safety." The Police Department is severely understaffed, and Cramer predicted that its efforts to recruit enough new officers "are going to take many years."

Whether downtown can wait that long is an open question.