Admit it: Downtown Minneapolis is not the kind of clean, secure and attractive urban center that consistently embraces visitors and inspires civic pride. In fact, too many public spaces and private properties suffer from obvious neglect and, at certain times of day in some locations, walking the streets can be downright scary.
It's time for the private sector to step up and do what city government is failing to accomplish: Make downtown Minneapolis a cleaner, greener, safer and more attractive environment for residents, workers and visitors. After years of discussion and planning, that opportunity is almost here.
Sometime after Labor Day, the City Council is expected to vote on whether to authorize an improvement district that would cover most of downtown. About 600 properties would be assessed, and an estimated $6.5 million would be raised the first year.
The money would be spent on a long list of initiatives intended to bolster public safety, clean up downtown streets, improve maintenance and repair and make the area more attractive and eventually more lively. A board made up of representatives of the downtown properties would determine exactly how the money would be spent, and it would hire service providers to do the work.
There's nothing especially groundbreaking about the plan: Similar districts have been around since the 1970s, and there are more than 1,000 in the country today in cities such as Denver, Portland and Seattle. In fact several smaller districts already are in place in Minneapolis.
But because of the size of the proposed district -- and the potential impact on a community asset as important as downtown Minneapolis -- it's an opportunity that shouldn't be wasted. It also comes at a time when it's desperately needed.
Some property owners question why the city isn't doing more for downtown. The answer should be obvious: While more of the city's budget has been spent to stem violent crime in key neighborhoods in recent years, services such as street maintenance have suffered, and downtown is showing the wear and tear.
"... Passing this business improvement district is the single most important thing we could do to improve downtown -- ever," says Council Member Lisa Goodman, whose ward includes the heart of the city.
